tini is a suffix popularly incorporated in a cocktail’s name in order to associate the drink with the Martini and its perceived status. While the practice dates to at least the 1940s and the “Vodka-tini,” it wasn’t fully exploited until the 1980s and the renewed interest in mixed drinks the decade brought after twenty years of people looking elsewhere for their intoxicants. The new cocktail drinkers of the period had little connection with the traditions of mixology and many were interested in the Martini more as a visual symbol of sophistication than as an actual drink. Martinis, after all, consisted mostly of straight gin or vodka, and as such were fairly difficult for novice drinkers to accept. To appeal to this new clientele who desired the allure and sex appeal that accompanied the Martini yet did not like the actual drink itself, bartenders began applying the term “Martini” to any drink served in the ubiquitous V-shaped cocktail glass associated with that drink.
In the 1980s and 1990s, bars would list multiple drinks on their menus categorized as “martinis.” Popular drinks included the Lemon Drop Martini (a Vodka Sour) and the Chocolate Martini, which defies categorization. See Lemon Drop and Chocolate Martini. It also became common to simply add the “-tini” suffix to many drinks’ names, as shorthand that they were mixed drinks served in a cocktail glass; perhaps the most popular example is the Appletini, with the Chocolatini and Flirtini not too far behind. These drinks would typically focus on disguising their base spirit (usually vodka) with various sweet and fruity syrups and flavorings.
As the craft cocktail resurgence of the late 1990s began to evolve, there was a backlash against the “tini-ization” of drinks and a return to the classic Martini. As craft bars began to emerge, their cocktail menus no longer included long lists of “Martinis,” and customers would gradually start to rediscover the difference between traditional drink styles. See craft cocktail.
Conrad, Barnaby. The Martini. New York: Chronicle, 1995
Miller, Anistatia, and Brown, Jared. Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini. New York: Harper Collins, 2013.
Samovar Vodka (advertisement). Baltimore Evening Sun, July 2, 1946, 15.
By: Robert Hess