An excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow any thing else.

Australians of voting age may find this timeless wisdom useful come Saturday evening while awaiting the results of the election. The description, from an 1806 edition of a New York newspaper, is the first known definition of cocktail.

Cocktails and politics are traditional bedfellows, and a drink could be the most efficient legal distraction from the election result on Saturday night. That is, if you haven’t switched off already. I recommend a martini to dull the pain.

The martini is a highly traditional cocktail. The first important thing to know is that a martini is made with gin. Add a stiff measure of gin and a variably smaller amount of vermouth to plenty of ice, stir gently and serve with a garnish. Either an olive or a twist of lemon, depending on the botanicals in the gin.

Martini traditionalists, or ‘prescriptivists’ as they are known, will not brook any dissent - anything other than gin, vermouth and the requisite garnish, and the drink is not a martini. Yet the first known rendering of what has now become known as the martini involved measures of maraschino and bitters to mask the taste of low-quality gin, and several early recipes call for half a wineglass of gin to half a wineglass of vermouth.

Being a martini prescriptivist is very similar to being a conservative voter. A martini can only ever be a union between gin and vermouth; a marriage can only ever be a union between a man and a woman.

But in the early 2000s, a cocktail renaissance occurred that coincided with vodka being the spirit du jour. Bartenders started mixing vodka and vermouth to make vodka martinis, and somewhere along the way it became acceptable to drink this new variation on the old theme. I cringe if, upon ordering a martini at a bar, the bartender asks “gin or vodka?”

I’m supportive of variations regarding marriage arrangements, but acceptance of vodka martini drinkers is a slower process.

Martini prescriptivists and political conservatives are fighting an unwinnable battle. There is a sense that they are both attempting to keep the barbarians from the gate, shielding culture and society from the fickleness of trends. Society and cocktails are fluid assemblages, and change is an important part of evolution.

It is necessary to draw the line somewhere. I am not suggesting that it is acceptable to pour equal measures of beer and lemonade into a martini glass and call it a cocktail. But ongoing experimentation regarding taste and appetite is an intrinsic part of the martini experience, and also of the human experience.

My favourite martini recipe is below, but feel free to experiment - both with your cocktails and your vote.

7 parts The Westwinds Cutlass gin

1 part Noilly Prat dry vermouth

fresh ice

lemon twist

Pour the gin and vermouth into a mixing vessel over ice, and stir gently for several minutes. Strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with a twist of lemon. Drink!

Anne Treasure is a recent survivor of the book industry.