Message 17926 of 39188 in General Discussion

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I try to always specify when I want one. "T10 Martini with an olive slightly 
dirty" usually. I've never even thought about being served a martini on the 
rocks: that's just twisted!
Generally just asking specifics improves the drink 10% because alot of barmen 
in the places I frequent are happy to see someone who gives a shit. They put 
that little bit more love into it! The more drunk I am I might forget to 
specify an olive, although that's probably clear from the slightly dirty.

Now Cheryl has brought up a good point in my feeling on all this. I've already 
mentioned elsewhere that im not suggesting no questions should be asked and 
the customer should have to order their drink perfectly every time, just that 
if they don't it's a bit unfair to blame the barman if they wanted something 
unusual but didn't specify. 
One reason I feel this is important: about six or seven times in this thread 
(and I am sure, other threads) people mention that most customers don't know 
what they are doing.
Well that's never going to change if they are mollycoddled through the process 
of ordering a martini! Cheryls questions were structured in a way I've never 
experienced before. She let the person know in the first centance that gin is 
standard. When they say "oh I want Vodka" she can ask them which brand, and as 
she's making it conversationally tell them that although vodka is more popular 
Gin is the standard and the drink is a perfect vehicle for the subtelties of 
the botanical flavours or whatever. It goes on from there.
Now, asking questions can shield a person from their misconception that a 
vodka martini on the rocks with a twist is the standard way to drink one. By 
asking questions in such a way as to impart a little bit of information and 
hopefully some passion too maybe you'll find more and more people will specify 
precisely what they want.