Oh, piffle. The objection is that a bar can’t make a simple, traditional drink. A drink that is in every Mr. Boston guidebook out there.
Now, if they couldn’t fix a glass of milk…
Yes, I addressed that, Frank. Obviously any worthy bartender should be able to make basic traditional drinks. That said, there is a huge amount of more-sophisticated-than-thou attitude in this thread about “girlie drinks” and those who drink them, and I think it’s obnoxious.
You’re right; you did. My apologies.
Dammit, how am I supposed to flame out in righteous indignation if you’re going to be all reasonable like that? Harumph.
Hey, drink whatever you want. Knock yourself out. However, please just don’t take over the names of traditional cocktails. It really does suck when you order a martini and the server asks what brand of vodka you want with it. Different bars may very well have different names for the ‘X’ fruit liquer with vodka served in a martini glass, and the majority of those names may include the word ‘martini’ but that shouldn’t take away from the original meaning of ‘martini’. And as just another bar patron, I understand that you don’t have any control over what the menu calls it, but it still sucks that I have to tell a dipshit bartender how to make a martini.
I don’t even like martinis, but I could, I think, fake one. Gin, a bit of dry vermouth, shaken with ice and strained into a glass. Add an olive on a stick. Is that it?
No shakey the gin. Gin should only ever be stirred lightly. And some people don’t like vermouth at all (I personally go for a 4:1 gin to vermouth ratio). Pre-chill the glass as well; nothing is worse than a warm martini.
I usually do one gigantic olive, two large, or skewer up three small ones, but that’s my individual thing.
And if you put cocktail onions in it instead of olives, it’s a Gibson.
You’re telling me there are actual “made for human consumption” molotov cocktails and every time I’ve pulled that bullshit nobody has brought me one?
**
Some of these people in the adult beverage industry are even more ignorant than I originally thought!** (with apologies to those of you who aren’t)
Perfect. That’s not even faking, that is a martini. But if your customers were clamoring for vodka martinis (ugh) then that’s what you would make. I know that I’m pretty much tilting at windmills here, but still it would be nice if basic bartenders knew the basic cocktails.
BTW, fuck the guys who say that you should just think about vermouth or wave the glass towards France. The martini requires a decent amount of vermouth. Otherwise, you are just drinking shots of gin. Big difference.
There’s one bar I occasionally go to where if somebody orders a vodka martini, the bartenders don’t even bother putting any vermouth in any more–they just shake vodka with ice, strain, and add either a twist or a couple of olives.
Is this one of those “tough” bars?
Then, I’ll have a glass of wam gin served with a human hair…
No (assuming you’re asking about my earlier comment rather than someone else’s). It’s actually pretty upscale; it’s just that a lot of their customers are yuppie assholes who think they’re cool because they’re ordering a martini but who don’t actually know anything about cocktails. If they were given a proper martini, they’d (a) complain about it being made with gin, and (b) complain about not being dry enough.
You can actually get a proper cocktail at the place, but you have to let the bartenders know that you really do want it made the correct way.
There’s another bar in a local upscale steakhouse that has a similar clientele only more so, and one of the waitresses insisted that a martini was not supposed to have any vermouth in it–she recommended it to my companion as a cheaper way to place an order for a double vodka.
Then that was you at the Tabu Bar!
I live in Newtown, it’s fab - what place are you talking about? (And a misplaced Yank, too!)
I try to stay out of the Cross if I’m looking for more than dancing and drinking (and mostly with my gay friends.)
Cheers,
G
Australian cocktail bar doesn’t know how to make every cocktail common to US cocktail bars… Who’d have thought? Reminds of that time I went into a deli in New York and they didn’t even know what a Chiko roll was, much less have any.
Eh, to be fair he’s asking for a cocktail I’ve gotten all over Sydney (whiskey sour). And it’s pretty universal (Canada, the UK…it happens to be a drink I liked when I could still drink.) I’m not sure you can make this issue Yank vs Skippy, but hey, go for your life.
Cheers,
G
Drinking “girlie drinks” happens to be a very serious problem.
Ok, Bailey’s is an acceptable substitute for cream in coffee, but that is not an Irish coffee.
I rather like whiskey sours. They are usually not too sweet and don’t upset my stomach, and most places make them. I like old fashioneds, but they are rather sweet and idiots tend to make them with syrup and lots of club soda. My old cocktail recipe books don’t have either of those. A rusty nail is easier if I want something sweet and if I really want something sweet I order amaretto and Dr Pepper.
One of my favorite drinks is a salty dog. I once had to send it back twice before they put it in a glass with a salt rim. It was not like they did not know how to salt a glass, they served margaritas.
Ya know, I don’t even think my local bar even has wine–if it does I’ve never seen any evidence of it. Some bars just aren’t wine-stocking bars.