The Essential Collection: say what?

I may have mentioned that we've just launched a new cocktail menu at Le Monde, but it's always worth throwing out there. However while the list is pretty big, it can't cover all bases, particularly with regards to classic cocktails. Bearing that in mind, we're getting together a list of all the "essential" classics that aren't on the menu with the intention of tweaking recipes to fit the products we have in stock and getting them put on our tills. All of this, though, begs the question of which cocktails can be considered "essential"?

It can't purely be a question of age. We classified the Margarita as a classic for the menu, even though it doesn't have much heritage before the middle part of the twentieth century, whereas a Martinez* - mentioned by Jerry Thomas in his 1882 bartender's guide, and the forefather of modern Martini - is undeniably a classic cocktail, but given its popularity it is hardly an essential drink for the modern bartender to know.

I foresee a rush on dudes ordering Martinezes (Martinii?) on a Saturday night, just to shut me up.

So, the question remains. Of course, lots of the old school drinks that we couldn't put on the menu will be looked at; the Old Fashioned, the Sazerac, for example, and we'll be taking a long, hard look at the Tiki legacy; the Zombie, the Mai Tai, so on. Clearly we're also going to have to include some drinks from the dark ages of the mid-late 80s - there'll have to be a Sex On The Beach, maybe even the Alabama Slammer (damn you Cruise, damn you) - on the grounds that we will get asked to make them.

I don't have an answer yet. Surely it will lie in the middle ground between history, popularity and quality. I think I'm going to enjoy getting there more than arriving.

* Just in case I do get that rush...

Martinez Cocktail (Jerry Thomas' recipe)
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 1 dash of Boker's bitters.
2 dashes of Maraschino.
1 pony of Old Tom gin.
1 wine glass of Vermouth.
2 small lumps of ice.

Martinez (Simon Difford's recipe)
2 shots Plymouth Gin
½ shot Cinzano Rosso vermouth
¼ shot Cointreau
¼ shot Gomme syrup
3 dashes Orange bitters (optional)

Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with a twist of orange zest.