'Make It Skate': What This Martini Order Actually Means

Few cocktails match the effortless allure — or the alcohol content — of a classic martini. Strong and boozy, this mixture of gin or vodka with dry vermouth is surprisingly versatile, and there are plenty of ways you can request it made. Sure, you're probably thinking of classics like "shaken not stirred" or asking the bartender to throw your martini, but there's a lesser-known insider request that could turn even the most committed martini-skeptic into a fan, and that's asking the bartender to "make it skate."

Simply put, make it skate means asking the bartender to prepare your martini so that tiny ice chips float in the finished cocktail. Typically, your spirit of choice, vermouth, and ice are shaken (or stirred) together in a mixer, but when a martini is made to skate, the bartender shakes the mixer extra vigorously to shatter the ice cubes. Aside from looking much more elegant than your standard martini, this method also has two important effects: keeping the martini cold and diluted. 

It's industry standard for martinis to be served extremely cold, which enhances the drinks crispness and overall texture. Cold temperatures also inhibit the receptors that sense the burning sensation of the spirits, making the spirit-forward martini much more palatable. Dilution also has a similar effect, as a small amount of water in the mix softens the sharpness of straight spirits and allows the aromatic botanicals of spirits and vermouth to shine through. Dilution also helps fully integrate the alcohol with the vermouth, creating a smoother, silkier mouthfeel than the fiery sensation you'd expect from straight spirits. 

Asking your bartender to make it skate is one of the easiest ways to ensure a smooth, exceptionally drinkable martini, but it's far from the only trick out there. From dilution to temperature, there are several bartender-approved ways to whip up a martini that'll keep people coming back for more. 

One of the most classic tips to keep a martini extra-cold is by pre-chilling your ingredients and glassware. Store your martini glass in the freezer for up to 20 minutes before using it, and an industry trick is to spray the glass with water mid-freeze for extra frost. But — not all glassware is freezer-friendly. Avoid using fragile, crystal glasses due to the risk of thermal shock, especially if they're moved from a freezer to a warm environment or vice versa. The best martini glasses to freeze are ones made of freezer-safe,  tempered glass. Fortunately, a much simpler task is freezing your gin and vodka, which is also how a naked martini is made. As the freezing point of ethanol is much lower than that of other liquids, you won't have to worry about thawing them once removed from the freezer. 

When using the make-it-skate method, you can use the ice dilution to experiment with unique flavor combos. Instead of using standard ice cubes in your mixer, you could freeze flavored water like cucumber or green tea for a refreshing add-in to your martini, or go in the complete opposite direction and add frozen olive brine for the dirtiest of martinis.