The Spielbank in Weisbaden (1 Viewer)

[fish72s]

I have been traveling in Germany with my family and we went back to Weisbaden where they were married and I was born.
We were downtown and ran across the Spielbank casino and of course I wanted to play some poker.
Its in the Kurhaus building which looked nice so it wasn't too surpirsing that they had a dress code. Luckily it wasn't too strict and my jeans were ok.
But I'm traveling and all I had was T-shirts and a pair of hiking sandals. My Dad had a decent collared shirt so I swapped shirts with him.
But his shoes are a 10 and I'm a 13. I said, 'F*#k it! I'm playing some poker dammit.'
I wore his shoes like flip-flops, rented a jacket and shuffled my way over to the poker table
Luckily no one noticed that my heals were hanging off the back of my shoes

I ordered a Martini, shaken, not stirred, but the waitress didn't think that was very funny.

 

[Poker Zombie]

That is the proper way to make a martini though. All too often I'll just order a martini and they serve it on the rocks, which is thourghouly unenjoyable. If they ask, "straight or on the rocks" and I order it straight, they serve a warm martini. Again, just wrong.

"Chilled and strained" gets an acceptable martini, but it sounds dumb, and runs the risk the bartender will just stir the martini instead of shaking it. Not bad, but I believe it does not chill the martini enough.

The whole point of stirring instead of shaking was born around the idea that shaking bruises the gin. That is hogwash. It will make the gin (or vodka in my preferred version) cloudy, where stirring leaves the drink crystal clear, but in a properly chilled martini glass, condensation will typically form on the glass fogging it up, so who cares if the beverage is clear?

 

[gopherblue]

Shaken martinis are more dilute than stirred. The ice gets broken up more, and more water is added to the drink. James Bond was a lightweight. ;-)

 

[Jeff]

I’m not a gin or vodka martini expert as I generally liked bourbon martinis (Manhattans) but doesn’t shaking the martini make it colder?

 

[witlessdiviner]

yes shaking does make it colder faster but if you stir long enough you will achieve the same chill/dilution. I think it's something like two or three minutes. Most bartenders don't spend that time so a stirred drink ends up being less cold and stronger because there is less dilution.

 

[pltrgyst]

If you're a serious drinker, you keep your gin and vodka in the freezer. Dilution is not then a problem. :

Especially if, instead of adding any liquid, you simply whisper "vermooooooooooooooooooooouth" across the top of the glass.

 

[witlessdiviner]

I once tried to make some drinks using freezer stored spirits and adding cold water to create the correct amount of dilution. I was following directions that were on a website and the results turned out really well. I think my goal was to try to make premixed drinks that I could store in the freezer and make quickly but that part was a failure.

 

[pltrgyst]

BTW, Greg, the Spielbank looks exactly like it did in the 1960s!

 

[Poker Zombie]

If you're a serious drinker, you keep your gin and vodka in the freezer. Dilution is not then a problem. :

Especially if, instead of adding any liquid, you simply whisper "vermooooooooooooooooooooouth" across the top of the glass.

Any serious martini drinker knows you never keep your vodka or gin in the freezer.

While many think that a martini is pure alcohol, the ice turning into water is a critical component of the beverage. Unlike good bourbon (which should not ever be watered down) a martini is a mixed drink. Freezing the vodka/gin changes the amount of water and messes up the drink.

 

[5aces]

Nice pictures, but I think it's Wiesbaden not Weisbaden if somebody else is looking for this place.
Hope you had a good time in Germany.

 

[pltrgyst]

....While many think that a martini is pure alcohol, the ice turning into water is a critical component of the beverage. Unlike good bourbon (which should not ever be watered down) a martini is a mixed drink. Freezing the vodka/gin changes the amount of water and messes up the drink.

Ah, so martini drinkers not only prefer a weak mixed drink, they want one without flavor.

I suspect that's why we stick to gin & tonics...

As to good bourbon, like good Scotch, it's watered down by the producer at bottling (unless it's marketed as "cask strength", which is usually undrinkable without adding at least a few drops of water).

 

[MrMuffin]

Such a beautiful old building

 

[Rakrul]

Hehe, I remember when we were in the US and my friend ordered a Dry Martini and got a glass of this: