Actually, Dr Pepper is not a Cola of any kind. It is a flavored-carbonated drink of the "Pepper" variety. This distinction has been re-affirmed again and again by Dr. Pepper and US Courts up to the Nine Talking Heads in Washington.
It's most likely prune flavored, by the way, as prune juice used to be included prominently in its ingredients list. That's before they cheaped out with synthetic flavorings and high fructose corn syrup.
Culinary Pet Peeves
Moderator: Darb
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The Egoist
- Alphabet Soup, Esq.
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:59 pm
- Location: Long Island, NY, USA
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The Egoist
- Alphabet Soup, Esq.
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:59 pm
- Location: Long Island, NY, USA
Pet Peev: Stemware- Oversized
Cocktails and white wine are now almost universally sold in America in portions far too large to maintain the appropriate chill. Cocktail glasses in excess of 7 ounces are common and balloon glasses too large for even the headiest red wines are used for chilled whites.
The original recipe for a Dry Martini was 2 ounces Plymoth Gin to One ounce Dry Vermouth. That's 3 ounces, to be served in a 3 and 1/2 ounce glass. And lest you think that's not enough, that drink is a double by any standard. 7 ounces of chilled vodka with an ounce of olive brine is nearly a sextuple. That is, if you can swallow it before it gets warm.
Whites need small chilled glasses and emphatically do not need room to breathe because cold dampens aroma.
Bigger is not always better.
Cocktails and white wine are now almost universally sold in America in portions far too large to maintain the appropriate chill. Cocktail glasses in excess of 7 ounces are common and balloon glasses too large for even the headiest red wines are used for chilled whites.
The original recipe for a Dry Martini was 2 ounces Plymoth Gin to One ounce Dry Vermouth. That's 3 ounces, to be served in a 3 and 1/2 ounce glass. And lest you think that's not enough, that drink is a double by any standard. 7 ounces of chilled vodka with an ounce of olive brine is nearly a sextuple. That is, if you can swallow it before it gets warm.
Whites need small chilled glasses and emphatically do not need room to breathe because cold dampens aroma.
Bigger is not always better.
The Egoist
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
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The Egoist
- Alphabet Soup, Esq.
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:59 pm
- Location: Long Island, NY, USA
Pet Peeve- Martini- Usage of Term as a General Category
A Martini is a cocktail; that is a short drink, comprised of a base spirit and flavoring(s). The base spirit is, and always was, gin. The flavoring is, and always was, vermouth. The drink is stirred on ice and then strained into a chilled cocktail glass or a highball glass packed with fresh ice. The garbage (a technical term for any item placed in the glass intended only for visual effect) is a single, small cocktail olive, pitted and stuffed, preferrably with pimento- no pick is provided. The olive may be omitted and a lemon twist used as garnish (a technical term meaning any item placed in the glass that is intended to affect the flavor). Orange bitters were added at least until the '50's when availability became limited.
A Martini is not a word that means any drink poured into a cocktail glass (that is a stemmed glass thats bowl is an inverted cone).
Pet Peeve- Martini- Usage of Term as a Specific Drink
A Martini is comprised of gin and vermouth.
Substitute vodka, retain the stirring and vermouth- the drink is a Vodka Martini.
Reduce vermouth below a noticable amount and retain the cocktail glass- the drink is a gin served up or simply a "Gin Up." This is true even if you still insist on adding an olive. The same is true of the vodka variant
which becomes a "Vodka Up."
The rocks variant is a Gin on the Rocks. Vodka follows suit.
Olive brine added to a drink with gin and vermouth is often called a Dirty Martini. This variation likely deserves to retain that name.
As does the vodka variant- a Dirty Vodka Martini.
Olive brine replacing vermouth is not a Martini- it needs a new name.
Multiple olives, particularly those stuffed with blue cheese, affect the drink's taste too much to retain the name Martini.
Any combination of gin and vermouth shaken, is and always has been, a "Bradford." A "Vodka Bradford" would likely follow.
A Martini is a cocktail; that is a short drink, comprised of a base spirit and flavoring(s). The base spirit is, and always was, gin. The flavoring is, and always was, vermouth. The drink is stirred on ice and then strained into a chilled cocktail glass or a highball glass packed with fresh ice. The garbage (a technical term for any item placed in the glass intended only for visual effect) is a single, small cocktail olive, pitted and stuffed, preferrably with pimento- no pick is provided. The olive may be omitted and a lemon twist used as garnish (a technical term meaning any item placed in the glass that is intended to affect the flavor). Orange bitters were added at least until the '50's when availability became limited.
A Martini is not a word that means any drink poured into a cocktail glass (that is a stemmed glass thats bowl is an inverted cone).
Pet Peeve- Martini- Usage of Term as a Specific Drink
A Martini is comprised of gin and vermouth.
Substitute vodka, retain the stirring and vermouth- the drink is a Vodka Martini.
Reduce vermouth below a noticable amount and retain the cocktail glass- the drink is a gin served up or simply a "Gin Up." This is true even if you still insist on adding an olive. The same is true of the vodka variant
which becomes a "Vodka Up."
The rocks variant is a Gin on the Rocks. Vodka follows suit.
Olive brine added to a drink with gin and vermouth is often called a Dirty Martini. This variation likely deserves to retain that name.
As does the vodka variant- a Dirty Vodka Martini.
Olive brine replacing vermouth is not a Martini- it needs a new name.
Multiple olives, particularly those stuffed with blue cheese, affect the drink's taste too much to retain the name Martini.
Any combination of gin and vermouth shaken, is and always has been, a "Bradford." A "Vodka Bradford" would likely follow.
The Egoist
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
Well, it is never too late to learn.
In France, a Martini is just pure vermouth, of a particular Italian Brand, namely "Martini and Rossi". But if the brand is not available, any vermouth will be called a Martini, just as, in the olden times (anyone here old enough to remember?), a refrigerator of any brand would still be called a Frigidaire. When reading about a cocktail called "Dry Martini" (involving gin), I had always been under the impression that it just meant emphasizing the alcohol content by adding a rather small amount of gin to a larger amount of (preferably, but not necessarily of the brand Martini and Rossi) vermouth. But I never had one. That the proportions were reversed, and vermouth just a flavoring is news to me. Maybe I should put this post in "Today I learned"?
Shaking instead of stirring the drink changes the texture and taste, sure. But to the point of deserving an entire different name? I mean, calling it "Bradford Martini" would make sense, bur just a "Bradford"?
In France, a Martini is just pure vermouth, of a particular Italian Brand, namely "Martini and Rossi". But if the brand is not available, any vermouth will be called a Martini, just as, in the olden times (anyone here old enough to remember?), a refrigerator of any brand would still be called a Frigidaire. When reading about a cocktail called "Dry Martini" (involving gin), I had always been under the impression that it just meant emphasizing the alcohol content by adding a rather small amount of gin to a larger amount of (preferably, but not necessarily of the brand Martini and Rossi) vermouth. But I never had one. That the proportions were reversed, and vermouth just a flavoring is news to me. Maybe I should put this post in "Today I learned"?
Shaking instead of stirring the drink changes the texture and taste, sure. But to the point of deserving an entire different name? I mean, calling it "Bradford Martini" would make sense, bur just a "Bradford"?
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
[i]LMB, The Labyrinth [/i]
[i]LMB, The Labyrinth [/i]
-
The Egoist
- Alphabet Soup, Esq.
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:59 pm
- Location: Long Island, NY, USA
The Martini, as an either Anglo or American cocktail, has existed since at least 1892. The original call was a Martini was half Plymoth gin, half Noilly Prat French (or dry) vermouth with an olive and a dash of Orange Bitters. The dry Martini was 2 parts gin to one French vermouth, and the sweet 2 parts gin to one part Italian (or sweet) vermouth.
It got drier and drier over the years.
The French and Italian practice of drinking straight vermouth never caught on here. Vermouth is widely used in cocktails, but only as a flavoring.
It got drier and drier over the years.
The French and Italian practice of drinking straight vermouth never caught on here. Vermouth is widely used in cocktails, but only as a flavoring.
The Egoist
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
"Je suis Marxist, avec tendance Groucho."
Re: Culinary Pet Peeves
Pet Peeve: Insufficient Napkins
Hard to believe we haven't covered this one yet, but one of my pet peeves are restaurants that serve dishes with high 'grapple factor', yet vacuously only provide customers with 1 measley napkin apiece, by default. I mean come on, if I'm having soupy noodles with shellfish, a mussel pot, BBQ, or an overstuffed sandwich, etc., that one measley napkin is going to be annihilated faster than a clay pigeon at an NRA rally.
Hard to believe we haven't covered this one yet, but one of my pet peeves are restaurants that serve dishes with high 'grapple factor', yet vacuously only provide customers with 1 measley napkin apiece, by default. I mean come on, if I'm having soupy noodles with shellfish, a mussel pot, BBQ, or an overstuffed sandwich, etc., that one measley napkin is going to be annihilated faster than a clay pigeon at an NRA rally.
Re: Culinary Pet Peeves
I second your motion!
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
[i]LMB, The Labyrinth [/i]
[i]LMB, The Labyrinth [/i]