Like many of you, I find that my tastes have changed with age. Nowadays, when we dine out my once ice-cold draft beer has been replaced with a martini type of drink. Among my favorites are the "Cosmo", "Appletini", and the "Espresso martini".

This type of drink ranges from seven bucks to ten bucks in the average restaurant in my area, but can go as high as eighteen bucks in the fanciest of restaurants in the Boston area.

I always laugh when I think about a local area pub that serves the best cheeseburger club I've ever eaten for $6.50 (includes fries) but charges eleven dollars for a Cosmo. Then you go to the local 5-star restaurant, order a $35-$40 dinner, and your Cosmo is only eight bucks.

You probably are wondering why I started this topic. Well I'll get right to the point. A couple of my favorite restaurants have done away with the traditional long stem martini glass and replaced it with what resembles a cone shaped rock glass. This stubby glass ruins the visual appeal of a martini. What's that you say? What's the big deal?

Well if you're going to pay big bucks for a cocktail, it should be in the proper glass. Would you like your fine wine served in a beer mug? Would you like your margarita served in a coffee cup? I know I wouldn't.

I would be curious to hear from other martini drinkers, across this great land of ours, to see if the classic martini glass has been replaced with the stubby cone glass. I'm sure the restaurants like the stubby glass because it is less susceptible to breakage and goes into their dish washers taking up much less space.

Do you speak up about your drink being served in a less appropriate glass? I know I do, in a polite but firm way. If we don't speak up about such a thing, what will be next, plastic cups?

Bob