Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Bar Etiquette

Morgan_Weber

By Morgan_Weber
in Spirits & Cocktails

 Share

Recommended Posts

CincyCraig

CincyCraig

Posted
Posted

I am so cautious about ordering cocktail other than a Martini, Manhattan (I always specify '2 dashes of bitters') or a highball in a bar or restaurant that I won't order anything more complex without some investigation. I'll sit at the bar, and if the bartender seems halfway competent and the bar isn't terribly busy, I'll engage the bartender in some conversation. I'll say 'you wouldn't have access to any fresh squeezed lemon/lime/orange/etc juice back there, would you?' If he or she seems game, I'll ask if they wouldn't mind making a custom sidecar/margarita/pegu club/etc to my recipe. Again, if they are game for it, I'll write the ratios down for them. After they make the drink, I throw them a pretty good tip for their troubles. This ensures that the next round(s) will come the same way. I've actually 'trained' most of the bartenders at my regular watering holes in this manners. Several have become good mixologists, and I can't help feel at least a little responsible for it.

BTW, I've found the bartenders at Mortons to be pretty well trained mixologists, in my experiences travelling around the country. they generally make a decent drink. Anyone else have any experience at Mortons?

During lunch with the Arab leader Ibn Saud, when he heard that the king’s religion forbade smoking and alcohol, Winston Churchill said: "I must point out that my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite the smoking of cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after, and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." Ibn Saud relented and the lunch went on with both alcohol & cigars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fernwood

Fernwood

Posted
Posted
I've actually 'trained' most of the bartenders at my regular watering holes in this manners. Several have become good mixologists, and I can't help feel at least a little responsible for it.

Please give a hint about locations. We visit Cincinnati with some regularity and I would love to know where I can at least hope for a competently made cocktail. Thank you and welcome to eGullet!

Fern

Link to comment
Share on other sites
campus five

campus five

Posted
Posted
I have had $15 Manhattans without bitters before.  What can you do?  Most people drink alcoholic beverages merely for social purposes.  Owners don't care and I don't blame them.

I went to McCormick and Schmick's the other day for happy hour, and I saw that the bar had several kinds of good Bourbon, more than just Maker's and Jim Beam for sure. The first mistake I made was ordering from a bar waitress rather than ordering my drink from the bartender. The second mistake was not just ordering my Bourbon neat.

So I order a "Booker's Manhattan", and I asked jokingly, "you use bitters, right?." Then she says, "No we make ours sweet." I realize now she was mistaking the terms "bitter" and "dry." I clarified my order, "2:1 Bourbon to Sweet Vermouth, 2 dashes of bitters" as nicely as possible. What I got was a Manhattan with dry vermouth and no bitters. $14.

I now have friends who wonder I don't order drinks at dinner, and just make some when I get home. That's why.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...