A woman sits behind a light haze of cigarette smoke. Her right hand clutches a glass that is half full of gin, a drop of vermouth and two olives — a classic martini. The man next to her is drinking a Journalist Martini — Beefeater gin, Sweet & Dry Vermouth, Orange Curacao, bitters and lemon juice. Across from her is a Silver Bullet Martini —Tanqueray and dry vermouth, with a twist of lemon.

It’s 5:30 p.m. on a Friday at Von’s Grand City Café & Martini-Manhattan Memorial in downtown Seattle, and almost every table inside the crowded bar has at least one frozen martini glass perched on it. Color and clarity differs in each glass: cloudy yellow, neon green, peach, clear and more.

Von’s, a self-proclaimed martini bar, has 99 martini varieties on its menu. It serves two basic categories of the drink: classic and specialty martinis. Every martini is served with no ice in a chilled, traditional six-ounce stemmed glass. Drinkers have a choice of an imported, stuffed green olive or a fresh lemon twist.

Signs devoted to drinking and Seattle pack the walls of Von’s. The words ‘Seattle’s best martini’ gleam in neon green from the window. Above the bar a sign reads, “We employ the wave-the-cork-over-the-glass method or, as Sir Winston Churchill described the perfect dry martini, ‘Glance at the vermouth bottled briefly while pouring the juniper distillate freely.’” On either side of Churchill’s quote hangs giant $2 bills with martini-glass centers.

Evidence of the martini’s popularity is obvious from the four shelves behind Von’s bar devoted to martinis. Half-gallon bottles of gin and vodka are turned upside-down, feeding into the bartender’s beverage gun.

Almost every drink that leaves the bar on a server’s tray is in a stemmed martini glass. Von’s embodies the increasing popularity of the martini culture. More and more young people are nodding their heads toward the stiff drink.

While martinis have been around for decades, they are just now becoming popular again.

“Martinis were big in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They were always there, but other drinks came out, and the younger you are, the faster you want to get drunk,” said Mike Ruhl, bartender at Oliver’s.

The martini has always been considered a drink for older people, said Brandon Winters, bartender and martini drinker.

“There is a move back toward classy society,” Winters said. “(Society) is pulling itself away from punk and rap, and people are dressing nicer. The classier drinks go along with that.”

The movie “Swingers” and the rising popularity of jazz music and swing dancing also play an important part in the rising popularity of the martini, Winters said.

“The whole retro thing is in right now,” said Gregg Pattle, bar server at Von’s, “and you get more bang for your buck.”

Yet, martinis are about more than hip clothes and swing dancing; they are a symbol of something more substantial, Ruhl said.

“The martini is based on romance and tradition, a time to slow down and enjoy life,” Ruhl said. “… It is a drink of being successful and sophisticated. Instead of going to keggers, people are having martini parties.”

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