Things you just don't get

[indesertum]

Yeah. I thought that was interesting. Orange bitters in martinis. Apparently orange bitters were more popular. Might have to spring for a bottle.

 

[Bhowie]

I don't mind my Martinis shaken. The extra dilution is welcome. But if you shake you'd better double strain.

 

[gomestar]

putting together a deck that will go around the world, and sometimes to people whose grasp of english is a little meh. We need a footnote so people don't confuse a certain element as being tied to equity. In that footnote, a colleague decided to use the word equitably.

dumbass.

 

[indesertum]



I don't mind my Martinis shaken. The extra dilution is welcome. But if you shake you'd better double strain.

This many times. I actually sometimes like a manhattan shaken but if you're going to shake a clear cocktail I want it double strained. I'd have it triple strained but I don't have an epic beard

 

[Piobaire]

I've really loosened up on the whole Martini thing. I mean, I have the way I like them, but I've stopped being any sort of purist. I don't bother with the fact there's no such thing as a "vodka Martini" because in fact there is in that saying the phrase indicates a certain something to people that is understood. Yes, in reality it's a Kangaroo Kicker, but you're not going to get anything other than blank stares if you order one of those. Order a vodka martini and you're pretty likely to get straight vodka shaken and Hawthorne strained only into a cocktail glass with an olive in it. Another point would be there really is no such thing as a "martini glass" as that bad boy is actually a cocktail glass. However, if you ask for a cocktail glass these days you're pretty likely to get a rocks glass. /shrug

The only thing I find intolerable is when someone behind the bar doesn't listen...which is usually unless you're a regular or you've wandered into a place that actually values service.

 

[aravenel]



I've really loosened up on the whole Martini thing. I mean, I have the way I like them, but I've stopped being any sort of purist. I don't bother with the fact there's no such thing as a "vodka Martini" because in fact there is in that saying the phrase indicates a certain something to people that is understood. Yes, in reality it's a Kangaroo Kicker, but you're not going to get anything other than blank stares if you order one of those. Order a vodka martini and you're pretty likely to get straight vodka shaken and Hawthorne strained only into a cocktail glass with an olive in it. Another point would be there really is no such thing as a "martini glass" as that bad boy is actually a cocktail glass. However, if you ask for a cocktail glass these days you're pretty likely to get a rocks glass. /shrug

The only thing I find intolerable is when someone behind the bar doesn't listen...which is usually unless you're a regular or you've wandered into a place that actually values service.

All fair points.

It is remarkable how such minor tweaks to a martini change it so much as to be nearly unpalatable by some. Slightly tweak the spirit:vermouth ratio in a Manhattan for instance, and it may not be to your liking, but it's not likely to send people into fits. Do the same to a martini, and suddenly it's just WRONG. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.

I will definitely say that I am more cautious about ordering a martini than just about any other cocktail.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

The Mendoza Line separating a bad bar from a decent one is the ability to make an Aviation/Last Word. These are relatively uncommon requests, but not so obscure that a good bartender does not know them off the top of his or her head. If the bartender gives you a puzzled look, get up and leave and don't go back.

 

[Piobaire]



All fair points.

It is remarkable how such minor tweaks to a martini change it so much as to be nearly unpalatable by some. Slightly tweak the spirit:vermouth ratio in a Manhattan for instance, and it may not be to your liking, but it's not likely to send people into fits. Do the same to a martini, and suddenly it's just WRONG. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.

I will definitely say that I am more cautious about ordering a martini than just about any other cocktail.

When I'm out, and I feel like a tini, I'll order a vodka one as they are somehow harder to **** up to my palate than a gin one (sort of what you're saying above.) However I cannot count the times I specifically say, "Three parts vodka, one part vermouth" and I still either get straight vodka or waaayyyy too much vermouth. It's actually quite amazing that you'd not make the drink per request when the patron is sitting right there watching you make it.

 

[Connemara]

My dad has this weird obsession with Outback. The one in my hometown, which is a cookie cutter suburb with at least 20 chain restaurants, is always packed to the gills. Drive by on a Tuesday night at 6 and you'll see cars circling the parking lot for a spot.

I just do not get it. The food is ****.

 

[suited]

Two female co-workers were telling a story about a homemade ouija board they built. They went into detail about various dead people they spoke with, and without provocation from anyone listening to their story, swore that their fingers "weren't really even touching the piece, so it had to have been moving by itself." There's more, but it's too frustrating to type. One of them is 36.

 

[Gibonius]



The Mendoza Line separating a bad bar from a decent one is the ability to make an Aviation/Last Word. These are relatively uncommon requests, but not so obscure that a good bartender does not know them off the top of his or her head. If the bartender gives you a puzzled look, get up and leave and don't go back.

I had to tell a bartender how to make a Manhattan once. One of those college girls that got hired to work the Happy Hour shift (at an otherwise decent bar) and didn't know anything that didn't have the ingredients in the name.

Fortunately she had no clue and I got a Manhattan the size of a bathtub, so that was good.

 

[zarathustra]



putting together a deck that will go around the world, and sometimes to people whose grasp of english is a little meh. We need a footnote so people don't confuse a certain element as being tied to equity. In that footnote, a colleague decided to use the word equitably.

dumbass.

Understand this frustration. Am working on project that has people well versed in English from former British colonies in Asia, other non-colonial Asians and 'Muricans.

Unfortunately, we cannot seem to communicate as we are all (seemingly) speaking a different language.

 

[zarathustra]



I've really loosened up on the whole Martini thing. I mean, I have the way I like them, but I've stopped being any sort of purist. I don't bother with the fact there's no such thing as a "vodka Martini" because in fact there is in that saying the phrase indicates a certain something to people that is understood. Yes, in reality it's a Kangaroo Kicker, but you're not going to get anything other than blank stares if you order one of those. Order a vodka martini and you're pretty likely to get straight vodka shaken and Hawthorne strained only into a cocktail glass with an olive in it. Another point would be there really is no such thing as a "martini glass" as that bad boy is actually a cocktail glass. However, if you ask for a cocktail glass these days you're pretty likely to get a rocks glass. /shrug

The only thing I find intolerable is when someone behind the bar doesn't listen...which is usually unless you're a regular or you've wandered into a place that actually values service.

Which leads me to my rule, never drink anywhere you are not a regular unless you intend to become one.

An exception is made when there are both food and drinks consumed.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Tinis are hard to order and get something good. For something so simple... And yeah, you feel like a jackass--"GIN NAME HERE martini, VERMOUTH NAME HERE vermouth, 4/5/whatever:1 on the vermouth, stirred, up, with a twist".

I got a martini the other night with a twist that they didn't bother to actually twist. Just a piece of peel in the bottom of the glass. I had to fish it out with my fork and twist it myself.

After I lectured one of my coworkers that a martini should always be made with gin, and a twist is the only appropriate garnish, he proceeded to order a dirty ketel martini. Which he didn't like. He may have done it just to spite me.

I chose olives rather than a twist depending the gin I am drinking. Also, I don't get any juice, just the olive.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Two female co-workers were telling a story about a homemade ouija board they built. They went into detail about various dead people they spoke with, and without provocation from anyone listening to their story, swore that their fingers "weren't really even touching the piece, so it had to have been moving by itself." There's more, but it's too frustrating to type. One of them is 36.

They sound hot. Pics?