Supersize me!

[foodcyclist]

I've noticed over the years that the size of cocktails I've ordered in restaurants and bars have increased considerably. I always just wrote this off to economy. The bars will perhaps sweeten their profit margin by serving a larger cocktail to justify a larger price tag. But I find myself following suit at home and with friends. I've since retired my 'petit' cocktail glasses and now have a working stock of what used to be considered MONDO sized stemware. I haven't been served a cocktail in years that would be considered 'classic' proportions. Just a meaningless observation. Perhaps I'm still a bit foggy after last night's Manhattan....

[weinoo]

At home, I like to serve a cocktail between 3 and 4 oz. with dilution. Sometimes, I'll even split one of those in tiny 2 oz. cocktail glasses I purchased at Fish's Eddy here in NY. This allows us to taste a number of different drinks without getting too blitzed.

At the fine cocktail lounges (and restaurants with excellent cocktail programs) here in the city, cocktails are probably right around the same size - that is, 3 - 4 oz. (maybe a bit more?) with dilution.

Restaurant and bar cocktails - usually not being correctly made, are ridiculously large, imo. Who needs a 7 or 8 oz. badly made martini?

[Kent Wang]

I like bigger glasses that are not filled to the brim, so less spilling, which is wasteful and leaves the glass all sticky.

[Special K]

I have a collection of the smaller glasses. We don't really want or need a huge martini. As for ordering them when we go out - never. They're always too big and have too much vermouth, or they try to give us VODKA instead of gin!!!

[divalasvegas]

Given the liability that could be incurred by a bar--at least in the U.S.--if a customer should get wasted on a couple of these gigantic cocktails, then leave and have a horrific traffic accident, I'm truly surprised that this trend is still going strong.

And Special K I totally agree, except for me it would be if they tried to give me GIN instead of Vodka!

[Mayur]

Plus if the high-quality cocktail venues in NY, Chicago, SF, etc. can get away with charging $12 for a 3- to 4-ounce pour, then the market is clearly there. I've discussed the possibility of scaling down cocktails and offering them at $6-9 for a 3-ounce pour. I can see price-sensitive consumers seeing value in that even if the overall critical mass for cocktail geeks isn't present to encourage the trend.

divalasvegas: A vodka martini really shouldn't be the default, though. That said, nor should a one-drop-of-vermouth martini. The "classic" martini had neither of those features (Churchill et al were going against the trend *and* having to survive on reduced product from France in asking for "dry" martinis, and the vodka martini did not exist as a "martini" as late as Embury [1948], who calls it a kangaroo).

[divalasvegas]

Plus if the high-quality cocktail venues in NY, Chicago, SF, etc. can get away with charging $12 for a 3- to 4-ounce pour, then the market is clearly there. I've discussed the possibility of scaling down cocktails and offering them at $6-9 for a 3-ounce pour. I can see price-sensitive consumers seeing value in that even if the overall critical mass for cocktail geeks isn't present to encourage the trend.

divalasvegas: A vodka martini really shouldn't be the default, though. That said, nor should a one-drop-of-vermouth martini. The "classic" martini had neither of those features (Churchill et al were going against the trend *and* having to survive on reduced product from France in asking for "dry" martinis, and the vodka martini did not exist as a "martini" as late as Embury [1948], who calls it a kangaroo).

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I know that I'm quite the heretic Mayur but I truly do not like gin (nor scotch for that matter) and recently had one of the best martini's ever mixed by a good friend mine ("gently shaken not stirred" she said) made with very good vodka and the proper amount of dry vermouth--definitely "wetter" than that godawful one drop nonsense.

[Special K]

Well, yeah, divalasvegas and Mayur, but the thing is, if you really just don't like vermouth, asking for "a Tanqueray gin martini, straight up and bone dry, no fruit, please" just sounds better than "gimme some gin!"

[thirtyoneknots]

My preference except in rare occasions is for a cocktail of 2-2.5 oz (before chilling). This comes out to about 3 oz after stirring or shaking and goes nicely into my small glasses. Better to have several small drinks that stay cold than one large one that is warm by the bottom. Also lets you try different things in one night and/or doesn't make you feel like you need to drink more just because there's still booze in the glass.