Vintage Cocktails FAQ: Preparation and Presentation Occasionally I order cocktails at bars and restaurants, but I rarely like what I’m served. Why is that? The quest for a well-made cocktail can be an arduous one. There are a number of reasons for this. Most bars are, quite understandably, built for speed and volume. The faster that drinks are made and sold, the greater the profits for the bar. To save time, bars use pre-made sour mixes instead of freshly squeezed juice. Many bartenders don’t take the time to measure ingredients, or even bother to chill the cocktails properly. As a result, the quality of the drinks suffers. This brings up another complaint I have with many restaurants and bars: they charge ridiculously high prices and then attempt to appease grousing customers by pouring over-sized drinks. And what’s the matter with a really large drink, you ask? I’ll tell you. I recently ordered a Martini at an old, glorious hotel bar. “Straight-up,” I said with a friendly smile, “Not too dry, very cold, and with a twist.” I figured such a classy joint could handle my order. I figured wrong. I watched the bartender shake my drink for a few seconds, and before I knew it, the waiter brought me an enormous, daunting, ten-ounce glass filled to the rim with my Martini. He smiled at me, delighted to be serving me such a huge drink. “We serve our Martinis really big here,” he said with a wink,” You get your money’s worth.” While I appreciated his spirit of generosity, I’m not looking for a great bargain when I order a cocktail. Giving me ten ounces of tepid gin doesn’t whet my appetite for conversation or supper. It practically turns my stomach. Even if I could manage to down every ounce, (in which case, I’d have to be carried out the door,) by the time I got to the bottom of the glass the remaining liquid would be lukewarm. Our cocktails are different from the standard fare. They are designed with quality, not quantity, in mind. As a result, they are more elegant and more appetizing. We use the finest spirits and freshly squeezed fruit juices. We never use mixes. We take our time. Ingredients are measured precisely to preserve the integrity and authenticity of the recipes. Each cocktail is thoroughly chilled, (a frigid temperature is an essential element of a well-made cocktail,) and then presented in suitably elegant and properly sized stemware, because a great cocktail must be as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.