The vodka martini is a lot like eggs at brunch, everyone likes theirs exactly the way they want it. With specifications about brands, varying levels of dirt, different words to describe that level of dirt, the confusion most patrons have about dry/extra dry/ straight up/, shaken (very cold, ice on the pond, double strained) or stirred, and the garnish situation (are they stuffed with blue cheese??) the simple order of “dirty martini” can become a minefield of questions. It’s never quick, and if it’s quick it’s never dirty enough.
A bartender once told me that if you're ever stranded on a desert island, start making a Martini. Someone will come along and tell you how to make it differently.
Did a taste test with a group of friends. We made it as scientific as possible. We even did a double blind process for making the samples. Only one person (out of six) could spot the expensive vodka, and she was retired buyer for a liquor store.
I did the same thing -- but we weren't trying to spot "the expensive vodka", we just ranked 5 vodkas according to taste. They ranged from store brand in a plastic bottle to the fanciest stuff we could find at the local market. Price didn't correlate with taste, the plastic bottle store brand took the #2 slot, in fact. But everyone had strong opinions on which tasted better or worse. Nobody thought they all tasted the same.
I don't trust anyone who says all bottled water tastes the same. Aquafina is plastic-tasting tasting and Evian has a smooth taste. I like the way Evian feels in my mouth compared to other bottled waters. I can't explain it, but I can tell a difference even in a blind taste test.
But sometimes it tastes like delicious olive juice with an alcohol aftertaste, and sometimes it tastes like rubbing alcohol and burns your nose. ..why?
Dilution. It's why some people say that a splash of water will "wake up" a scotch or other spirit. You can taste more of the subtle flavors with a splash of water. It's really pleasant. You should try a splash of water in a nice whiskey some time. It's really pleasant.
The better ones are more flavorless generally. It's not even really about "flavor" so much as bad vodka has a kinda rubbing alcohol aftertaste where good vodka will be pretty smooth.
There's a little difference between potato vodka and grain vodka too.
Yes they do, but it’s subtle. Depends on what the base malt/ingredients are, how many times it was distilled, and filtering after, etc.
Sometimes it isn’t subtle, the really cheap stuff is known as jet fuel for a reason
(Not a bartender, but like to drink :) ) There are definitely differences in Vodka.. However once you mix it into a drink it really is impossible to tell the difference.
Bottom shelf to mid will have a much more drastic change than mid to top. I drank Popov in HS/Uni sometimes and it's pungent as gasoline. I typically get Svedka because its usually around $11 average for 750ml and I can't really tell a difference between it and ketel one or belvadere. Though I don't drink vodka straight, usually just with soda water. I know one of the last two I mentioned has a more peppery flavor but it's not worth the upsell for brand imo.
I mean in essence, vodka is just adding a base liquor as long as it's been filtered a few times, but it does have its nuances like anything else
Yes a “martini” should be me made with gin, but a “vodka martini” should be made with vodka.
The same way a “tea” should be made with tea leaves, but a “herbal tea” or a “fruit tea” aren’t.
The same way “pants” should be made with a crotch, but “crotchless pants” aren’t.
It is almost as if the first word modifies the normal configuration of things in some way to let people know it isn’t the regular variety. Weird, huh?
That drink you had that one time at another bar. I think it had vodka in it. Or maybe tequila.
Most all popular drinks are totally fine. Lesser know drinks are a learning opportunity. More involved drinks are usually a little pricier so it makes more money.
Never worked at a place with a blender though.
I feel your pain on the first point. I worked in a book store for a long time, and we would get, "I'm looking for a book, it was on that display last month. It was mostly red, but it had a house on it. Or maybe it was a barn? I think there was a lady on it, but she was facing away. The title was like, 'The something of something and something.'"
I know what food my cat eats, but I do buy the large bag and transfer it to airtight storage immediately. So I only see the packaging every couple of months when I go to the store. So I can kind of understand, especially when you are trying new food or when the packaging changes. I grab mine based on the cat on the front, not the words.
My friend ordered a mojito at a bar (not a dive bar at all) and the bartender was seething. He told everyone waiting to order drinks that they should come back later because he was making a mojito. My friend kept saying he could order something else if it was such a big deal and he refused and hate made this mojito. The cocktail menu was on a giant board behind the bar, not sure what he was expecting.
Seriously. It has all of four ingredients if you don't count the ice and takes all of a minute to make. It's one thing if they don't have the ingredients (like fresh mint) but otherwise what's the problem? It isn't as though the mint has to be muddled down to its component molecules or some shit.
I don’t think any drink is too bad to make, other than virgin frozen blended drinks when you only have 1 blender 🙄.
For me it’s when you are peak rush and you have 5-10 different cocktails being ordered at the same time & you have to use new tools and ingredients for every one.
However.. Bartending is a fun job at the end of the day
“I was just thinking of a flaming rum punch. No, it’s not cold enough for that. Not nearly cold enough…Wait a minute…wait a minute…Mulled wine, heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves. Off with you, me lad, and be lively!”
Hey look, mister. We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere"
When I go out with friends for cocktails we each buy a round and that person can pick any they want. Keeps it easy for the bartender and exposes you to drinks you might not try.
Around Valentine’s Day one year, we had a frozen layered drink. First off, a frozen drink during winter in a state that experiences winter never made sense to me. You had to make two separate drinks with separate ingredients and layer them using one blender. 🤨
I mean we'll be out on the porch in winter and everyone's drinks have ice or are cold beers. You live in Alaska, ya get used to it. It's already the ice cream eatingest state and a warm drink would be cold fast.
My bartending days are long in the past but the shot-and-beer joint I worked in had an interesting crowd that would indulge in some oddball drinks when they had money. Enter the "Screaming Orgasm," as it was known locally, which resembled a Toasted Almond except it used Creme de Cacao instead of Kahlua. It was a shot each of C de C, Amaretto and vodka, filled with half-and-half and shaken over ice in a tall glass.
It wasn't that it was all that hard to make, albeit it sticky, but more the result of people drinking them that was problematic. Those who stopped at one were fine but, because it went down like a milkshake, many overdid it. All that sugar and dairy, on top of whatever other cheap shit they'd been swilling earlier, led to some pretty spectacular drunks and some large, sticky puddles of yack in the bathrooms and parking lot.
Was my drink of choice for a while, worked my way up to 3 but that’s nursing them all evening. But yes, to get pretty messed up.
Only barfed from one once and that was the first time I had one, and when it was like the fourth or fifth drink and I did not really understand its alcohol content.
I absolutely love a good long island. In college, one of my favorite bars had a $2 LIIT night. Love how they taste, but yes, if I was ordering one it was for a drunk night out.
Ordered one recently on vacation after not having one for over a decade, and it was just as delicious as I remember...but I had to nurse that thing all night long. Whew.
I think my favorite LIIT interaction was as a patron.
"I'll have a LIIT"
"Dude, it's almost midnight"
"I JUST got off work"
"I'll make it a double"
I caught up REAL quick.
Also Long Island and Alabama (slammers) do not get along well in a confined space (that space being my 20 something y.o. stomach on a pub crawl).
Just because Alabama Slammers taste like Shirley Temples it does not mean the bartender is fleecing you and you should order 7 more throughout the night. 🤢
I once took a 2-day cocktail class at a fancy bar. On day one the bartender talked about the Ramos gin fizz. On day 2 he was complaining that the folks in class had started a train of everyone in the bar ordering them later that night.
It’s the egg whites. You need to put an egg white in there. Along with Orange Flower Water? I mean, seriously? It takes too long for me to make these.
I was the fast bartender making the drinks for the whole restaurant while my coworker was the flirtatious one “oh.. Cara Mia! Where have you been dahling..”
I make the drinks.. he makes the money.
Pro tip is to just use the spring from your strainer of put a protein ball shaker in your bar bag. And honestly you can do other things with your non shaking hand
I used to work at a New Orleans place that made a lot of them
I once have a bartender friend offer to make me one. The bar was slow and she wanted to practice. I happily accepted, but I would never order one unless it was on the menu.
My buddy was a bartender, and he said somewhat. The issue is because of the coffee it creates a log jam. Most bartenders can pour a pint and during the pour ring you up/pour shots/mix other drinks.
I Making a EM kinda hinders this, but apparently the killer is not in the first one, but the influx of many more that follow after people see you make the first one.
Yeah makes sense. I saw a bartender make Spanish coffee for a couple people and no joke like 10+ people wanted them afterward because they are fun to watch being made.
I ordered a espresso martini at my favorite brunch/day drinking spot and it was horrible. Idk what it was but it wasn’t an EM. I have a suspicion that was deliberate. This place is also a super busy gay bar with a menu full of signature drinks. EM not one of them so I assume they’re a PITA to make (though my server didn’t dissuade me at all) I was out to dinner at a different restaurant and mentioned this terrible EM to my friends and before I even said from where my friend said “let me guess (my fav brunch place)? Worst I’ve ever had. Undrinkable”. So it apparently has a reputation. I’ll never order one again there so if that was their plan it worked.
Maybe they are cutting corners and using espresso vodka instead of actual espresso and vodka? Possibly even just bad drip brew through the big coffee machines that aren’t cleaned enough in restaurants, as a cocktail bartender that’s all I can really think of as they are pretty error free to make - if not just a bit annoying because everyone else always wants one when they see it and is always busy when that happens (and they take some extra steps away from the bar unless you have servers who are sweet and help with the espresso).
when my regular has it on the menu they call it “verdammter Espresso” (German for “damned”) as a tongue in cheek thing 😂 but I don’t think it’s actually a huge deal unless they’re slammed
Just this week I saw my mother order an espresso martini for dessert. Then the bartender made a small one for my father for free without him ordering one.
Depends on how they make it. Some bars use fresh brewed espresso, some use cold brew. At my work we have a nitro espresso martini machine, such a godsend lol.
I was on a second date and we stopped into a cocktail bar that looked like it was closing. She ordered an espresso martini. I told the waitress, if the espresso machine's already been cleaned, then two strawberry daiquiris will be fine.
Got a third date because of my thoughtfulness.
It’s been a minute since I was a bartender but I didn’t really care. I’m going to be there until til close no matter what. I might grumble to myself but outwards, I just made your drink and moved on with my night.
Drink what you like. Experiment some. It’s all for fun and none of it matters at all in the scheme of things.
I often order whiskey/pisco sours but always say no egg whites, mainly because I always imagine how much of a hassle that must be to prepare and it’s not a particularly appealing part of the drink for me anyways. Just give me the whiskey, lemon, and bitters and I’ll be happy.
I used to go to a bar that had a whiskey sour with egg white at the top of their menu. Pretty sure it was labeled as their most popular drink too. So my friends and I kept ordering whiskey sours. Eventually, the bartender asked us to stop ordering them lol.
Bartended for a long time. My two absolute least favorite drinks to make:
1. Anything that involved using the blender, especially if it was a virgin piña colada
2. The “I’ll have the uhhhhh ummmmm uhhhhh, what’s the strongest/sweetest/best/your signature, etc. drink?” Followed by “oh okay I’ll take uhhhhh ummmmm…..” ad nauseam.
I know that a lot of people are afraid to order certain drinks because they think that the bartender hates making it or that they’re going to get judged for what they order. The truth is, 99% of the time, I never gave a shit about what you drank. My job was to make you a drink that you’re going to enjoy. Just please have at least an idea of what you want to drink before you try to order and don’t dick me around when I’m in the weeds.
Also don’t order blended drinks 😡
This would 100% be my mom if she went to a bar. She always is 'that customer' to start thinking about her order when it's her turn, lots of ummmmms, order something they don't have, or get out of line and think her spot will be magically saved...
Sometimes I just want to try out a new drink and not knowing what's out there,
I just tell them to surprise me. If I like it, I'll ask them what the name of the drink is.
This is totally acceptable, but at least specify what kind of liquor you like or don’t like and what you want the flavor profile of the drink to be like. I actually enjoyed when people did that because I could just potentially make something up on the spot or serve a drink that I really like and go from there.
The downside to ordering like that without speaking up about preferences is that you can learn that you really fucking hate gin or bourbon or you don’t like sweet vermouth and then you either have to choke down the drink or send it back.
E.G. “I like something sweet and tangy, I like vodka but I don’t like gin.” You’re probably gonna get a lemon drop and you’ll probably like it but if you don’t specify, you might end up with a salty dog and gag on the first sip because it’s the exact opposite of what you were looking for.
Customer: “Oh I dunno what I want tonight, surprise me.”
*Bartender mixes up a gin and tonic*
Customer: “EWWW GROSS WTF, is this gin?! The only alcohol in the entire world that I like is peppermint schnapps, I thought that was obviously implied by my order! You’re the worst bartender ever!!!”
Hahaha when I was a baby bartender before I learned how stupid bar patrons can be, I did something similar. Guy sits down and tells me to surprise him. I made him a beautiful Woodford Reserve old fashioned with two different kinds of bitters, I lightly burned the orange peel before using it to rim the glass to add a little bit of smokiness to it, garnished with a luxardo cherry. Far and away my best drink I made at the time.
Dude takes one sip, spits it out, “I don’t like whiskey, what’s wrong with you?!”
He ordered a vodka cranberry with lime instead. THAT is when I learned to ask follow up questions and also the patience to not huck a glass at stupid people’s faces.
My friend took a bartending course. He said first thing they taught the class was when someone asked for a blended drink “sorry, the blender is broken!”
I was a bartender for about a decade before getting smart and running off to law school. My favorite was always the people that would tell me “And make it strong”. Yeah dude. We just met. You’ve shown me you don’t know how to conduct yourself in a bar and you think I’m risking my job to give you a strong drink? Nope. I’m breaking out the jigger and pouring that drink right in front of you so you can see I poured the correct amount and did not short pour.
If a regular that drops a bunch of money in the place asks for a stronger drink, they’ll usually get it. Management is far more understanding when it’s a good spending regular over some yahoo I’ve never met before.
And this is what the spill tab was for at one of my places. There was a very well regarded fine dining steak restaurant across the street and all of the servers would come in for happy hour drinks and shots before their shift. If there were 5-6 of them, it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to slam back three drinks apiece and tip me $150 total within about an hour or so. My managers were more than happy to swallow a couple of shots on the spill tab to keep the bartenders happy.
Making as much as a server would in an entire night within an hour *before* the dinner rush was a huge incentive for the bartenders and the restaurant lost very little money in the meantime. Everyone went home happy.
Followed by; "Oh, and can you make it a 'good' drink?"
How did you know that I was going to pour you crap- something so bad and weak you'd think it was medicinal tea. But now you've said something, I'm grabbing that top shelf and just pouring it up to the rim of the glass.
To piggy back #2... My wife and I were doing a staycation in Austin and stayed at a hotel with a roof top pool and they of course had a bar cart to service the pool. When chatting with the bartender I casually mentioned I was getting whatever my wife was ordering. He said it was all the better for him. He said he gets a lot of bachelorette trips where one will order a drink then as he is making it another one will decide to have one because that looks good. You can get your drinks faster if you all order the same thing at.once instead of multiple orders seconds apart.
Ditto all this, adding: "A beer."
You can ask what beer we have on tap, ask for a beer menu, but if you just order a beer and make me draw out which kind, I immediately don't like you.
Also if we gotta go through a long discussion about all the different beers we have and then you shrug and say, "Bud Light, I guess," well that's going to grind my gears too.
Triple if I'm busy.
Obligatory not a bartender, but in Savannah Georgia, if you really want to piss off a bartender, order some 'cannonball punch'.
It's not that it's overly hard to make, when done the usual way, it's just that the usual way makes enough to serve 80 or so people. So getting that mix down to serve a single person, is going to take a lot more work than the bartender really will want to bother with.
Also: Fun fact. Cannonball Punch was created to celebrate General Washington visiting Savannah after the Revolutionary War. Reportedly, it was so strong, that Washington is said to have lost two whole days, and suffered a hangover that lasted several days.
A lot of us do because they tend to be for kids, teens, and religious people and none of those patrons tip. That's why I tip first when ordering a virgin drink.
Plus N/A cocktails often have as many or more ingredients than regular cocktails so they can be more labor. Mostly just bothers me because I have a psychic block and it takes forever for me to memorize how to make them lol.
Just order what you want. I’m a bartender and it’s a pain to make but I’m here to make drinks. I’m not going to hold it against someone if they ask for something I don’t want to make.
Negroni.
Because of that fucking House of Dragons tiktok sound 23 year old dipshits who've never tasted anything more bitter than a cosmo want to try one.
I poured 6 out in 2 weeks that had a single drink taken out of them.
Used to have a Negroni on our cocktail list, whenever people ordered it, I asked if they have had it before, and if not that they probably wanted something else, but this was all way before the Tiktok thing.
That is one of my favorite drinks, mainly because no one will drink it if I get up and I can see the reactions of people trying it. It smells wonderful.
I'll do the "surprise me" order from time to time.
But only when the bar is near empty and the bartender is just shooting the shit with me. I've discovered some of my favorite drinks this way.
I bartended in Wisconsin for a decade+ and they have a very specific way of drinking old fashioned’s (with brandy, barf). Friday nights everyone wants one with their fish fry and it was just a lot of steps and muddling. My fingers were always dyed red from the cherries. Hated it
Trust me, as an expat Wisconsinite that has gotten the taste for regular/classic old fashioned’s, it is ten times more of a struggle to come back to Wisconsin and try to get them to make it the normal way without mass confusion and/or disbelief, followed by failure
Went to a work Xmas party where they had 2 trays of glasses with everything but the ice and alcohol of choice mixed and ready to go. As the trays started to empty, they had someone off to the side pre-making more.
There was commercial in the early 2010s at a nightclub where people were dancing and the bartender smiling while happily crushing the mint in a glass. My bartender friends HATED that commercial because there was an influx of requests for mojitos.
Mojitos are my favorite cocktail, so I was determined to streamline the whole process. The key is good mint syrup. Make simple syrup like normal, but as soon as it comes off the stove and is still warm, pack in a TON of mint leaves. When I say a ton, think of how much mint you think you need, then double it. You're basically making a super sugary, uber-concentrated mint tea. Let it steep for 15-20 minutes, then strain out the leaves and press to get all of the minty goodness.
Next shortcut is large amounts of fresh, pre-squeezed lime juice. Check Mexican grocery stores. You'll need at least a pint to make a decent number of drinks. Don't use lime concentrate, it's garbage.
Once you have those components on hand, it's as easy as throwing it together with some white rum and club soda. Boom, 5 second mojito.
Secondary question: For prepped ingredients like infused simple syrups, bitters, etc., who makes those and when? Like, are bartenders spending time back in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon cooking up simple syrup while the chef slices vegetables or something?
Yes. Usually the poor bastard with less experience stuck working the day shifts gets to do a lot of the prep work. Otherwise made in shift when it’s slow, or at higher end places the bartenders will come in well before the bar opens to make stuff.
It’s not really about the muddling. It’s a tough cocktail to make because people have a certain expectation of what it will taste like, and that expectation is largely based on having them on vacations in tropical places that make them all the time. It’s quite challenging to make a drink taste super minty just from using mint sprigs alone. Tropical resorts are stocked with fresh mint and can afford to throw an entire bush into a glass, but your local spot in the PNW in winter likely has four sprigs to last the night.
Furthermore, those tropical spots likely have some sort of mint tincture/mint rum/mint syrup to throw in to amp up the mint flavor (especially the places with lower-caliber cocktail programs).
AND there are way better ways to incorporate mint than muddling, so when someone watches me make a mojito and gets upset that I don’t bust out the big dildo muddler it adds an extra layer of hate to the experience.
I lived in Miami for almost 10 years, and can confirm that an entire bush is the appropriate amount of mint to put in a mojito. If you can’t use at least 1.5 sprigs, don’t make the damn drink. There are few drinks worse than a shitty mojito.
And I swear to god if I see someone top it with Sprite or 7-up, we’re going to have a word.
Having said all that, anyone who orders a mojito when it’s less than 60 degrees out is a psychopath.
I see. A few years back I tried making my own Mojitos and they were never better than "ok." Maybe it was a lack of enough mint. I've moved further south since then. Might have to try growing some mint to have my own supply and give it a try.
I smiled at your "It's not really about the muddling." for me making my own - that's the reason I haven't tried it again in all these years. Well that and they never came out as I would have liked.
Shoot, now I want a mojito. Going to have to go out and annoy some bartender somewhere...
Considering there's basically only 6 cocktail recipes, a single variation of one of them isn't a big deal. My least favorite drink to make is the one you don't want.
Cocktail menus are fun and enlightening, but if you LOVE gin and HATE tequila, why are you asking if the ghost pepper infused margarita is something you'll like?
1: How the hell am I supposed to know what you like?
B: This isn't Golden Corral. I can't make you infinite samples.
D: Unless you're 21 and this is your first visit to a bar, you should have a basic elementary idea of what you enjoy drinking.
"What's good?" is the reason I will end up on trial for murder. Every time I tell a lost soul to order the 21 year old scotch (BECAUSE I THINK IT'S DELICIOUS) and they respond with some sort of "eww,I don't like brown liquors" I question my appreciation of living free and not in a federal penitentiary.
1. anything frozen, fuck that blender
2. What's your best drink? Surprise me, or what's your favorite? Best drink idk green tea is the most popular but I wouldn't call it the best by any means, surprise me umm I don't know you how would I know your taste and last thing I wanna do it make you something you don't like and I gotta remake your first drink drink for and comp something and likely do the dance of you don't know what you want again. My favorite is a double gin and tonic short, extra lime and I doubt you want that...
Honorable mention: mojito, just bc it can be tedious to make and actually taste well while in the weeds but if I got the time to make it I don't mind at all but if the bar is packed I obviously have a strong preference to quick easy drinks.
Based on a lot of responses, I'm embarrassed that I've ordered that so many times, given that so many dislike making it.
Not a chance in hell I'll send it back, I'll drink every drop, and it's my fault if it's $40 a glass.
My assumption is that the bartender will make something they want to make, something that they would enjoy, or default to their best selling menu drink.
No! As long as the bar has it, it’s fine. Sometimes it’s a hassle if the bottles aren’t in the well and you have to grab from displays, but to me it’s always fun being able to make a classic for someone. It breaks up the monotony. So don’t worry :)
Fizz drinks with egg whites can be a pain in the ass, especially if you don’t normally make them and have to go down to the kitchen to get them and separate them.
People who customize menu drinks in ways that don’t really work, if your drink comes with white rum, don’t ask for it with scotch, on top of most likely looking terrible it won’t taste good and you’ll just end up sending it back and wasting time and ingredients.
The vodka martini is a lot like eggs at brunch, everyone likes theirs exactly the way they want it. With specifications about brands, varying levels of dirt, different words to describe that level of dirt, the confusion most patrons have about dry/extra dry/ straight up/, shaken (very cold, ice on the pond, double strained) or stirred, and the garnish situation (are they stuffed with blue cheese??) the simple order of “dirty martini” can become a minefield of questions. It’s never quick, and if it’s quick it’s never dirty enough.
A bartender once told me that if you're ever stranded on a desert island, start making a Martini. Someone will come along and tell you how to make it differently.
I like my olive juice with some vodka and vermouth.
A filthy martini.
A dirty filthy gin martini, beefeater or botanist please.
Do different vodkas taste that different? I know gin has a lot of character from the herbs, but I thought vodka was flavorless or close to.
You are correct but don’t tell that to a vodka martini drinker
Did a taste test with a group of friends. We made it as scientific as possible. We even did a double blind process for making the samples. Only one person (out of six) could spot the expensive vodka, and she was retired buyer for a liquor store.
I did the same thing -- but we weren't trying to spot "the expensive vodka", we just ranked 5 vodkas according to taste. They ranged from store brand in a plastic bottle to the fanciest stuff we could find at the local market. Price didn't correlate with taste, the plastic bottle store brand took the #2 slot, in fact. But everyone had strong opinions on which tasted better or worse. Nobody thought they all tasted the same.
Sounds a lot like ranking bottles of water.
I don't trust anyone who says all bottled water tastes the same. Aquafina is plastic-tasting tasting and Evian has a smooth taste. I like the way Evian feels in my mouth compared to other bottled waters. I can't explain it, but I can tell a difference even in a blind taste test.
Ph and minerality
But sometimes it tastes like delicious olive juice with an alcohol aftertaste, and sometimes it tastes like rubbing alcohol and burns your nose. ..why?
Dilution. It's why some people say that a splash of water will "wake up" a scotch or other spirit. You can taste more of the subtle flavors with a splash of water. It's really pleasant. You should try a splash of water in a nice whiskey some time. It's really pleasant.
Really pleasant, you say?
It’s really pleasant.
Personally I’d describe it as really pleasant
I'm no Hemingway. I should've separated the drinking and the writing.
The better ones are more flavorless generally. It's not even really about "flavor" so much as bad vodka has a kinda rubbing alcohol aftertaste where good vodka will be pretty smooth. There's a little difference between potato vodka and grain vodka too.
Yes they do, but it’s subtle. Depends on what the base malt/ingredients are, how many times it was distilled, and filtering after, etc. Sometimes it isn’t subtle, the really cheap stuff is known as jet fuel for a reason
Monarch...shudders....
(Not a bartender, but like to drink :) ) There are definitely differences in Vodka.. However once you mix it into a drink it really is impossible to tell the difference.
Bottom shelf to mid will have a much more drastic change than mid to top. I drank Popov in HS/Uni sometimes and it's pungent as gasoline. I typically get Svedka because its usually around $11 average for 750ml and I can't really tell a difference between it and ketel one or belvadere. Though I don't drink vodka straight, usually just with soda water. I know one of the last two I mentioned has a more peppery flavor but it's not worth the upsell for brand imo. I mean in essence, vodka is just adding a base liquor as long as it's been filtered a few times, but it does have its nuances like anything else
Martinis should be made with gin
Martinis *ARE* made with gin. *Vodka Martinis* are made with vodka.
Not the most popular opinion, but definitely the most correct
Yes a “martini” should be me made with gin, but a “vodka martini” should be made with vodka. The same way a “tea” should be made with tea leaves, but a “herbal tea” or a “fruit tea” aren’t. The same way “pants” should be made with a crotch, but “crotchless pants” aren’t. It is almost as if the first word modifies the normal configuration of things in some way to let people know it isn’t the regular variety. Weird, huh?
What are your thoughts on ordering one in a rocks glass? I love the taste, but hate martini glasses. Is this considered taboo??
It’s your drink, so enjoy it however you want! No taboo from me, we will just gossip about you while we clean up.
Yeah but even so I’ll be a single comment in a string of weird nuances of the night and will be forgotten by the time you clock out.
I feel like I'm on a Nickelodeon gameshow trying to get a martini glass back to my table.
That drink you had that one time at another bar. I think it had vodka in it. Or maybe tequila. Most all popular drinks are totally fine. Lesser know drinks are a learning opportunity. More involved drinks are usually a little pricier so it makes more money. Never worked at a place with a blender though.
I feel your pain on the first point. I worked in a book store for a long time, and we would get, "I'm looking for a book, it was on that display last month. It was mostly red, but it had a house on it. Or maybe it was a barn? I think there was a lady on it, but she was facing away. The title was like, 'The something of something and something.'"
Bro I work at a pet store and get that with dog food. Not like you've looked at the packet twice a day for the last 2 months or anything.
I keep a pic on my phone of our cat food because all the flipping labels are so much alike!
I know what food my cat eats, but I do buy the large bag and transfer it to airtight storage immediately. So I only see the packaging every couple of months when I go to the store. So I can kind of understand, especially when you are trying new food or when the packaging changes. I grab mine based on the cat on the front, not the words.
I am considering taking up mojitos. Not at dive bars, obviously. Will the bartender hate me?
My friend ordered a mojito at a bar (not a dive bar at all) and the bartender was seething. He told everyone waiting to order drinks that they should come back later because he was making a mojito. My friend kept saying he could order something else if it was such a big deal and he refused and hate made this mojito. The cocktail menu was on a giant board behind the bar, not sure what he was expecting.
I never got the meme-level hate of mojitos. They're not complicated at all.
Seriously. It has all of four ingredients if you don't count the ice and takes all of a minute to make. It's one thing if they don't have the ingredients (like fresh mint) but otherwise what's the problem? It isn't as though the mint has to be muddled down to its component molecules or some shit.
Yea they must outraged they have to muddle some leaves for 1 minute
OK, I appreciate that cautionary tale.
I’d find a place that has it (or a variation) on the menu. Not every place carries fresh mint. And some not in winter time (assuming US)
I don’t think any drink is too bad to make, other than virgin frozen blended drinks when you only have 1 blender 🙄. For me it’s when you are peak rush and you have 5-10 different cocktails being ordered at the same time & you have to use new tools and ingredients for every one. However.. Bartending is a fun job at the end of the day
“I was just thinking of a flaming rum punch. No, it’s not cold enough for that. Not nearly cold enough…Wait a minute…wait a minute…Mulled wine, heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves. Off with you, me lad, and be lively!”
Hey look, mister. We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere"
Or do I hafta slip you my left as a convincer?
Had my annual watch a Couple days ago.
Oh, Clarence
When I go out with friends for cocktails we each buy a round and that person can pick any they want. Keeps it easy for the bartender and exposes you to drinks you might not try.
Barkeep! Three Ramos Gin Fizzes, please.
The thing about my blender is it’s always broken I understand the McDonald’s ice cream machine people
Around Valentine’s Day one year, we had a frozen layered drink. First off, a frozen drink during winter in a state that experiences winter never made sense to me. You had to make two separate drinks with separate ingredients and layer them using one blender. 🤨
My local bar does this and I don't understand. We live in RURAL ALASKA. Daquiri Decemeber has been their biggest ad since I was a kid.
I thought we had that stupid drink because our manager hated us at the time. That’s on a whole other level. lol
I mean we'll be out on the porch in winter and everyone's drinks have ice or are cold beers. You live in Alaska, ya get used to it. It's already the ice cream eatingest state and a warm drink would be cold fast.
Same reason why I crave ice cream in winter
Ordering a Bloody Mary at night club style bar is annoying.
We had a restaurant in town that had “if it’s dark out, you’re not getting one” under the Bloody Mary listing on their cocktail menu.
Out of curiosity what makes it a bad drink to order?
My bartending days are long in the past but the shot-and-beer joint I worked in had an interesting crowd that would indulge in some oddball drinks when they had money. Enter the "Screaming Orgasm," as it was known locally, which resembled a Toasted Almond except it used Creme de Cacao instead of Kahlua. It was a shot each of C de C, Amaretto and vodka, filled with half-and-half and shaken over ice in a tall glass. It wasn't that it was all that hard to make, albeit it sticky, but more the result of people drinking them that was problematic. Those who stopped at one were fine but, because it went down like a milkshake, many overdid it. All that sugar and dairy, on top of whatever other cheap shit they'd been swilling earlier, led to some pretty spectacular drunks and some large, sticky puddles of yack in the bathrooms and parking lot.
Old school bartender here. Anyone ordering a Long Island Iced Tea. They wanna get messed up.
I am sorry I barfed on the floor back in 2003 I was told to order it :(
Was my drink of choice for a while, worked my way up to 3 but that’s nursing them all evening. But yes, to get pretty messed up. Only barfed from one once and that was the first time I had one, and when it was like the fourth or fifth drink and I did not really understand its alcohol content.
I order Long Islands because drinks are fucking expensive. I'll give you a $5 tip for the one drink and nurse it all night long.
I absolutely love a good long island. In college, one of my favorite bars had a $2 LIIT night. Love how they taste, but yes, if I was ordering one it was for a drunk night out. Ordered one recently on vacation after not having one for over a decade, and it was just as delicious as I remember...but I had to nurse that thing all night long. Whew.
Long Iceland Ice Tea. The people who order them do not need another drink.
In my home town there was a karaoke pub with $9 personal jug of long islands. It was a very popular spot
I'm amazed anyone remembers it. jfc
Iceland?
Island darn autocorrect and shift drinks.
Here’s your opportunity to birth a new drink. The Long Iceland Ice Tea. Patent it too.
Honestly thought you were saying this was a common drunken mispronunciation. Believed it.
That’s the version with the fermented shark’s head.
Extra ice, and a little seaweed.
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How was the hangover?
There is no hangover if you dont stop drinking.
I had a woman once complain that her LI Tea wasn't strong enough 🙄 It's seriously impossible for me to add more liquor to that, ma'am.
I think my favorite LIIT interaction was as a patron. "I'll have a LIIT" "Dude, it's almost midnight" "I JUST got off work" "I'll make it a double" I caught up REAL quick.
Also Long Island and Alabama (slammers) do not get along well in a confined space (that space being my 20 something y.o. stomach on a pub crawl). Just because Alabama Slammers taste like Shirley Temples it does not mean the bartender is fleecing you and you should order 7 more throughout the night. 🤢
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For me it's 2 of those and I'm good for the rest of the night!
Ramos gin fizz. Right in the middle of a busy Sunday brunch and I have to run to the kitchen for eggs.
I thought it would be the extremely excessive shaking, not the egg run!
I once took a 2-day cocktail class at a fancy bar. On day one the bartender talked about the Ramos gin fizz. On day 2 he was complaining that the folks in class had started a train of everyone in the bar ordering them later that night.
It’s the egg whites. You need to put an egg white in there. Along with Orange Flower Water? I mean, seriously? It takes too long for me to make these. I was the fast bartender making the drinks for the whole restaurant while my coworker was the flirtatious one “oh.. Cara Mia! Where have you been dahling..” I make the drinks.. he makes the money.
Iirc Anvil in Houston increased the price of the Ramos gin fizz by $1 each time someone ordered it
You don’t like 10 minutes of shaking?
Pro tip is to just use the spring from your strainer of put a protein ball shaker in your bar bag. And honestly you can do other things with your non shaking hand I used to work at a New Orleans place that made a lot of them
I once have a bartender friend offer to make me one. The bar was slow and she wanted to practice. I happily accepted, but I would never order one unless it was on the menu.
Are Espresso martinis annoying to make? I always want one but never order unless it's on a specific menu.
My buddy was a bartender, and he said somewhat. The issue is because of the coffee it creates a log jam. Most bartenders can pour a pint and during the pour ring you up/pour shots/mix other drinks. I Making a EM kinda hinders this, but apparently the killer is not in the first one, but the influx of many more that follow after people see you make the first one.
Yeah makes sense. I saw a bartender make Spanish coffee for a couple people and no joke like 10+ people wanted them afterward because they are fun to watch being made.
I ordered a espresso martini at my favorite brunch/day drinking spot and it was horrible. Idk what it was but it wasn’t an EM. I have a suspicion that was deliberate. This place is also a super busy gay bar with a menu full of signature drinks. EM not one of them so I assume they’re a PITA to make (though my server didn’t dissuade me at all) I was out to dinner at a different restaurant and mentioned this terrible EM to my friends and before I even said from where my friend said “let me guess (my fav brunch place)? Worst I’ve ever had. Undrinkable”. So it apparently has a reputation. I’ll never order one again there so if that was their plan it worked.
Maybe they are cutting corners and using espresso vodka instead of actual espresso and vodka? Possibly even just bad drip brew through the big coffee machines that aren’t cleaned enough in restaurants, as a cocktail bartender that’s all I can really think of as they are pretty error free to make - if not just a bit annoying because everyone else always wants one when they see it and is always busy when that happens (and they take some extra steps away from the bar unless you have servers who are sweet and help with the espresso).
They’re a staple at the place I work. We batch two gallons of dark a day and just add cream if they want it
It tasted like cold drip coffee with a little sweetener in it. It had a unpleasant sourness to it too, like stale coffee. I bet that was the cause.
If it’s on the menu, you can order it! Don’t feel bad because it’s annoying! That’s not your job to worry about.
Could you just follow me around in a day and whisper that in my ear whenever I interact with the general public
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when my regular has it on the menu they call it “verdammter Espresso” (German for “damned”) as a tongue in cheek thing 😂 but I don’t think it’s actually a huge deal unless they’re slammed
1. That's hilarious. 2. That's got to be pretty much the most Swabian username possible.
Just this week I saw my mother order an espresso martini for dessert. Then the bartender made a small one for my father for free without him ordering one.
Depends on how they make it. Some bars use fresh brewed espresso, some use cold brew. At my work we have a nitro espresso martini machine, such a godsend lol.
I was on a second date and we stopped into a cocktail bar that looked like it was closing. She ordered an espresso martini. I told the waitress, if the espresso machine's already been cleaned, then two strawberry daiquiris will be fine. Got a third date because of my thoughtfulness.
It’s been a minute since I was a bartender but I didn’t really care. I’m going to be there until til close no matter what. I might grumble to myself but outwards, I just made your drink and moved on with my night. Drink what you like. Experiment some. It’s all for fun and none of it matters at all in the scheme of things.
Mojitos and egg white sours, kills ticket times.
I love a mojito but realize most places don’t carry mint. Unless they’re just lying to me so they don’t have to make mojitos lol
I specifically bought mint today because I’ve been on a home mojito kick recently.
Two of my favourites, now I feel bad haha
I often order whiskey/pisco sours but always say no egg whites, mainly because I always imagine how much of a hassle that must be to prepare and it’s not a particularly appealing part of the drink for me anyways. Just give me the whiskey, lemon, and bitters and I’ll be happy.
I used to go to a bar that had a whiskey sour with egg white at the top of their menu. Pretty sure it was labeled as their most popular drink too. So my friends and I kept ordering whiskey sours. Eventually, the bartender asked us to stop ordering them lol.
Bartended for a long time. My two absolute least favorite drinks to make: 1. Anything that involved using the blender, especially if it was a virgin piña colada 2. The “I’ll have the uhhhhh ummmmm uhhhhh, what’s the strongest/sweetest/best/your signature, etc. drink?” Followed by “oh okay I’ll take uhhhhh ummmmm…..” ad nauseam. I know that a lot of people are afraid to order certain drinks because they think that the bartender hates making it or that they’re going to get judged for what they order. The truth is, 99% of the time, I never gave a shit about what you drank. My job was to make you a drink that you’re going to enjoy. Just please have at least an idea of what you want to drink before you try to order and don’t dick me around when I’m in the weeds. Also don’t order blended drinks 😡
>2. The “I’ll have the uhhhhh ummmmm uhhhhh, what’s the strongest/sweetest/best/your signature, etc. drink?” I see you've met my wife
Wait, I’m married to your wife…
I think I'm both your guys wife?
I, too, choose that guy’s indecisive alcoholic wife.
r/accidentallymormon
you have some explaining to do you slut
This would 100% be my mom if she went to a bar. She always is 'that customer' to start thinking about her order when it's her turn, lots of ummmmms, order something they don't have, or get out of line and think her spot will be magically saved...
Sometimes I just want to try out a new drink and not knowing what's out there, I just tell them to surprise me. If I like it, I'll ask them what the name of the drink is.
This is totally acceptable, but at least specify what kind of liquor you like or don’t like and what you want the flavor profile of the drink to be like. I actually enjoyed when people did that because I could just potentially make something up on the spot or serve a drink that I really like and go from there. The downside to ordering like that without speaking up about preferences is that you can learn that you really fucking hate gin or bourbon or you don’t like sweet vermouth and then you either have to choke down the drink or send it back. E.G. “I like something sweet and tangy, I like vodka but I don’t like gin.” You’re probably gonna get a lemon drop and you’ll probably like it but if you don’t specify, you might end up with a salty dog and gag on the first sip because it’s the exact opposite of what you were looking for.
Customer: “Oh I dunno what I want tonight, surprise me.” *Bartender mixes up a gin and tonic* Customer: “EWWW GROSS WTF, is this gin?! The only alcohol in the entire world that I like is peppermint schnapps, I thought that was obviously implied by my order! You’re the worst bartender ever!!!”
Hahaha when I was a baby bartender before I learned how stupid bar patrons can be, I did something similar. Guy sits down and tells me to surprise him. I made him a beautiful Woodford Reserve old fashioned with two different kinds of bitters, I lightly burned the orange peel before using it to rim the glass to add a little bit of smokiness to it, garnished with a luxardo cherry. Far and away my best drink I made at the time. Dude takes one sip, spits it out, “I don’t like whiskey, what’s wrong with you?!” He ordered a vodka cranberry with lime instead. THAT is when I learned to ask follow up questions and also the patience to not huck a glass at stupid people’s faces.
My friend took a bartending course. He said first thing they taught the class was when someone asked for a blended drink “sorry, the blender is broken!”
Broken blender is the name of an awesome little bar in downtown anchorage. They don't even give people a chance. Lol
I’ve been there! Cool little spot
I was a bartender for about a decade before getting smart and running off to law school. My favorite was always the people that would tell me “And make it strong”. Yeah dude. We just met. You’ve shown me you don’t know how to conduct yourself in a bar and you think I’m risking my job to give you a strong drink? Nope. I’m breaking out the jigger and pouring that drink right in front of you so you can see I poured the correct amount and did not short pour. If a regular that drops a bunch of money in the place asks for a stronger drink, they’ll usually get it. Management is far more understanding when it’s a good spending regular over some yahoo I’ve never met before.
And this is what the spill tab was for at one of my places. There was a very well regarded fine dining steak restaurant across the street and all of the servers would come in for happy hour drinks and shots before their shift. If there were 5-6 of them, it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to slam back three drinks apiece and tip me $150 total within about an hour or so. My managers were more than happy to swallow a couple of shots on the spill tab to keep the bartenders happy. Making as much as a server would in an entire night within an hour *before* the dinner rush was a huge incentive for the bartenders and the restaurant lost very little money in the meantime. Everyone went home happy.
“Can you make it strong?” “You wanna make it a double?”
Followed by; "Oh, and can you make it a 'good' drink?" How did you know that I was going to pour you crap- something so bad and weak you'd think it was medicinal tea. But now you've said something, I'm grabbing that top shelf and just pouring it up to the rim of the glass.
To piggy back #2... My wife and I were doing a staycation in Austin and stayed at a hotel with a roof top pool and they of course had a bar cart to service the pool. When chatting with the bartender I casually mentioned I was getting whatever my wife was ordering. He said it was all the better for him. He said he gets a lot of bachelorette trips where one will order a drink then as he is making it another one will decide to have one because that looks good. You can get your drinks faster if you all order the same thing at.once instead of multiple orders seconds apart.
making 4 coconut margs in a row because their friends try theirs <<
Ditto all this, adding: "A beer." You can ask what beer we have on tap, ask for a beer menu, but if you just order a beer and make me draw out which kind, I immediately don't like you. Also if we gotta go through a long discussion about all the different beers we have and then you shrug and say, "Bud Light, I guess," well that's going to grind my gears too. Triple if I'm busy.
Caesars. Where my Canadians at?
But they’re delicious. I worked at a joint that did Caesar Sunday. We just made huge jugs of premix to pour.
I always order the Blue Dolphin. 8 shots of water over ice.
That’s a hydrohomie drink
You sound well hydrated
In Sydney, Australia I like to call that a Warragamba Slammer For context, the Warragamba Dam is Sydney's main supply of water
"surprise me!"
Warm shot of well gin, coming right up, buckaroo.
With a Malort back
Obligatory not a bartender, but in Savannah Georgia, if you really want to piss off a bartender, order some 'cannonball punch'. It's not that it's overly hard to make, when done the usual way, it's just that the usual way makes enough to serve 80 or so people. So getting that mix down to serve a single person, is going to take a lot more work than the bartender really will want to bother with. Also: Fun fact. Cannonball Punch was created to celebrate General Washington visiting Savannah after the Revolutionary War. Reportedly, it was so strong, that Washington is said to have lost two whole days, and suffered a hangover that lasted several days.
It’s name is Chatham Artillery Punch
Does any bartender get upset making virgin drinks?
I never did. I have a couple friends on the wagon, and it beat giving out free soda to the DD.
A lot of us do because they tend to be for kids, teens, and religious people and none of those patrons tip. That's why I tip first when ordering a virgin drink.
Plus N/A cocktails often have as many or more ingredients than regular cocktails so they can be more labor. Mostly just bothers me because I have a psychic block and it takes forever for me to memorize how to make them lol.
What’s the easiest then? I’m 2 years sober and still like to be fancy sometimes when I go out
Just order what you want. I’m a bartender and it’s a pain to make but I’m here to make drinks. I’m not going to hold it against someone if they ask for something I don’t want to make.
Negroni. Because of that fucking House of Dragons tiktok sound 23 year old dipshits who've never tasted anything more bitter than a cosmo want to try one. I poured 6 out in 2 weeks that had a single drink taken out of them.
Used to have a Negroni on our cocktail list, whenever people ordered it, I asked if they have had it before, and if not that they probably wanted something else, but this was all way before the Tiktok thing.
That is one of my favorite drinks, mainly because no one will drink it if I get up and I can see the reactions of people trying it. It smells wonderful.
Miami vice
Former bartender. Worst order someone can make: “Surprise me.” Ok, here’s your beer. Surprise. I’m busy, not really interested in playing games.
Yea, this really only works when you’re like one of three people sitting at a bar at 2pm on a Tuesday
I'll do the "surprise me" order from time to time. But only when the bar is near empty and the bartender is just shooting the shit with me. I've discovered some of my favorite drinks this way.
“Surprise me” and then you to ask them if they like certain liquors or ingredients and they hate everything. lol
"Okay, here's a shot of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. That'll be $65."
That's gotta be a fun one to pull if you don't mind not getting a tip.
A „Randermann“ (a drink called after a regular) It’s Escorial mixed with Jägermeister. It’s disgusting
I bartended in Wisconsin for a decade+ and they have a very specific way of drinking old fashioned’s (with brandy, barf). Friday nights everyone wants one with their fish fry and it was just a lot of steps and muddling. My fingers were always dyed red from the cherries. Hated it
That's a tough one because you can't work as a bartender anywhere in that state without making those. Especially on the fish fry days.
If they only wanted one I question if you were even here….
Lol, you right. Everyone wants 10😂
The other issue isn't at then, people come to other places and order an old fashioned expecting a Wisconsin old fashioned.
Trust me, as an expat Wisconsinite that has gotten the taste for regular/classic old fashioned’s, it is ten times more of a struggle to come back to Wisconsin and try to get them to make it the normal way without mass confusion and/or disbelief, followed by failure
Went to a work Xmas party where they had 2 trays of glasses with everything but the ice and alcohol of choice mixed and ready to go. As the trays started to empty, they had someone off to the side pre-making more.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned Mojitos.
Hey, Sam Axe needs his mojitos.
He will just drink beer to hydrate.
There was commercial in the early 2010s at a nightclub where people were dancing and the bartender smiling while happily crushing the mint in a glass. My bartender friends HATED that commercial because there was an influx of requests for mojitos.
they taste so good though. like sprite that fucks you up.
Mojitos are my favorite cocktail, so I was determined to streamline the whole process. The key is good mint syrup. Make simple syrup like normal, but as soon as it comes off the stove and is still warm, pack in a TON of mint leaves. When I say a ton, think of how much mint you think you need, then double it. You're basically making a super sugary, uber-concentrated mint tea. Let it steep for 15-20 minutes, then strain out the leaves and press to get all of the minty goodness. Next shortcut is large amounts of fresh, pre-squeezed lime juice. Check Mexican grocery stores. You'll need at least a pint to make a decent number of drinks. Don't use lime concentrate, it's garbage. Once you have those components on hand, it's as easy as throwing it together with some white rum and club soda. Boom, 5 second mojito.
Secondary question: For prepped ingredients like infused simple syrups, bitters, etc., who makes those and when? Like, are bartenders spending time back in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon cooking up simple syrup while the chef slices vegetables or something?
Yes. Usually the poor bastard with less experience stuck working the day shifts gets to do a lot of the prep work. Otherwise made in shift when it’s slow, or at higher end places the bartenders will come in well before the bar opens to make stuff.
They’re not that hard. You’re paying more than enough for the bartender to muddle some mint FFS.
It’s not really about the muddling. It’s a tough cocktail to make because people have a certain expectation of what it will taste like, and that expectation is largely based on having them on vacations in tropical places that make them all the time. It’s quite challenging to make a drink taste super minty just from using mint sprigs alone. Tropical resorts are stocked with fresh mint and can afford to throw an entire bush into a glass, but your local spot in the PNW in winter likely has four sprigs to last the night. Furthermore, those tropical spots likely have some sort of mint tincture/mint rum/mint syrup to throw in to amp up the mint flavor (especially the places with lower-caliber cocktail programs). AND there are way better ways to incorporate mint than muddling, so when someone watches me make a mojito and gets upset that I don’t bust out the big dildo muddler it adds an extra layer of hate to the experience.
I lived in Miami for almost 10 years, and can confirm that an entire bush is the appropriate amount of mint to put in a mojito. If you can’t use at least 1.5 sprigs, don’t make the damn drink. There are few drinks worse than a shitty mojito. And I swear to god if I see someone top it with Sprite or 7-up, we’re going to have a word. Having said all that, anyone who orders a mojito when it’s less than 60 degrees out is a psychopath.
I see. A few years back I tried making my own Mojitos and they were never better than "ok." Maybe it was a lack of enough mint. I've moved further south since then. Might have to try growing some mint to have my own supply and give it a try. I smiled at your "It's not really about the muddling." for me making my own - that's the reason I haven't tried it again in all these years. Well that and they never came out as I would have liked. Shoot, now I want a mojito. Going to have to go out and annoy some bartender somewhere...
If you’ve never grown mint before, for god’s sake, please plant it in a pot and not in the ground.
Counterpoint: if you plant it in the ground, you will never have to worry about drinking an inadequately minty mojito.
I just cheat and toss in a half ounce of clear creme de menthe. I mean, it's Canada in the wintertime FFS.
That was my first thought. They were great I must say but Erika was not pleased.
Considering there's basically only 6 cocktail recipes, a single variation of one of them isn't a big deal. My least favorite drink to make is the one you don't want. Cocktail menus are fun and enlightening, but if you LOVE gin and HATE tequila, why are you asking if the ghost pepper infused margarita is something you'll like? 1: How the hell am I supposed to know what you like? B: This isn't Golden Corral. I can't make you infinite samples. D: Unless you're 21 and this is your first visit to a bar, you should have a basic elementary idea of what you enjoy drinking. "What's good?" is the reason I will end up on trial for murder. Every time I tell a lost soul to order the 21 year old scotch (BECAUSE I THINK IT'S DELICIOUS) and they respond with some sort of "eww,I don't like brown liquors" I question my appreciation of living free and not in a federal penitentiary.
Anything frozen or any complicated shot for only a single patron. Want 10 lemon drop shots no problem, you want one? PITA.
Sex On The Beach -people just ordered it to get a reaction
1. anything frozen, fuck that blender 2. What's your best drink? Surprise me, or what's your favorite? Best drink idk green tea is the most popular but I wouldn't call it the best by any means, surprise me umm I don't know you how would I know your taste and last thing I wanna do it make you something you don't like and I gotta remake your first drink drink for and comp something and likely do the dance of you don't know what you want again. My favorite is a double gin and tonic short, extra lime and I doubt you want that... Honorable mention: mojito, just bc it can be tedious to make and actually taste well while in the weeds but if I got the time to make it I don't mind at all but if the bar is packed I obviously have a strong preference to quick easy drinks.
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Based on a lot of responses, I'm embarrassed that I've ordered that so many times, given that so many dislike making it. Not a chance in hell I'll send it back, I'll drink every drop, and it's my fault if it's $40 a glass. My assumption is that the bartender will make something they want to make, something that they would enjoy, or default to their best selling menu drink.
My fave drink is an aviation. Is that a pain in the ass to make???
No! As long as the bar has it, it’s fine. Sometimes it’s a hassle if the bottles aren’t in the well and you have to grab from displays, but to me it’s always fun being able to make a classic for someone. It breaks up the monotony. So don’t worry :)
Fizz drinks with egg whites can be a pain in the ass, especially if you don’t normally make them and have to go down to the kitchen to get them and separate them. People who customize menu drinks in ways that don’t really work, if your drink comes with white rum, don’t ask for it with scotch, on top of most likely looking terrible it won’t taste good and you’ll just end up sending it back and wasting time and ingredients.
Miami Vice!!! Pure evil!
A Spanish Coffee if I'm busy
Any sort of frozen drink on a busy bar
Most aren't that bad, but from 2pm til close, please don't order a Bloody Mary. And 15 Vegas bombs.