Message 15528 of 39188 in General Discussion

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I was preparing to revisit the history of the martini, particularly the part 
about when dry vermouth had to be specified in place of sweet vermouth, but 
you've answered things beautifully above.  

I'll add that I think this No Vermouth business is attributable to two other 
things, at least the recent trend:

1)  Trendiness - people feel that much more cool when they can ask for a drink 
such as a martini and then even specify that they like it a certain way.  
Nowadays people seem to think that asking for no vermouth makes them appear as 
martini aficianados, as though they know the REAL way to enjoy this drink

2)  Vodka martinis - I find that most of the people giving me this "Extra Dry" 
line are ordering vodka martinis.  In that case it actually does make a bit of 
sense as vermouth was originally added to gin and is far more suitable for 
complementing and mellowing out the complex flavors of this spirit.  Since 
good vodkas are virtually flavorless there really isn't much for the vermouth 
to do in the drink, other than add a slight vermouth flavor.  In a gin martini 
it's a much more carefully designed balancing act of flavors.