# That is NOT a f\*\*king martini!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315 "2006-01-04T01:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/61 "2006-01-04T22:58:32Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > Remind me never to drink anything in a martini glass again. That’s disgusting. Well, in fairness I’m sure the rims are wiped clean, and the detergent that is typically used is so caustic a solvent that I don’t think anything biological can survive–the stuff _dissolves_ lipstick, and you know how hard that it to remove–but I hypothesize that the base of the bowl of a martini glass doesn’t necessarily receive the treatment that the rim does, and the syrupy stuff in sweet cocktails dries out and doesn’t always get washed out properly if the bartender is in a hurry. But next time I’ll make sure to specify “on the rocks”, just to be certain. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/62 "2006-01-04T23:17:06Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > the detergent that is typically used is so caustic a solvent that I don’t think anything biological can survive–the stuff _dissolves_ lipstick, and you know how hard that it to remove You’d be surprised what sodium hydroxide (I assume thats what you are talking about) _won’_ remove/destroy, even at higher concentrations than the dishwasher normnally uses. I would not trust anything that had not been scrubbed. Simply exposing the glass to the cleaning solution is almost never sufficient. -CynicalGabe, experienced dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/63 "2006-01-05T01:12:05Z")
2 parts gin to one part vermouth. Shake with ice and pour. Add an olive. I prefer beefeater gin. The vermouth is Noilly Prat. The olive has blue cheese in it. I just had one and it was yummy. I don’t care for Saphire at all. I love my cocktail glasses. They keep the drink cold and look so pretty, and remind me to pay attention to the drink and not move around so much. Yes, shaking dilutes the drink more but you get the lovely slivers of ice and we keep the gin in the freezer so it balances out. I always do my drinking at home. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/64 "2006-01-05T01:35:19Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > You’d be surprised what sodium hydroxide (I assume thats what you are talking about) won’ remove/destroy, even at higher concentrations than the dishwasher normnally uses. I would not trust anything that had not been scrubbed. Simply exposing the glass to the cleaning solution is almost never sufficient. Hush. I don’t want to hear that. I’d rather hear **Stranger** ’s opinion that the stuff they “clean” the glasses in is strong enough to kill anything. > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > But next time I’ll make sure to specify “on the rocks”, just to be certain. Would it be too strange to start traveling with my own glass? Yes? Oh, well. > [@lee](#): > > The olive has blue cheese in it. I’ve never seen those, but they sound great. Had a martini last night, as a matter of fact, and I’m thinking those would have been a lovely addition. I express no opinion on your choice of alcohol. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/65 "2006-01-05T01:36:31Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > As to spilling the drink: I’ve never had this problem. I’ve drank thousands of them and I can’t recall spilling any off the top of my head. If by “thousands of them,” you mean “so many that I habitually set my martini glass on the top of my head,” I’m not surprised that you don’t recall them spilling. If you mean that you actually never have spilled on off the top of your head, I’ve just got to marvel at how magnificent your posture must be. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/66 "2006-01-05T02:21:39Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > Hush. I don’t want to hear that. I’d rather hear **Stranger** ’s opinion that the stuff they “clean” the glasses in is strong enough to kill anything. Well, the stuff will eat the nail polish right off of nails. I have a hard time seeing how any bacteria could survive, although it seems like sloe gin residue is a nearly insoluable barrier; they probably use it to contain molecular acid. Anyway, the detergent should break down any buggies. It probably won’t touch prions (the infectious proteins that cause spongiform encephalopothies like vCJD), but that’s only a problem if someone has been having _BRAINS!_ cocktails. I’d avoid the undead clubs for that reason. > [@Campion](#): > > Would it be too strange to start traveling with my own glass? Yes? Oh, well. You could do it as part of cultivating your Howard Hughes-esque obsessive/compulsive persona in an effort to convince people that you are a brilliant but slightly unhinged legal genius. It’ll be our secret that you don’t wear tissue boxes on your feet and pee into milk bottles at home. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/67 "2006-01-05T03:19:04Z")
I find your post intriguing and would like your opinion on the oft-overlooked Gibson which, in my opinion, reigns as the world’s most sophisticated drink[sup]tm[/sup] now that the vulgarians have had their sport with our once-chaste cocktail. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/68 "2006-01-05T03:43:19Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > This method has rarely let me down. Go to a nice bar or restaraunt. Order a martini or vodka martini the way you prefer it. The bartender will place it on the bar or table in front of you. When you want a sip, pick it up and have one. Unless you are a clutz, there shouldn’t be any problem. While this seems like fool proof advice, there is always an exception. Twin Citians will know this is a true story. There is a downtown Minneapolis bar called the News Room. It’s a reasonably nice place. As you’d guess, their motif is newspapers. They’ve got everything from the walls to the menus done up with newspaper headlines. For reasons unknown to modern man (or maybe just to me), their bar however is in the appearance of an olde time schooner. About 90% of the people sitting at the bar, simply drink their drinks and wonder what an old sailing ship is doing in the middle of a newsroom. The last 10% are forced to sit at the very front of the ship. Sadly, on my first and last visit to the News Room, I was one of the 10%. My friend orders a beer, and I order a martini (a real one), up. The bartender mixes up my martini, sets the glass in front of me, and proceeds to strain the drink into my glass. As I’m sure he intended, he had measured the drink perfectly, and I would have gotten a completely full glass of gin…if…the sides of those olde time sailing vessels didn’t slope upward as they reached the front of the ship. Yes folks, the bar slopes upward. I sadly watched my lovely Citadelle gin spill over the sides of its angular container and run down the bar…quickly to be soaked up by the paper bar napkin resting under my friends beer. Such a senseless loss. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/69 "2006-01-05T03:56:35Z")
Beefeater/Citadelle/Plymouth/Seagram’s in that order. Agree that Bombay/Bombay Sapphire are not great (both brewed private-label-wise by Glenhall’s btw). Boodle’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/70 "2006-01-05T04:20:13Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > I find your post intriguing and would like your opinion on the oft-overlooked Gibson which, in my opinion, reigns as the world’s most sophisticated drink[sup]tm[/sup] now that the vulgarians have had their sport with our once-chaste cocktail. A Gibson is a delight but you must have good cocktail onions that are nice and crunchy not those horrible mushy things you find in most bars trying to pass themselves off as cocktail onions. I prefer [these.](http://www.mezzetta.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=10100107) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/71 "2006-01-05T05:35:14Z")
> [@usar\_jag](#): > > To answer your query about other names, there is a perfectly acceptable name for these martini “variations,” which is of course, “Cocktail.” Nope. If it doesn’t have bitters, it’s not a cocktail. Unless you want to get into a debate about the definition of “cocktail”. > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Sorry, but traditionally, cocktails were served in rocks glasses over ice Depends on the cocktail. For example, there are plenty of cocktails in Jerry Thomas’ book where he says to strain them (into a wineglass, granted). ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/72 "2006-01-05T05:40:29Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Nope. If it doesn’t have bitters, it’s not a cocktail. Unless you want to get into a debate about the definition of “cocktail”. I don’t want to get into a debate per se, but recently there was a thread from someone who was aghast that they were at a cocktail party and the hostess was pestering them about not having a drink. So I googled up definitions for both cocktail, and cocktail party. Most of what I found was a cocktail is an alcoholic drink, and a cocktail party is a get together where alcoholic drinks are served. A cocktail must include bitters? ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/73 "2006-01-05T05:48:36Z")
The subheading says, “fighting ignorance,” and yet here we find people preferring Beefeater to Bombay Sapphire. It’s taking longer than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/74 "2006-01-05T05:54:41Z")
> [@Walter Windchill](#): > > The subheading says, “fighting ignorance,” and yet here we find people preferring Beefeater to Bombay Sapphire. > > It’s taking longer than we thought. Bunch of savages in this thread! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/75 "2006-01-05T06:15:58Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t want to get into a debate per se, but recently there was a thread from someone who was aghast that they were at a cocktail party and the hostess was pestering them about not having a drink. So I googled up definitions for both cocktail, and cocktail party. Most of what I found was a cocktail is an alcoholic drink, and a cocktail party is a get together where alcoholic drinks are served. > > A cocktail must include bitters? If you’re going by the traditional definition. For example, see [here](http://museumoftheamericancocktail.org/museum/TheBalance.html). ---
**Author:** ![Curious\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Curious\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curious_Joe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/76 "2006-01-05T06:43:41Z")
It has been said that SDMB is dominated by American participants. Reading this far into the thread, it appears to be the case. Just try Europe (especially France), and ask for a Martini. All you get is a small portion of sweet vermouth (generally, Martini and Rossi brand) with one piece of ice in a slim glass. Now, if you ask for an Americano there, you’ll get the same drink mixed with a few drops of Compari, plus chunks of fresh oranges and lemon. If you want gin, vodka or anything else in your Martini while in Europe, you need to specifically ask for it. In that case, the bartender says: “You must be American”. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/77 "2006-01-05T09:16:10Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > **even sven** , I think I love you. > > FWIW, in parts west, I know lemon drops in shot glasses, and have seen them in tumblers. I’m sure they’re served in martini glasses often enough, but such places send me running for the hills. Awwwwww! I think you’ve probably frequented the places where I’ve gotten these disappointing lemondrops. I got that wonderful first one at the Blue Lagoon from the short little guy. The disappointing ones span the bars of Santa Cruz and beyond… **Debaser** , I am a klutz. I don’t frequent nice bars. And I don’t order martinis. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/78 "2006-01-05T15:16:04Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > A Gibson is a delight but you must have good cocktail onions that are nice and crunchy not those horrible mushy things you find in most bars trying to pass themselves off as cocktail onions. I prefer [these.](http://www.mezzetta.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=10100107) Gibson lovers should also try [these](http://www.mcsweet.com/). Fabulous, whether they’re soaked in gin or not. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/79 "2006-01-05T15:48:24Z")
> [@Walter Windchill](#): > > The subheading says, “fighting ignorance,” and yet here we find people preferring Beefeater to Bombay Sapphire. > > It’s taking longer than we thought. Great handle. Are you by chance one of those newspaper people in Minneapolis? ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315/80 "2006-01-05T15:53:32Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > If you’re going by the traditional definition. For example, see [here](http://museumoftheamericancocktail.org/museum/TheBalance.html). Yet, your own source is offering recipes for [cocktails, sans bitters](http://museumoftheamericancocktail.org/news/gazette/2005.12.html). I say, if it tastes good, drink it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-is-not-a-f-king-martini/338315.md?page=5)