This article on CNN mentions something I’ve heard many times: bartenders hate making Long Island Iced Teas because they are labor-intensive and cheap. Is this true?
I’ve never ordered one because I find them cheap, I order them because I like the taste. What’s something like it that won’t make the bartender hate me?
Tipping: What about bars with waitresses where you run up a tab? I don’t carry cash, so when I’m done for the night and pay the tab I add the tip onto the total of the bill and pay by credit or debit card. Since it’s not an immediate cash payoff, how does the ‘tip good or get screwed over’ thing work?
(Mods, this might be a mix of IMHO and GQ, so move if necessary. But since it’s harder than just leaving the thread in GQ, does that mean you’ll hate doing it unless I leave a huge tip?)
It isn’t that they are cheap or that they are labor intensive - hey aren’t really either.
I didn’t like making them because they seemed to me to scream “give me a drink that will get me drunk as quickly as possible.” That means you may well be a pain in the ass later on.
Now, ordering a strawberry dacquiri (in a bar not really set up for them) or any blended drink = labor intensive. And those who order them tend not to tip. It was a crying shame how often my blender was broken. They just don’t make the motors like they used to. That or they aren’t designed to have blend held down while I hold a knife inside them.
Ah, okay. I’m the other type that bars usually hate: the timid social drinker. I only have 2-3 drinks on the rare times I go out, so really, I’m not the one puking, I’m the chick looking for the one stall that hasn’t been puked in yet.
Bars may not be wild about a person only having 2 or 3 drinks, but bartenders don’t have a problem with that. Or I never did anyway. And bars like women coming in. For some reason it attracts men too.
If you aren’t going into the bar regularly, the bartender or waitron is going to form a snap opinion of you. It’s inevitable. It isn’t that you’ll get bad service, but if you aren’t seen as a “tipper” you probably won’t get a share of the limited comp tab. If you are having 2-3 drinks, that probably won’t worry you, as you wouldn’t get one anyway (especially drinking LIIT’s).
I don’t know where that article gets the idea from - its one of the easiest drinks to make (other than the really standard ones). Ice, 5 liquors, sour mix, pour into shaker, shake, pour back into glass, splash of coke, lime wedge, straw, thanks…
I had a conversation with a bartender regarding frou frou ‘martini’s’ and then then current trend for the ‘appletini’ ‘chocolatetini’ ‘lemondrop’ etc. (now, I believe replaced in the trendy world with the mojito in flavors unknown to the original). He said “I don’t mind, I just hope blender drinks never come back into fashion.”
If I were a bartender, I would make sure to have a pre-made pitcher in the fridge of any drink that is both popular and labor-intensive. (Of course, with a Long Island iced tea, I would leave out the cola, and add some to each glass just before serving; otherwise it would go flat.)
Long Island Ice Teas are a pain in the ass because they involve five different alcohols, as pointed out in the article. So compared to an order for a Jack and coke, say, they’re more annoying. Now, some bars have Long Island mix, which helps, and most bartenders know you could put anywhere from two to five alcohols in there and few customers would notice. They also have the stigma of being an unhip drink that the sort of customers who tip poorly would order.
My point of view (again, from someone who used to do this for a living)? Any bartender who’s so put out by making a drink - a.k.a. their job - should find a new career. If you’re totally in the weeds, use just tequila and white rum. The customer is probably not watching you mix the drink and if for some reason they do see, just say one of the bottles has Long Island mix. They’re drinking LIIT, they probably don’t have the most distinguished taste buds.
As for “something like it that won’t make the bartender hate” you, pick anyone of the alcohols in the drink, and ask for it with coke and a splash of lime. Pretty much the same drink. Your choices are vodka, white rum, tequila, gin and triple sec. I wouldn’t suggest triple sec, but hey, your drink, your call.
My two cents about the article? Unless you were puking, or hitting on me, you were not annoying me. Puking ON me if of course even worse. In fact, someone saying “When you have a minute…” is one of the best things I would hear all night, signifying that they notice I’m busy and aren’t demanding. Your concerns about running a tab and tipping all at the end would have been unfounded with me - I’d rather cater to a polite table who treated me like a human being and tipped decently than a table of cash-waving idiots who thought that throwing a ten dollar bill at me for everything round (ten whole dollars! wow!) meant I’d ignore everyone else to make their Jagerbombs.
But all bartenders are different so your mileage may vary. My advice? If you end up being served by people like those in the article, go to a different bar.
Not a chance. Customer’s aren’t going to stand for that. People will put up with it with bloodies, because they don’t mind the bloody mix pre-concocted. But they want to see the vodka get poured. And with Ice Teas, after you pour the spirits, there are only two things to add, both from a gun.
That list is pretty accurate. Long Island Iced Teas, as noted, aren’t difficult to make and they generally aren’t cheap. They are usually priced as a double making them one of the more expensive options. The issue with them is that only a particular type of customer orders them and they usually are unpleasant. It’s either the new drinker who has no idea what they want and only want something that tastes good or that they have heard of on TV. These people don’t tip well and get sloppy drunk. It could be the broke ass person trying to a good of a buzz as possible for as cheap as possible, which has the same issues as the first. These twits almost always say “make it extra strong!”. Yeah, right, I’ll get right on that. And the last category is the ghetto crowd out for a big night in the classy part of town. They are a combination of the first two, amateurs who are also in over their head price wise and looking to get over on the bar. Basically the LIIT screams problem and no tips until proven otherwise.
We made ice teas very differently then. Ask for a vodka with coke and a spalsh of lime you are going to get a highball glass with ice, vodka, fill it up with coke, and a couple of lime wedges squeezed in (or Rose’s Lime cordial). But it’s a coke drink. Ask for an ice tea, you’ll usually get a bigger class, with the predominate mixer beign sour mix, and coke just splashed in enough to slightly change the color. It’s a citrus drink not a coke drink.
This is getting into a touchy area, villa, but are you by chance alluding to the stereotypes about a)black people enjoying “tropical” drinks and b) those same people not being the best tippers?
I only ask because my wife, who’s as liberal as they come, said both of these things were universally true in the many years she spent as a bartender/waitress.
I’m not trying to derail the thread, so I’ll ask no further about this, regardless of the reply.
Ordering blender drinks from a busy bartender will also make the other customers hate you. Okay, you got here first, fair enough. But now I have to stand here and watch the bartender spend five minutes on your stupid sissy drink before he can twist the cap off my next bottle of beer? Screw that.
Ten dollars a round sounds like a pretty decent tip to me (though I suppose it depends on the size of the group) – or am I a cheapskate and didn’t know it? Your wording here is a little odd so maybe I didn’t get your meaning.
Absolutely 100% not. I have never, in any of the bars I have worked in, associated African American people and “tropical drinks.” I have, on the other hand, associated bachelorette parties and “tropical drinks,” as well as, at times, bachelorette parties and hideously bad tips.
It’s not that it isn’t a decent tip - it’s the idea that giving me a decent tip buys you the right to be an obnoxious asshole. I’m the same way - treat me as a human being. That goes a hell of a lot further than tipping. Good and bad tips will balance out over the evening. That $10 I can live without, and would rather not get if it gives you the idea I am your personal slave.
Regarding tabs. Tipping on a card versus cash is irrelevant. Some corporate joints hold credit card tips and pay them less taxes on their pay check, but this is generally rare. Unless you are at a TGIFridays tipping more is more important that tipping in cash.
Credit Cards are an absolute scourge on the bar industry. They take 10 times as long to process as cash and people tend to tip poorly on them. It’s far too easy to write the same $2 tip on a receipt regardless of if you’ve just ordered 2 beers or a round of 12 shots and 6 cocktails. Couple rules off thumb if you want a happy bartender who’ll comp you some shots. Pay in cash exclusively, hit the ATM before you arrive. When you want a drink have the cash in hand and ready. If you are holding a $20 bill in your hand you are always the next person I’m serving under all circumstances. If you must use a credit card open up a tab and spend at least $50 on it. Make an arrangement with your friends and buy rounds, don’t make me open 5 tabs for the 5 people in your group and don’t you dare ask me to close your tab for one $8 round. Tip 20% or $1 per drink regardless of how expensive the tab is. If you just spent $150 on your tab you definitely got your $30 worth of service, don’t pretend the only interaction we had what the last round where I closed that tab. I didn’t give you the first 6 rounds out of the goodness of my heart even though you never went into your wallet.
Also, if it’s a busy bar saying “when you get a chance” or “can i be next” or “hey bartender” will piss me off and make me ignore you until I’ve served everyone else first. I’m a bartender. I know who’s waiting and what order they were in. You’ll get served when it’s your turn. Also, pushy self-centered people who bark out like that tend to not tip worth a shit. I know what I’m doing and I’ll get you your drinks as quickly as possible. Have your money out and ready and know what your are ordering. Waving a credit card at me or ordering drinks and making me wait for 5 minutes while you take up a collection from your friends or dig into your wallet are going to increase your wait time exponentially. I’m very busy as you should be able to see. Be patient, polite an do everything in your power to not slow me down and you’ll be my favorite customer all night.
Yeah my wording was bad there - I’m saying that people who tip just ok but are pleasant are preferable to those who throw money about, like ten bucks a round, but are douchebags.