Martini Drinkers Want To Know:

> [why does a 3 ounce recipe fill 6+ounce glass?]
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First off, there is the fact that when a bar/resturant sets up their
drink program, they (should) carefully choose their glassware to match
the size of drink that they will be serving, and charging for.

These days it seems even bars are getting into the whole "bigger is
better" concept, and I've been seeing ridiculously sized 10 ounce
cocktail glasses, which are not only too big to drink before they start
getting warm, but they also can hide over (and under) pours, thus
making potential profits from the bar evaporate.

The glasses are so huge these days that there isn't really any need for
people to order a double... it already is. And yes, this is
automatically figured into the price of the drink.

Secondly, while many recipe books will carefully list out a drink in
ounces, this isn't necessarily what the bar is using. Again, they are
focused on pouring a drink that properly fills the glass, and so they
just use whatever it takes. Ideally a Martini would be served in a
slightly smaller glass than a Sidecar, thus allowing both drinks to
have the same amount of "alcohol" in them.

A properly poured cocktail should -never- come up to the rim of the
glass. There should always be a decent "collar" (the space between the
rim of the glass and the top of the liquid) that is not only visually
appealing, but also allows the customer to pick up the drink without
spilling all over the place.


> It can, but it shouldn't. There should be very little water in
Martini.
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While this is a common belief, it is also wrong. The proper amount of
water is actually an important ingredient in any cocktail. The water
helps soften the bite of the alcohol, and since you aren't taking
anything "away" from the drink, it still has the same amount of alcohol
in it.

Let's assume that you are making a Martini with 3 ounces of total
liquid ingredients going into the mixing glass, add a scoop of ice,
stir until well chilled (or shake, if you are one of those types), and
what will come out will be a 4 to 4 1/2 ounce drink. Usually about 1
ounce of water gets added to a properly made cocktail. Essentially the
same amount of water gets added if you stir or shake a cocktail
(Martini's should be stirred, Sidecars should be shaken)


> if i were to make a martini for someone, and measured it carefully
> according to the recipe, would they feel cheated if the glass weren't
> full? do they come that way in proper bars?
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As mentioned before, the amounts printed in recipe books aren't
necessarily designed for the glassware "you" are using. If this is for
home use, and you've got a recipe book you plan on using, and if you
want to (at least in the beginning) try to measure carefully so you get
the drink right, then mix up a drink according to the recipe, stirring
or shaking it with water to get it chilled properly, then pour it into
a measureing cup to determine how much liquid it holds. Now check some
of the other recipes in the book to see if they are relatively
consistantly the same amount (often they aren't!). Now you want to find
some cocktail glasses that will be "appropriate" for that size of
recipe. Let's say you ended up with 4 ounces of liquid when you
measured, then to get a glass that will allow you to provide the right
amount of "collar", you probably want to try to find a 6 ounce glass.

Just for the sake of completeness, here is how I make my Martini's at
home:

dry Martini
3 parts gin
1 part dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon peel.

I've got several different sizes of cocktail glasses, the one I
probably use the most is 8 ounces, and so I make my drink with 3 ounces
of gin and 1 ounce of dry vermouth. Technically, this is a "double".
-Robert Hess
www.Drinkboy.com
www.TheMuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org