Message 27556 of 39188 in General Discussion

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Jadyn and Chance, you've restored my faith in the new guy. I feel better 
already. Now, you say this could be considered common in the western part of 
the U.S? Maybe this explains my head-scratching since I'm an east-coaster. 

It seems to me that when applied to my bar, the reason that makes the most 
sense is to give the guest the strong first sip since I rarely concoct the 
drinks directly in front of the customers. Any kind of bartending display is 
generally lost since most people sit at the tables or away from the service 
well. 

This proposes another question: What if the guests drink through stir sticks? 
Many at my bar actually do. Isn't this whole effort then wasted on them? Not 
that I'd argue this point with the new GM, I'm not that stupid. But from a 
technical point of view, ya know?

Thinking along those lines, then, just following through the "old-school" 
train of thought, when does it make sense to do something old-school just for 
its own sake? Take Manhattans, for example. The old-school technique is to add 
bitters. Question: Does anyone do this anymore without asking the guest first? 
I always ask first because in my experience, most people no longer expect 
bitters to be added.

Perhaps much of this is about regional drinking, too. Do you think Western 
Americans are used to tasting a strong belt on their first sip? Would they 
think that their bartender was inept if they ordered a rum and coke on the 
East Coast and got it mixed? I now live in Texas where people regularly order 
Colorado Bulldogs - a perfectly good White Russian with a big splash of coke 
on top. I never heard of it before but I'm real familiar with it now, that's 
for sure. 

Thanks for all your thoughtful responses,    Leslie