Over at ManZine, my colleague James Joyner has an excellent piece on how James Bond killed the martini.

Now, I don’t mind vodka martinis. While I decidedly prefer the traditional variety (sans the olive, unless my wife’s with me to eat it) a vodka martini is a perfectly refreshing cocktail. But because Bond, especially Sean Connery’s Bond, defined cool for so many, the vodka martini essentially became the martini. In many bars and restaurants, you will be served a vodka martini unless you actually specify gin. And that, I submit, is just wrong.

I agree wholeheartedly. Moreover, what I can’t stand is restaurants that call a drink a “_________ martini” just because it’s in a damn martini glass. I once read a “Martini menu” at a restaurant that included 20 drinks. None had gin. None had vermouth. Only TWO even had vodka…