We are kind of martini experts as we hand paint and sell boat loads of these icon cocktail glasses. We research all recipes and we have found some useful information along the way.

First always use the best liquors, and the freshest ice! Remember presentation is always a thoughtful way to present your self or your guests with a tasty martini in a beautiful glass. The shaker is a important part of making a martini. Did you know you can NOT make the same martini twice?! It's true, but with practice you can make another martini as good as the first. Proper measuring in the key, along with the proper items to mix one.

Never use plastic! This will flavor the cocktail believe it or not. Always use stainless or glass as your shaker. Try to find ones that have built in strainers and the top can be used for measuring the ingredients. Always roll the shaker, some recipes call for hard shaking but they are usually speciality drinks. What happens is shaking bruises the liqueurs and that causes them to be more flavorful. Try to use ice cubes, remember fresh ice, you want a clean flavor to your cocktail! We shake and then let it sit for a moment, that way the martini is very cold! Cold is KEY to a martini!

You can pre cool the glasses with ice or a brief stay in the fridge, we prefer using the ice method. Fill the glass with ice, go about mixing and re use the ice by putting it back in the ice bucket or you can discard it. Then pour your matini in.

The joy of garnishes! There are many to choose from, here are some tips about them. If you are making a Dirty Martini then use the olives right out of the jar, if not RINSE THEM! Olive brine will flavor a martini that does not call for it, always rinse if you don't want that to happen! A twist is just the peel of the fruit used, like lemon, orange etc. Hopefully your martini used fresh lemon, lime or orange in the recipe. It is best to use fresh juice if you can. The frozen ones will work but fresh is best. The twist goes in the cocktail by the way, it's pretty but that's about it for a twist. A wedge is a slice of the fruit used, it sits on the lip of the glass and as you drink squeeze a bit of it or all of it into the cocktail. That is really a good taste! Main thing about garnishes is RINSE, and think DOES the recipe call for the cocktail onions, etc. to be a strong flavor or not.

Rimming the glass. Many recipes call for the rim to be salted, chocolate covered and the like. That's great but do you really need it? No you do not. Even with just sugar along the rim, you end up with one very messy martini! If you must have rimmer's then rim half the glass, that way you do not get it all over you. Only if you are making a tequila martini, then rim the glass with salt if you desire. If you must have sugar try using a bar in the bottom of the cocktail with chocolate flavor, drop a Hersheys kiss in that will add the extra chocolate flavor and it will be a nice treat to finish your drink! You can use simple syrup for sweetness and for chocolate flavor use white Creme de Cacao.

About the martini glass. The martini is the only cocktail that has it's own special glass, named after it! Hence the name king of cocktails! It has some mystery to how it came about too. Many think back in the 1800's a bartender named Martinez mixed the first one and named it. But others will debate that to the hilt! Today no one really knows who named or made this wonderful timeless cocktail! The shape of the glass was thought to come about in prohibition times, one could gulp the entire drink and run! In truth, the glass is made to do one or two things, keep it cold and look classy. The proper way to hold the glass is by the stem, your hand will warm the drink. But who hangs on to one long enough for that to happen?! Martini rule is one martini, two martini, three martini-floor! The glasses come in all shapes and sizes. If you like just a cocktail then go for a 6 to 7 oz size. If you really love martinis, then you want 9 to 12 oz size.

Sidecars and chillers. If you like chillers fine but they are messy and you can't really walk about with one. For example, you can't put the glass down with out the chiller! It has no stem! It will drip water on you, trust us on this one. With chillers use chips of ice and fill them almost to the top, make sure your glass will sit into the ice. A true martini lover knows a sidecar is best, most martini bars use them. The big difference between a chiller and a sidecar is the sidecar holds any extra martini you have from mixing one. You have a separate martini glass of your choice and it has a stem we hope! Sidecars need less ice chips, only less than half full, the carafe sits happily in the bowl of the sidecar. We offer a 6 oz sized carafe, unlike others that are 3 oz. why bother with a tiny one when you can really have one martini in hand and one sitting on ice?! 

The hand painted martini glass. There are so many to pick from where to start?! First, what do you like and what is the occasion? If it's just for you then find one you like and enjoy. If it's a special event or fancy dinner, then step it up and find a classy one. We have seen the start a conversation line, our motto is leave them speechless! We also designed much of that line. We were hired to do so and many of those designs are still top sellers today.

Plenty of so called hand painted glasses are not. Some are mass produced and some use a screen method to put the designs on. If it says made in china and the person lives in the States, that is a good clue right there. If you see them everywhere, another clue that they are mass produced.The only good thing about those are they are the same and you can put them in a dishwasher. But the quality may not be what you think. Not on high end crystal and not pretty as a picture.

Look for true hand painted glasses by really reading the descriptions. Look at the photos if you can see brush strokes and some differences, then you found real hand painted glasses. They are NOT dishwasher safe and hand washing is a must. We offer Swarovski crystals on many of our designs. They are all hand set and are real gems. We use the correct glues from a jewelry supply company which is non toxic and the Swarovski gems are the real thing. We see others offering gem set glasses, make sure they use the proper glue and most are plastic gems-NOT Swarovski. A sheer rimmed glass is the best. Why? Because you have no extra lip to contend with. Some don't mind this others do, again read the description and look for the special qualities of the glasses offered.

The mystery of a part. What is a part? Many recipes ask for them so here is what that is. A part is ONE OUNCE. A rinse is just that, pour the liqueurs in the glass and swirl about till it has a coating and then discard. It really doesn't matter how you put the ingredients in the shaker, but if the recipe calls for it to be topped by champagne or some other layer process, follow the recipe. We hope you found some useful information here and we look forward to seeing you at our next auction! CHEERS! Intuition Designs or 7257blair.