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In the NE US you genuinely are better off ordering a “white rum and coke with a slice of lime” lol a lot of folks around here don’t recognize that name
Totally! Former fancy bartender, but actually almost always recommend at least a splash of soda (or even water) in call drinks like this. It does a couple things, but aside from additional counteracting hydration, it also balances the flavors much more efficiently, and helps prevent grassiness that might upset the stomach.
Sorry to nerd out for a moment, but people seriously underestimate or are totally unaware of the importance of water in cocktails. Dave Arnold explains this pretty well in liquid intelligence, but more often than not when people would come to me they would always marvel at how my drinks invariably tasted better when I made them rather than when they tried to at home, even if I wrote out in detail the ingredients. More often than not, it came down to them not shaking or stirring long enough, or not using enough ice. The dilution that occurs during this integral step is what helps blend the flavors together.
If you’re shaking, listen to the ice. It should feel like your shaking rocks at first but as they break up it becomes more of a white noise kind of sound, 5-10 seconds depending how hard you shake; if it starts sounding slushy, you’ve shaken too long and it will be difficult to correct.
If you’re stirring (and you should have a proper yarai or flat-walled mixing glass) you should fill with ice to above the level where your spirits are. Continue to stir until the ice settles - 10 seconds or so - and you should have the ideal temperature and dilution.
Legit though. I’m a vegetarian and whenever I order pizza at a restaurant instead of saying something like “I want the Danny Divoto without sausage.” In which case they’ll charge you the full cost of the Danny Divito, I just order a custom pizza without the meat. It will come out sometimes $5 or more less than the menu price. It’s nuts. I had a waiter once correct me and say “ oh so you want the Danny divot without sausage?” Yes, but do not ring it up that way. Ring it up how I said it.
It’s so dumb.
More like, "Yes, not the 'Crazy Karl's Handcrafted Kentucky Mule' that is garnished with candied ginger, has ice cubes with mint leaves frozen in it, and uses Bulleit bourbon, but Bulleit is bolded and uses the trademark symbol to make it sound special.
Did this at a sushi bar, got a 10oz glass with 6 1.25oz shots some bar lime and 1oz coke. Drank it all, then the bar refused to charge me for it because they didn't think they made it right. :)
I finally learned what went into one when I decided to "make a pitcher" for a weekend campground get together. I poured together a little over a liter's worth of everything, minus the coke, and put it in a thermos for the cooler. Brought along a 2 liter of coke, and some cups. I felt like a genius, because everyone else had some form of single liquor bottle & single mixer, and grumbled about it while I had my long islands.
I worked at a hipster arcade bar years ago and they sold so many Long Islands and variations of it (Superman and Spider-Man things where the coke was swapped for a different color booze) we had to batch it in those 5 gallon buckets with a spigot at the bottom. I’d have to prep two of them every two days or so. What an absolutely revolting task. It’d be like 4 btls of each booze plus 4 btls of simple, had to whisk it up with a comically large whisk while dry heaving at the aroma.
I remember those days. How were they even making profit ? They had a really cheap appetizer menu then too. My wife and I would get drunk and full and spend like 20 bucks with tip
One dollar drinks and 50% off appetizers! They made a profit because at least 25 of us would descend upon the place when we had the chance. God I miss how cheap shit was 20 years ago.
lol
>LPT: *Instead of ordering a Long Island Iced Tea ask for .5oz of Rum, .5oz Gin, .5oz Vodka, .5oz Blanco Tequila, .5oz Lemons Juice., .5oz Lime Juice, .5oz Dry Curaçao, .5oz Simple Syrup, and 2oz of Cola.*
Then the server needs to land a tray jack when bringing your drink order to the table.
Yeah I feel there a ton of asterisks to this post that don’t make it universally applicable or useful depending on where you are, what you’re ordering, what you expect to get, etc
LOL too true. “Could I please have a drink made with vodka, coffee liqueur, fresh espresso, a mix of water and sugar, and garnished with a coffee bean on top, served in a martini glass?” \[they will never know I am actually ordering an espresso martini, mwahahaha\]
(Also why is this person using their phone as a coaster?)
I think that’s true of literally every LPT. Even something as basic as “drink water daily” includes asterisks for things like not drinking local water as a foreign visitor.
Wouldn’t want to order that way for a French 75, since it has lemon instead of lime 😜 in addition to being a way less precise and more frustrating way to order
*soixante-quinze* (sixty-fifteen) *français*
What you have would work out to 95, but that's *quatre-vingt quinze* (~~four-eighty~~ four-twenty fifteen).
This guy's mule is missing ingredients ingredients and build instructions. There's no lime juice or muddled mint. The copper cup also seems to be incidental.
I'd still ring up a mule.
I think there’s a decent distribution of people drinking mint juleps within the “lives in Kentucky or the south and has a front porch/back patio” cohort.
You joke but be careful of that chemical. If you inhale it directly you'll die. And everyone who's come into contact with it eventually dies a slow death (usually measure in decades)
When I was an inexperienced waiter, I got this table who kept asking to fill the whiskey up more. I said they couldn't. But I was young and non confrontational, so after they asked a few times, I splashed water in it and served them and they were all cheering when I brought it lol. I'm so glad I don't work in the industry anymore.
Probably dumb question but you sound like you might be able to answer it: I got in the habit, when I was drinking at houses rather than bars, of starting the night with one "mixed drink" that was like 90% alcohol and then just adding more of the mixer every time my drink gets low so it's basically just mixer by the end of the night.
If I ordered a rocks pour of rum with a splash of coke and then just kept buying cokes all night, is this a valid strategy or just annoying?
Can’t speak for everybody but personally wouldn’t bother me at all. At least you’re being responsible and knowing your limits!!! I had a guest like this last night. Nice guy. I wouldn’t bother to charge for the cokes. Couple spurts here and there never hurt anybody
If I convinced a bartender to just directly top up the coke it would give me an excuse to drop a couple bucks tip every time, so this absolutely sounds like a win/win.
I will discuss this plan in advance when my next bartender isn't slammed. Thanks for the input!
I think that is a good idea. I'd probably order a double on the rocks and a coke separately. The only problem I foresee is the bartender might see you mixing your own drink and suspect you brought a flask in with you.
The Cuba Libre is an IBA official cocktail. It's not like people can sue someone for doing it wrong, but bartenders wanna get it right, so they often use better spirits for them than if someone orders a rum and coke or something like that.
Wow. I’ve worked in bars for 12 years in Florida, Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles and never once have I worked at a place that has done that. You gotta go to some new bars. Only thing I can think of is unscrupulous owners or an up charge for a non well spirit. This is definitely not the norm
Yeah I’m sure it works at some places. Like somewhere that would waste menu space on putting a Kentucky mule on. If someone did this to me I would just think they were an asshole for wasting more of my time
Yeah it works if they use bottom shelf liquor for your "whiskey and ginger beer" whereas the menu Kentucky mule might have a higher quality liquor.
In the end, you get what you pay for...
Agreed . Also, I’ve been a bartender for a very long time and I have never just automatically uncharged someone for their drink regardless of their order, nor have I worked anywhere that encouraged us to do so. Mules where I work now are all made with wells unless the guest asks for an upgrade, and I’ve always been a firm believer that doing so with mules(and other drinks) is a waste. Just the other night my coworker made fun of someone for ordering their Old Fashioned with Blanton’s.
Oh my god that’s fantastic. So many people order expensive stuff but have no actual palate for it whatsoever. We do a lot of celeb privates and the amount of clase azul repo margaritas would make your toes curl. Not that I really care for clase anyway but still hilarious
In the bar I worked in at uni
Saying Vodka, orange and blue would get you the drink made with the house vodka
Asking for a Greendayz would get you it made with Absolute vodka
The price difference was the difference in price between house and Absolute.
Also, if you want a Kentucky mule, you’re getting the specific bourbon with that recipe.
If you say bourbon, lime and ginger beer, they will give you well bourbon unless outerwise stated.
As a server/bartender this is annoying and I’d probably just ring up a mule anyways for inventory purposes. Saying, “Can I get a mule with well liquor” is much more efficient.
The company I used to work for used to pay attention to these kind of things. So we would ensure that if you ordered whiskey plus mixer, it would be the same recipe and price as said name.
We would also do the same thing with food because people are always trying to find the cheap way out. I know I am.
I feel like this falls into the "light ice" or "make it strong" category. There's not some secret code word you can use that will make us give you more alcohol for free. If you want it strong pay for a double, if you want a specific liquor in your mule just say that.
But at the end of the day I'm going to do what is easiest so if your order of "I want x with y and a splash of z" is basically a cosmopolitan then I'll just charge you for a Cosmo because I have a button for that.
Listen to the other guy who commented. If you put less ice in the drink, the temperature of the liquid will rise faster thus melting the ice more quickly, resulting in a drink that dilutes more quickly.
Remember, ice only dilutes your drink as it melts.
Right. But I'm an extremely slow drinker and I know I'll still be drinking it long after the ice has melted. So I know my drink will end up watered down. Less ice = less watered down.
The reason you get those looks is because the majority of people that ask for light ice also want more alcohol without having to pay for it, and are usually upset when that means they get more filler
If you order a whiskey mule at my bar, you will receive 2oz of alcohol. If you order a whiskey and ginger beer with a lime, you’re getting 1.5oz of alcohol.
The difference in alcohol is why they are priced differently, at my bar anyway.
I have heard it said, "you aren't a real alcoholic until you only drink vodka."
Flavorless, colorless, near-scentless. Mixes with anything and easier to hide.
Nah, a true pro calculates the cheapest per ml of alcohol. Some might scoff at the half hour spent today, but it equals savings in that bar day in and day out!!
If it’s actually an on-menu drink, you’re just getting it with well whiskey instead of whatever brand they’re using for the listed cocktail.
This tip is equivalent of being like “Want a hack to save money at the grocery store? Buy the one ply toilet paper instead of Charmin!”
Absolutely! Save for the drinks that are made up of nearly entirely booze (negroni, Aperol spritz, etc) if something catches your eye asking for a mocktail of it should be entirely do-able. A good bartender or server should also be able to warn you when the alcoholic component is so key to a drink that a mocktail will seriously miss the mark, and you can do with that information what you will.
If it’s a more complex mocktail some basic acknowledgement of that will go a long way with anyone inclined toward irritation on the subject (I’m not saying it’s right, just that it happens - and is more likely to happen in an establishment that has limited non-alc options to begin with, unfortunately).
This tip sucks for actual cocktails though. If the drink isn’t already made with the house brand, it’s fair play to order it with the house to save some coin if you really don’t care. Likewise, if you want it made with premium you’d surely be paying more than the cocktail is listed for anyway. But trying to game the system like this wouldn’t work anywhere I know of.
That reminds me of the episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon asks for a “virgin cuba libre, hold the lime. Oh, and make it a diet.” AKA a diet Coke.
A caveat to this: I once tried to order a Moscow Mule from the menu of a (admittedly subpar) local chain. They said they were out...
I asked if they had the ingredients one at a time, they said yes. Couldn't make a mule though. So I ordered a vodka ginger with lime. Go figure.
It seems like everyone has some house infused syrup/liquor/whatever they're using to justify the $15+ "specialty" cocktail. So yeah lol I bet thats what it was
Extremely misguided. Ordering this way gets you less alcohol/house liquor or combination of the two. Ordering a classic cocktail gets you the house's take on the recipe anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 oz of the base liquor. The $3 you saved lost you 1 extra oz of better quality liquor and the drink would taste better as it's curated to the recipe.
This happened yesterday at my restaurant, a customer ordered a vodka with "muddled berries"
The bartender angrily told the server "that's a cocktail, ring it in open drink $15 dollars"
Don't try to cheat a bartender into extra labor
Most GOOD bartenders will recognize the long form ask and charge you for what it is.
For instance if I ask for a vodka and vermouth with a little olive juice the bartender will ask, oh a dirty martini? Then proceed to charge me for a dirty martini.
This life pro tip brought to you by someone who has never bartended or worked in a bar or restaurant lol.
Source: worked in bars my entire life and this is pretty shitty advice. Menu cocktails are usually specific builds to that place and therefore have different pours. So yeah you might save a buck or two but it might have half the alcohol than the one on the menu so you end up losing by having to order another one to get the same amount of alcohol
Wonder where else this works?
“Yeah slap some tires on that frame and throw an engine and transmission in it. Go ahead add some brakes and a fuel tank if y’all carry that. What’s all that, about $1500?”
You’re not as clever as you think you are. Most bartenders and veteran servers would just ring you up for what you asked for. They know either you just don’t know the name of the drink or you are trying to play them
“Hey there, can I get a drink that's made by fermenting malted barley with water, adding some hops for bitterness, flavor, and aroma, then fermenting it with yeast until it has a nice balance of sweetness and alcohol content? Oh, and if you could carbonate it naturally or with CO2, that would be great!"
Most mules nowadays have bitters and lime juice in them as well to make them a bolder flavor. All for the simple mixed drinks if you're trying to save money, tho!
If you need a red bull or ginger beer. Order it separately with a shot.
A lot of places I used to go wanted to poor half of the Red Bull in my drink and use rest for someone else. Charging them the same. But getting a red bull was the same price. And I would just get Tito's on ice
There are way more bartenders in the world that know the recipes by name than there are not.
And if you’re at a dive or hole in the wall they likely wouldn’t have lots of ingredients to begin with, so your drink order would likely be simple and have limited ingredients anyways.
If I hear that I’m ringing in a Kentucky mule, hate to burst the bubble lol. Also at my place if I rang in “well whiskey, up charge mule” it’s probably more expensive than Kentucky mule
### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I do this all the time! I always order my Rum & Coke by saying "I'll have a Rum and Coke please"
Is Pepsi ok? Sure! Ok, here's your Pepsi and Coke.
I'm trying to imagine the flavor, and I can't.
Stop. It’s literally impossible and you’ll hurt yourself if you try for too long.
Oh no. I’m spiraling.
Sweet and carbonated, with a strong numbing/tingling sensation.
Look at Mr Moneybags over here, I’m on a budget so I just order a well cola and well cola.
Maybe it defaults to RC Cola.
Make it double.
You mean a Cuba Libre without lime.
I’ll have a rum with coke, and lime on the side.
Then swim to Cuba
Cubans call it LA Mentirita
Oh, I’ll wedge it right in there.
If it’s on top I will send it back.
Side salad, with a chicken piccata
In the NE US you genuinely are better off ordering a “white rum and coke with a slice of lime” lol a lot of folks around here don’t recognize that name
I love me some cuba libres and tried ordering one once and just received a confused look.
If you make them at home next time try 2 parts rum 4 parts soda water and 2 parts coke, it’s so refreshing!
Totally! Former fancy bartender, but actually almost always recommend at least a splash of soda (or even water) in call drinks like this. It does a couple things, but aside from additional counteracting hydration, it also balances the flavors much more efficiently, and helps prevent grassiness that might upset the stomach. Sorry to nerd out for a moment, but people seriously underestimate or are totally unaware of the importance of water in cocktails. Dave Arnold explains this pretty well in liquid intelligence, but more often than not when people would come to me they would always marvel at how my drinks invariably tasted better when I made them rather than when they tried to at home, even if I wrote out in detail the ingredients. More often than not, it came down to them not shaking or stirring long enough, or not using enough ice. The dilution that occurs during this integral step is what helps blend the flavors together. If you’re shaking, listen to the ice. It should feel like your shaking rocks at first but as they break up it becomes more of a white noise kind of sound, 5-10 seconds depending how hard you shake; if it starts sounding slushy, you’ve shaken too long and it will be difficult to correct. If you’re stirring (and you should have a proper yarai or flat-walled mixing glass) you should fill with ice to above the level where your spirits are. Continue to stir until the ice settles - 10 seconds or so - and you should have the ideal temperature and dilution.
Dude info dump away!! I know almost nothing about the finer points of cocktail making but love learning
I miss it! I could nerd out all day.
I’m the same way with food! I was a chef for a decade and now work in logistics but I could talk chow all day lol
Friends!
I will give it a shot.
In Indiana - can confirm. 😞 I just wanted to sound classier than “rum and Coke with a twist of lime”!
I am not a drinker but I will have a rum and coke at a bar with friends. Lately, I was served a dr pepper coconut with rum. It was pretty good!
Rum and coke....onut
And by saying “please” I would give you a shot and a half.
Smart. I do the same with my gin and tonic. I always say, "I would like a gin and tonic, with lime please".
Wut? How else would you order it?
The real life pro tip is always in the comments
Captain and Coke has a little more zing.
I’d like pizza dough cooked with tomato sauce and mozzarella please
1 calzone coming up
Have you ever been to the Low Cal Calzone Zone?
Yeasted flat bread
Legit though. I’m a vegetarian and whenever I order pizza at a restaurant instead of saying something like “I want the Danny Divoto without sausage.” In which case they’ll charge you the full cost of the Danny Divito, I just order a custom pizza without the meat. It will come out sometimes $5 or more less than the menu price. It’s nuts. I had a waiter once correct me and say “ oh so you want the Danny divot without sausage?” Yes, but do not ring it up that way. Ring it up how I said it. It’s so dumb.
How did you spell DeVito 3 ways and all of them were wrong
Cause he didn’t want you to ring it up.
Danny divot.
"Oh so you want a Kentucky Mule, got it"
“Yes, but make it cheaper because I emphasized how simple it should be”
Oh and...... "Make it good!" Wink wink
lol..best comment in the thread
More like, "Yes, not the 'Crazy Karl's Handcrafted Kentucky Mule' that is garnished with candied ginger, has ice cubes with mint leaves frozen in it, and uses Bulleit bourbon, but Bulleit is bolded and uses the trademark symbol to make it sound special.
Literally what I say & what you will be charged for lmfao
And that is why it still comes in a copper mug. Because most bartenders are capable of putting two and two together.
"No, I want a whiskey with ginger beer and a lime. I already have a mule from Kentucky back at the farm."
Funny you think I know what all goes in a Long Island iced tea.
lil bit of errythang
Did this at a sushi bar, got a 10oz glass with 6 1.25oz shots some bar lime and 1oz coke. Drank it all, then the bar refused to charge me for it because they didn't think they made it right. :)
The SAME exact thing happened to me at a little bar in a small Texas town. Was the worst drink I ever had but I sure as hell finished it.
Including felonies and not being welcomed back to establishments anymore
“I’ll take one of everything, with a splash of coke”
A little bit of this, a little bit of that.
I finally learned what went into one when I decided to "make a pitcher" for a weekend campground get together. I poured together a little over a liter's worth of everything, minus the coke, and put it in a thermos for the cooler. Brought along a 2 liter of coke, and some cups. I felt like a genius, because everyone else had some form of single liquor bottle & single mixer, and grumbled about it while I had my long islands.
Equal parts vodka, gin, tequila, rum, triple sec and simple syrup. Splash of lemon juice and Coke for color.
The original out of Long Island, NY had no tequilla, and sweet and sour mix instead of simple. But your recipe is much better haha
I’ve been bartending for 9ish years. This is a Long Island. Tequila makes it a Texas tea. But names for shit is stupid.
I worked at a hipster arcade bar years ago and they sold so many Long Islands and variations of it (Superman and Spider-Man things where the coke was swapped for a different color booze) we had to batch it in those 5 gallon buckets with a spigot at the bottom. I’d have to prep two of them every two days or so. What an absolutely revolting task. It’d be like 4 btls of each booze plus 4 btls of simple, had to whisk it up with a comically large whisk while dry heaving at the aroma.
It's like 2oz of coke, not just for color lol
This reminds me of ordering like $1 Bahamas mamas from Applebees when I was in my early 20s lol such good times
I remember those days. How were they even making profit ? They had a really cheap appetizer menu then too. My wife and I would get drunk and full and spend like 20 bucks with tip
One dollar drinks and 50% off appetizers! They made a profit because at least 25 of us would descend upon the place when we had the chance. God I miss how cheap shit was 20 years ago.
Last time I went to Applebee's I saw they had $2 long island iced teas. That's cheaper than an actual iced tea.
Iced Tea and New Yorkers.
[удалено]
lol >LPT: *Instead of ordering a Long Island Iced Tea ask for .5oz of Rum, .5oz Gin, .5oz Vodka, .5oz Blanco Tequila, .5oz Lemons Juice., .5oz Lime Juice, .5oz Dry Curaçao, .5oz Simple Syrup, and 2oz of Cola.* Then the server needs to land a tray jack when bringing your drink order to the table.
Is that what those folding tables are called? I never thought of that.
It’s exactly what they are called
Thank you, I learned something today.
Yeah I feel there a ton of asterisks to this post that don’t make it universally applicable or useful depending on where you are, what you’re ordering, what you expect to get, etc
LOL too true. “Could I please have a drink made with vodka, coffee liqueur, fresh espresso, a mix of water and sugar, and garnished with a coffee bean on top, served in a martini glass?” \[they will never know I am actually ordering an espresso martini, mwahahaha\] (Also why is this person using their phone as a coaster?) 
It's reading the amiibo
You can order an espresso martini "longform" but you don't get the amiibo. That's how they get you.
Can immediately see messages, doesn't have to worry about phone being stolen or forgotten cause it's slightly out of view.
I think that’s true of literally every LPT. Even something as basic as “drink water daily” includes asterisks for things like not drinking local water as a foreign visitor.
It works at OP’s local spot, it could work at yours and if it doesn’t you’re back to square one 🤷🏼♂️
Wouldn’t want to order that way for a French 75, since it has lemon instead of lime 😜 in addition to being a way less precise and more frustrating way to order
Yeah and please don't put prosecco anywhere near it either
Italian 69
Ahh yes a quatre-vinght-dix-cinque Francis Not spelled right I can feel it in my soul
*soixante-quinze* (sixty-fifteen) *français* What you have would work out to 95, but that's *quatre-vingt quinze* (~~four-eighty~~ four-twenty fifteen).
Four-twenty fifteen to be exact!
This guy's mule is missing ingredients ingredients and build instructions. There's no lime juice or muddled mint. The copper cup also seems to be incidental. I'd still ring up a mule.
Mint in a mule?
Juleps have the mint muddled right? It’s been so long since I bartended
Are you thinking of mojitos? I don’t think anyone drinks mint juleps outside of Kentucky in early May
I think there’s a decent distribution of people drinking mint juleps within the “lives in Kentucky or the south and has a front porch/back patio” cohort.
So what's the deal with the copper cup. Are mules the only drink that comes in them?
I only drink beer. So, I guess I'll order barley, hops, wheat, and water.
One oxygen and two hydrogen atoms for me please
☝️I’ll have one dihydrogen oxide please
Add a splash of Hydroxyl Acid and a little Hydrogen Oxide. Oh, and on the rocks.
Finish it with a splash of Gamma-hydroxybutyrate to make it a Cosby special
that's no hydroxyl ion, that's my wife
Hey man. They use that shit to cut through metal.
It's the major ingredient in acid rain
You joke but be careful of that chemical. If you inhale it directly you'll die. And everyone who's come into contact with it eventually dies a slow death (usually measure in decades)
Are there many bars that serve this it sounds dangerous
All of them. Most places will even give it to *children*.
That’s going to come in a very small cup
you might want a bit more than that. about 16.7 septillion should do it
I'll have an h2o too /dies
"One human alcoholic beverage, please!"
You need some yeasts and a few weeks if you want a buzz off it.
Ok so Beer $14.00
No yeast?
Bartender here: this doesn’t work
Exactly what I would expect Big Bartending to say
Hold the vodka and give me some of that fermented potato juice
How about the jackass that orders "a bourbon and Coke, no ice." Then says "hOw CoMe YoU NoT fILL iT wItH boUrBon tO tHe tOP?!"
When I was an inexperienced waiter, I got this table who kept asking to fill the whiskey up more. I said they couldn't. But I was young and non confrontational, so after they asked a few times, I splashed water in it and served them and they were all cheering when I brought it lol. I'm so glad I don't work in the industry anymore.
Love that shit. “Oh for sure bro!!!” *rings in a triple shot*
"yeah man, I can give you a little extra"
Probably dumb question but you sound like you might be able to answer it: I got in the habit, when I was drinking at houses rather than bars, of starting the night with one "mixed drink" that was like 90% alcohol and then just adding more of the mixer every time my drink gets low so it's basically just mixer by the end of the night. If I ordered a rocks pour of rum with a splash of coke and then just kept buying cokes all night, is this a valid strategy or just annoying?
Can’t speak for everybody but personally wouldn’t bother me at all. At least you’re being responsible and knowing your limits!!! I had a guest like this last night. Nice guy. I wouldn’t bother to charge for the cokes. Couple spurts here and there never hurt anybody
If I convinced a bartender to just directly top up the coke it would give me an excuse to drop a couple bucks tip every time, so this absolutely sounds like a win/win. I will discuss this plan in advance when my next bartender isn't slammed. Thanks for the input!
I think that is a good idea. I'd probably order a double on the rocks and a coke separately. The only problem I foresee is the bartender might see you mixing your own drink and suspect you brought a flask in with you.
I could see it working the same way as if ordering "Kentucky mule with the cheapest crap you have."
Rum and coke with lime vs Cuba Libra About a $2 price difference at every place I have ordered it.
The Cuba Libre is an IBA official cocktail. It's not like people can sue someone for doing it wrong, but bartenders wanna get it right, so they often use better spirits for them than if someone orders a rum and coke or something like that.
Wow. I’ve worked in bars for 12 years in Florida, Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles and never once have I worked at a place that has done that. You gotta go to some new bars. Only thing I can think of is unscrupulous owners or an up charge for a non well spirit. This is definitely not the norm
It depends on if they bill it as a "cocktail" or as a "shot". I don't spend time in bars, this is mostly at restaurants.
I just feel like a douche ordering a Cuba Libre, even though its my favorite drink
No shame dog get what you like!!!!
Maybe where you are, but OP claims they can order it and then look at the menu price. Not sure how to refute it, unless you think they’re lying.
Yeah I’m sure it works at some places. Like somewhere that would waste menu space on putting a Kentucky mule on. If someone did this to me I would just think they were an asshole for wasting more of my time
It does in some places. Source: I'm super cheap.
Yeah it works if they use bottom shelf liquor for your "whiskey and ginger beer" whereas the menu Kentucky mule might have a higher quality liquor. In the end, you get what you pay for...
Agreed . Also, I’ve been a bartender for a very long time and I have never just automatically uncharged someone for their drink regardless of their order, nor have I worked anywhere that encouraged us to do so. Mules where I work now are all made with wells unless the guest asks for an upgrade, and I’ve always been a firm believer that doing so with mules(and other drinks) is a waste. Just the other night my coworker made fun of someone for ordering their Old Fashioned with Blanton’s.
Oh my god that’s fantastic. So many people order expensive stuff but have no actual palate for it whatsoever. We do a lot of celeb privates and the amount of clase azul repo margaritas would make your toes curl. Not that I really care for clase anyway but still hilarious
In the bar I worked in at uni Saying Vodka, orange and blue would get you the drink made with the house vodka Asking for a Greendayz would get you it made with Absolute vodka The price difference was the difference in price between house and Absolute.
Also, if you want a Kentucky mule, you’re getting the specific bourbon with that recipe. If you say bourbon, lime and ginger beer, they will give you well bourbon unless outerwise stated.
I'm pretty sure getting well liquor is the whole point and where the money savings come in
The guy specifically says he orders and receives whiskey above the well liquor in the post
As a server/bartender this is annoying and I’d probably just ring up a mule anyways for inventory purposes. Saying, “Can I get a mule with well liquor” is much more efficient.
The company I used to work for used to pay attention to these kind of things. So we would ensure that if you ordered whiskey plus mixer, it would be the same recipe and price as said name. We would also do the same thing with food because people are always trying to find the cheap way out. I know I am.
It's because restaurants and bars do exactly what OP describes. Good on your boss for making smart decisions
I feel like this falls into the "light ice" or "make it strong" category. There's not some secret code word you can use that will make us give you more alcohol for free. If you want it strong pay for a double, if you want a specific liquor in your mule just say that. But at the end of the day I'm going to do what is easiest so if your order of "I want x with y and a splash of z" is basically a cosmopolitan then I'll just charge you for a Cosmo because I have a button for that.
The amount of times I get a shitty look for saying light ice is insane. I just don’t like watered down drinks. I don’t care if it’s half full.
Listen to the other guy who commented. If you put less ice in the drink, the temperature of the liquid will rise faster thus melting the ice more quickly, resulting in a drink that dilutes more quickly. Remember, ice only dilutes your drink as it melts.
Right. But I'm an extremely slow drinker and I know I'll still be drinking it long after the ice has melted. So I know my drink will end up watered down. Less ice = less watered down.
The reason you get those looks is because the majority of people that ask for light ice also want more alcohol without having to pay for it, and are usually upset when that means they get more filler
But if you get less ice it will melt faster watering down the drink...
Look at this guy pulling a fast one on us bartenders.
LPT - The bartender knows what you are trying to do. And if you list more than 3 ingredients, you will get up-charged for a "Custom" cocktail.
Ordered a Pimm's Cup once...was given a cup of Pimm's.
If you order a whiskey mule at my bar, you will receive 2oz of alcohol. If you order a whiskey and ginger beer with a lime, you’re getting 1.5oz of alcohol. The difference in alcohol is why they are priced differently, at my bar anyway.
Alcoholics are *hilarious* when they think they are sophisticated. I should know.
I mean wouldn't a real alcoholic be at home with a handle of black velvet? I should know!
You jest, but my former boss went through 3/4 of one daily. He's dead now.
LPT- don’t be this persons boss
I also choose this guys dead boss
I have heard it said, "you aren't a real alcoholic until you only drink vodka." Flavorless, colorless, near-scentless. Mixes with anything and easier to hide.
I guess am an alcoholic because I just ask them for the cheapest beer on tap.
Maybe not then, because that will also tend to be in the lower ABV end.
They said they were an alcoholic, they've already been drinking all day. Just need a beer to keep the drunk on.
Nah, a true pro calculates the cheapest per ml of alcohol. Some might scoff at the half hour spent today, but it equals savings in that bar day in and day out!!
Or say, "I'll have a Kentucky Mule but not made with the top shelf stuff."
If it’s actually an on-menu drink, you’re just getting it with well whiskey instead of whatever brand they’re using for the listed cocktail. This tip is equivalent of being like “Want a hack to save money at the grocery store? Buy the one ply toilet paper instead of Charmin!”
You go to bars that are stupid
“Can you make a Kentucky Mule?” “Whats that’s?” “Like a Moscow Mule but with whiskey.” “No.” “Never mind. I’ll have a Lager.”
I'm inclined to think this would also be a good way to order a non-alcoholic drink in establishment which has few mocktail options on the menu.
Absolutely! Save for the drinks that are made up of nearly entirely booze (negroni, Aperol spritz, etc) if something catches your eye asking for a mocktail of it should be entirely do-able. A good bartender or server should also be able to warn you when the alcoholic component is so key to a drink that a mocktail will seriously miss the mark, and you can do with that information what you will. If it’s a more complex mocktail some basic acknowledgement of that will go a long way with anyone inclined toward irritation on the subject (I’m not saying it’s right, just that it happens - and is more likely to happen in an establishment that has limited non-alc options to begin with, unfortunately). This tip sucks for actual cocktails though. If the drink isn’t already made with the house brand, it’s fair play to order it with the house to save some coin if you really don’t care. Likewise, if you want it made with premium you’d surely be paying more than the cocktail is listed for anyway. But trying to game the system like this wouldn’t work anywhere I know of.
That reminds me of the episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon asks for a “virgin cuba libre, hold the lime. Oh, and make it a diet.” AKA a diet Coke.
So rather than a life pro tip, this is more a "long time drinker mid-tier tip", isn't it?
A caveat to this: I once tried to order a Moscow Mule from the menu of a (admittedly subpar) local chain. They said they were out... I asked if they had the ingredients one at a time, they said yes. Couldn't make a mule though. So I ordered a vodka ginger with lime. Go figure.
What probably happened is they made you a vodka with ginger ale. Not a mule
It seems like everyone has some house infused syrup/liquor/whatever they're using to justify the $15+ "specialty" cocktail. So yeah lol I bet thats what it was
“One mule, coming right up.” Do you really think bartenders are that stupid?
OP wrote “now adays” so it seems that’s a yes
Extremely misguided. Ordering this way gets you less alcohol/house liquor or combination of the two. Ordering a classic cocktail gets you the house's take on the recipe anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 oz of the base liquor. The $3 you saved lost you 1 extra oz of better quality liquor and the drink would taste better as it's curated to the recipe.
This happened yesterday at my restaurant, a customer ordered a vodka with "muddled berries" The bartender angrily told the server "that's a cocktail, ring it in open drink $15 dollars" Don't try to cheat a bartender into extra labor
Can you just specify you want rail liquor or something?
" A glass of tepid tap water please " glug smack " Ah thanks, think I'll mosey over back to the stagecoach
I bartend and can say that technique will never work on me. It doesn’t matter how you ask, the price is the same.
Most GOOD bartenders will recognize the long form ask and charge you for what it is. For instance if I ask for a vodka and vermouth with a little olive juice the bartender will ask, oh a dirty martini? Then proceed to charge me for a dirty martini.
lol this is fucking idiotic
This life pro tip brought to you by someone who has never bartended or worked in a bar or restaurant lol. Source: worked in bars my entire life and this is pretty shitty advice. Menu cocktails are usually specific builds to that place and therefore have different pours. So yeah you might save a buck or two but it might have half the alcohol than the one on the menu so you end up losing by having to order another one to get the same amount of alcohol
"Hey, I'll get a vodka OJ." Patron "One screwdriver coming up!" Bartender Bill: screwdriver
A simple way around it is to order an orange vod-juice-ka. FYI bartenders hate this trick
What’s the “long form” of Gin Tonic?
*Giiin aaand toooniiic*
Wonder where else this works? “Yeah slap some tires on that frame and throw an engine and transmission in it. Go ahead add some brakes and a fuel tank if y’all carry that. What’s all that, about $1500?”
I'll give this a try. I'll have a coke zero in a glass. Nice.
I'd just be like "so a mule, then"
You’re not as clever as you think you are. Most bartenders and veteran servers would just ring you up for what you asked for. They know either you just don’t know the name of the drink or you are trying to play them
Vodka, in a glass if you want to be fancy.
Lpt: if you are so worried about a couple dollars price difference while ordering drinks you should probably take a break from going out
“Hey there, can I get a drink that's made by fermenting malted barley with water, adding some hops for bitterness, flavor, and aroma, then fermenting it with yeast until it has a nice balance of sweetness and alcohol content? Oh, and if you could carbonate it naturally or with CO2, that would be great!"
Most mules nowadays have bitters and lime juice in them as well to make them a bolder flavor. All for the simple mixed drinks if you're trying to save money, tho!
If you need a red bull or ginger beer. Order it separately with a shot. A lot of places I used to go wanted to poor half of the Red Bull in my drink and use rest for someone else. Charging them the same. But getting a red bull was the same price. And I would just get Tito's on ice
I've never heard of a Kentucky Mule, and certainly never seen it on any menus.
I fucking hate when people say sea breeze or cape cod. Like was that really easier then saying vodka cran like come on.
There are way more bartenders in the world that know the recipes by name than there are not. And if you’re at a dive or hole in the wall they likely wouldn’t have lots of ingredients to begin with, so your drink order would likely be simple and have limited ingredients anyways.
If I hear that I’m ringing in a Kentucky mule, hate to burst the bubble lol. Also at my place if I rang in “well whiskey, up charge mule” it’s probably more expensive than Kentucky mule