Message 25935 of 39188 in General Discussion

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here's my 2p's worth. 

 to answer why i dislike a liit, its simply because imo the taste profile is 
pretty horrid. and more importantly because i have the likes of plymouth, 
havana club anejo espescial, gran centanario, cointreau on my speed rail and i 
find it a waste of decent liqour, when i can (arguably) make a better tasting 
drink with either one of them. Also i dislike the idea of throwing together 
distinguished spirits, just for the hell of it. If I'm actively questioning 
the choices in my own recipes and those of others and constantly trying to 
think of ways to imrpove them or making them work better - I find it hard to 
be encouraged by stupendously putting together random ingredients. as for the 
folks that insist layering the coke and liquor mix, don't even get me 
started...

*regains composure*    

from my experience - most people order liit's for one of the following reasons:

1) the misconception of the great fuck you up, 5 white spirits blah blah... in 
my younger tending days i noticed that amongst house signatures on the menu, 
the ones with the most ingredients or the ones that said "served tall" always 
sold more. we did a january promotion of a few classic cocktails. Singapore 
Sling - gin, cherry heering, benedictine, cointreau, lemon juice, pineapple 
juice, bitters, soda - outsold white lady 4:1. some people really do believe 
that they are getting more alcohol/bang for their buck. its a quantity vs 
quality thing and its our job to educate

2) people have actually tried a few different drinks/cocktails and actually 
prefer the taste or in the mood for a liit. no qualms about that. just because 
i donot like the drink, doesn't mean somebody's else won't like it. differing 
palates and all that. the likes of bippo for example. although i would say 
that this group are in a very very small minority

3) people that don't know what else to order. its one of the first cocktails 
they've known of. hell it was the first cocktail i knew of. most of these folk 
are relatively new to cocktails. Amongst the ones they've seen, they don't 
like stuff like cosmo's (colour) and any fruit drinks they've tried have been 
badly made or overly sweet. besides a lilt is one drink they can go into any 
bar/pub and get it. these lot are usually the ones willing to listen to a 
bartender's suggestions and probably willing to develop their palates. It is 
in this hope that you'll find me rubbing my hands in glee when someone orders 
a liit.   

> So if someone walks into your bar and asks for one, what do you do?

i'll do this, regardless of how busy i am.
" you mind if i make a suggestion? instead of the coke, if you care to try it 
with fresh mint and lemonade. makes for a more refreshing drink"  it's not a 
breakthrough in mixology i know, but it does work a lot better. 9 out of 10 
people take me up on it and 8 out of the 9 come back for more. this is when i 
drop the bomb, about getting the same amount of liquor as you would in any 
other mixed drink. a one liner and a bit of rapport building later, we tend to 
move on to the likes of cuba libre, lynchburg lemonade, dark n'stormy, gin 
garden, mojito's etc.. i have made atleast one success story through this and 
the dude has become a regular and is now appreciating straight rum. (needless 
to say, he's never tipped) its not a case of pushing people into this is good 
and this is shit, but simply educating and guiding them and letting them 
decide what they enjoy. i've payed for a few disliked suggestions out of my 
own pocket too.

i remember waiting at the bar for a friend to arrive in lab a while back. a 
young  couple came upto the bar and the guy went "can i get a liit and..." 
bartender: "sorry we don't make long island's. same goes for pina coladas  and 
(something else i can't remember) too" and gives them a couple of menus. he 
ordered a beer and they left after the first drink. now how does that kind of 
attitude help anyone (the bar, the patron, the bartender/patron relationship, 
the tip, the industry as a whole)     

rick
-- 
As a great bartender once said: "I don't mix drinks, I mix people"