After hearing a particularly posh dude at a swanky cocktail lounge specify that he'd like his Manhattan "in a tumbler," we asked him what the deal was. Drinking from a typical martini glass is "just not masculine" he explained, as he threw back a few slugs of his bourbon. Mind you, this was one fashionable dude - he had no problem wearing skin-tight powder blue pants or rocking an almost-dainty pocket square, but martini glasses were a non-starter.
We thought this was a one-off fluke, until we started hearing other guys complaining about having to sip from a stem for the very same reason. Admittedly, there is an undeniable machismo to knocking back a tumbler that can fit fully in your paw, but we've seen Don Draper and co. drink plenty a' martini, and no one is knockin' him.
Final thought: most of the dudes who've brought this up were in LA, so maybe it's a West Coast thing? An informal survey of the bros in our NYC office seem to point in that direction. When asked about proper glassware for gents, one dude responded: "If it's a good drink, who cares?," pausing to add, "As long as it's not a chocolate martini..."
What do you think? Are stem glasses too girly? Let us know in the comments.
yes they are
ReplyDeleteNo theyre not
ReplyDeleteVery much so!
ReplyDeleteOf course they are. It's sexy to see a woman have a drink in a martini glass but a man should order drinks in a rocks glass
ReplyDeleteCold hands are not sexy and neither is a warm martini.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! James Bond had stemmed glasses!
DeleteIt's about the drink, not the container. A well-made traditional martini is great in a stemmed glass - male or female. A guy drinking a super-sweet, 6+ ingredient, pastel colored designer drink - not so much.
ReplyDeleteStem is fine as long as the drink ain't pink! Vodka or gin martini should be in the proper glass.
ReplyDeleteStems aren't terrible, but they're not for guys when they're ultra thin. First, we tend not to have such a delicate touch. Second, the more delicate the stem, the more delicate the sip needs to be, and men can be sloppy at our best.
ReplyDeleteBars with dainty stemmed glasses should just pour a man's martini in a stemless martini glass - this preserves the presentation of the martini and gives us something to hold right and tight.
I'm confident enough with my masculinity to drink from a stemmed glass.
ReplyDelete=)
The big question is...are there any drinks that I actually want to drink which are served in these glasses? I say yes...I like plain martinis. Just keep away the sugar...nowadays what is passed off as a "martini" is little more than vodka and sugar.
Depends on the cocktail and how one holds the glass. If a guy insists on ordering a cosmopolitan and holds it from "the stem" = definitely girly.
ReplyDeleteHowever there's nothing girly 'bout a guy who orders his Manhattan up and cradles the lip of the martini glass with his thumb & first two fingers, while tucking his pinky and ring finger back. In fact this is a "masculine grip".
That sexy feminine woman? She's likely to hold her Manhattan by the stem, circle her fingers and thumb gingerly around the rim of the glass, or hold it in both hands up near her smile as she admires your cocktail sophistication.