“Back then, people used a red vermouth instead of white and an Old Tom, which was a much heavier gin compared to the fresh, clean, aromatic gin that we have now. So, in fact, it was nothing like we drink now,” she explains. “Around 1880, a rough martini recipe took shape to something that we would recognise now. It consisted of London dry gin, dry French vermouth and bitters. In 1904, bitters left the recipe and it became the drink we’re used to today.”

It would be wrong to talk about the martini’s history without mentioning its serious pop culture cachet. Immortalised in films such as The Pink Panther, Goldfinger, Casino Royale and a firm fixture in TV shows including Mad Men and Sex And The City, it’s long represented worldliness and rebellion. But ordering a martini these days doesn’t guarantee gin, vermouth or even an olive – you might find a beetroot at Three Sheets, an oyster shell at Christina’s and Alphonso mangoes at Swift.

At the mid-century Hackney neighbourhood bar A Bar with Shapes for a Name, 100ml bottled lychee martinis have been flying off the shelves, with over a thousand bottles selling a month. “We wanted to make a lychee drink that challenges the idea of lychee being overly sweet and rose,” says co-owner Remy Savage.

Far from your classic vermouth-heavy tipple, the newest iterations of the martini are rooted in experimentation. “The scope of what can be a martini is evolving,” says Samuel Russell, bar manager at Christina’s Shoreditch. “Bartenders are starting to use more kitchen, fermenting and distilling techniques in the preparation of cocktails and preparing more ingredients in-house.”

Whether it’s the chance to experience these newest takes or the allure of a martini glass’s distinctive stem and v shape, they’re earning a new crowd of admirers. While cocktail trends come and go, its three simple ingredients – however you decide to mix them – will always be timeless. We predict they’ll continue to light up your Instagram feed for years to come.

It’s official: martinis are the It drink of 2023. Here’s how they got their cool back