Message 24043 of 39188 in General Discussion

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I'm still new to this profession (only 2 years experience at a bar in a 
resort), but for what it's worth, I wound up shaking all my martinis and 
manhattans simply because its the way the other 'experienced' bartenders did 
it when I was hired (also there was no barspoon at the resort I worked at).

This resort typically had an older crowd, and I went into the job thinking 
that the guests would know the difference and be experts on this. In the 2 
years I spent there, I had only one complaint: when I served a shaken 
manhattan - guy looked at it and said 'what the hell is this froth on top?'. I 
did get quite a few compliments that I made excellent martinis and manhattans 
but I always thought to myself 'how hard is it to shake a tin of liquor with a 
splash of vermouth?', so maybe the guests were just being friendly/polite.

I originally asked this question because I was about to go to a tryout at a 
true high volume martini bar and wanted to make sure I knew the proper way to 
do this. Would simply asking the guest if they want it shaken or stirred be 
considered good service (assuming the bar is not slammed), or does this imply 
that I'm not sure what the hell I am doing as a bartender?