Finally, one of the videos we’ve been planning for a while is put to bed. Please enjoy our demonstration of why martini glasses are stupid (video after the break).
As always, higher-quality versions of the video can be found here at .mac. I showed this to bbum and his first entirely correct comment was “You didn’t break the glass!” I actually had that in the script, but due to the location that proved infeasible. Maybe I’ll do a sequel.
I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, with the exception of the sound quality. I have mentally budgeted for the necessary equipment to make our soundtracks much better, but it’s hard to bring myself to pull the trigger. Therefore, this might be a good time to remind everyone who enjoys these videos that if you want to support them and help us improve the quality, please visit our sponsors. It’s a lot easier to drop $400 on audio equipment if I know it won’t have to be paid for entirely out of my own pocket.
Enjoy!
The “related videos” on YouTube are going to make you weep.
Um…so if I follow your argument, martini glasses are stupid because you don’t know how to drink from one?
Here’s a tip – the conical glass is designed for sipping. If you’re gulping, you’re doing it wrong. Also, the whole point of the martini glass is to enable you to finish the thing while it’s still cold. A classic four-ounce martini fits comfortably in a five or more ounce glass, and will be gone before it gets too warm.
Drinking a strong cocktail in a wine glass will result in a lot of alcohol vapors shooting up your nose. Those glasses are designed to enhance the aromas of good wine. Believe me, a well-made Gibson isn’t going to offer a very good bouquet.
Yes, a filled-to-the-brim seven ounce glass is a bad idea because you’ll have a hard time picking it up and a hard time sipping it. Yes, it will be warm by the time you get to the bottom unless you speed through it, and if you do you’ll be on the floor by your second Manhattan. But don’t fault the glass for its frequent misuse.
“the whole point of the martini glass is to enable you to finish the thing while it’s still cold”
A highball will do a better job of that, exposing the minimum surface area of the drink.
@jstap – But you’ve got to hold a highball glass in your hand if you’re walking around a cocktail party, warming the glass and its contents. The martini glass has a stem to hold instead. (The stemless ones are beyond pointless.)
I could be wrong, but I don’t think the surface area of the drink that’s exposed to the air is as significant a factor.
I too expected the glass to be thrown against the wall.
“The whole point is to be sipped?” Well the problem is carrying it (especially by the stem) until you’ve sipped the first inch away because the sides are not made in any way to keep liquid from rolling out, in fact encourage it. Combine that with drinks numbered 2,3, and 4 and there will be liquid somewhere it doesn’t belong. I suppose some people have developed through extensive training good martini carrying skills. I haven’t so I’ll take the wine glass (or coffee mug).
-Doug
I can’t wait to do my martini recipe video and serve it in a jelly jar.
Drink what you want out of what you want. I’ve had more than a few Manhattans on the rocks, so I shouldn’t be throwing stones.
But really: don’t fill it to the rim. Most martini glasses are 7oz and up – you have to search a bit to find ones as small as 5oz. Make your drinks 4oz at a time and you’ll be happier for it. They’ll be icy from start to finish, and you won’t spill a drop until at least your 5th cocktail.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around that highball glass suggestion. Assuming you’re not throwing ice cubes into the glass, wouldn’t a highball glass either involve a LOT of gin or a lot of tilting your head backwards?
As the original snarker about the glass in your Sidecar video, let me say I love this new video. Very nicely done, your wry tone of voice and the edits of the martini glass disasters are great. I like the background of the first shot, too, although if you’re going to be in such a rectilinear scene you really need to level the camera.
That being said, I couldn’t disagree more about your opinion on martini glasses. Yeah, if you fill it to the rim it’s impossible to drink from. Duh! A properly filled martini glass is about half full, so the liquid is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up to the rim. Even so the glass is a bit top heavy and unstable, true. But it has a charm and propriety to it that’s part of the drink. Cocktail time is a ritual and its furnishings must be properly acknowledged.
It doesn’t help that you used a tacky glass with a novelty crooked stem.
By the way, the straight sided V shape is properly speaking a martini glass. A cocktail glass is traditionally slightly bowl-shaped, although you almost never see one anywhere anymore. Overpriced-manufacturer Riedell has one roughly the shape I’m thinking, see http://www.amazon.com/Riedel-Extreme-Martini-Cocktail-Glasses/dp/B000069CEO
One of the best cocktails I was ever served was at the Mercer Kitchen in New York. The glass there was slightly curved, but in the opposite direction from a bowl, making for a glass that got shallower to the top. Beautiful shape, almost impossible to drink from.
I agree that it seems you are overfilling the poor martini glass. They are designed to look elegant, and display the drink as much as hold it.
Large ones also make great serving dishes for a variety of desserts.
Oh, they make excellent salsa dip containers! Especially for the small round chips, they fit perfectly into the bottom to get the last drop of salsa!
No specific comment on the content of this video, but I am enjoying these, so keep them coming.
I do think that a modest investment in audio – a wireless mic – will make big difference. I find poor audio a distraction. We humans have good hearing, it is pretty amazing that many people can tell the difference between audio sampled at 44, 22 and 11 kHz, yet can hardly tell video at 30, 20 or 15 fps).
I guess i did notice the audio (excuse me while I go click on an ad) but it didn’t bother me. Now if you were to try to sing with audio like that I think I would find it distracting.
It’s hard to find a nice bowl-shaped cocktail glass new, but at antique stores and estate sales I’ve found lots that are better shaped, properly portioned, and well-balanced/not top-heavy. And terrifically swanky to boot.
A terrific bar I went to in Seattle, Vessel, has just switched over their entire collection of glassware to antique glasses. So two patrons may not get the same glass, but they’ll each get an awesome glass that’s perfect to drink from and that suits their drink.
Oh, but here’s the other thing: At a lot of bars the bartenders fill massive martini glasses to the brim, and one is pretty much forced to slurp out the first few sips to get the drink under control.
There’s not much you can do though: You’re not going to ask for a smaller drink (I assume), and if you ask them to pour it into a wine glass you’re going to spend minutes explaining what you want and why, and then suffering the stares of the rest of the bar. It’s a sad statement about our drinking world today.