Message 27558 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. 

I'm not from the west. When I was tending, all of my tending was done in 
Chicago, except for a week in Northern Iowa when I was snowed in at a hotel 
and the hotel's tenders couldn't get to work. As far as I know this method of 
making highballs was used throughout the United States when I was tending.
> 
> 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?

We never gave stir sticks or straws with highballs as a default. The customer 
had to request them and if they did, it was usually because they didn't like 
that jolt of stronger booze, so we would go to a straight pour on their next 
order.

> 
> 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.

I don't know that old school recipes vs newer recipes is something that could 
ever be resolved because it is so opinion based. I use the original recipes, 
as I believe them to be, because I consider it a more defensible position if a 
customer complains about the different taste and because I think that original 
has some positive quality connotations. Others might feel differently.
> 
> 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.

This is just a part of bartending. I see it as an opportunity to build 
something with the patrons I'm serving. (In confusion lies opportunity - A 
Einstein) 
> 
Chance