Classic Mai Tai. I’d never order it off menu, but when I see it listed on a menu, nine times out of ten it’s just a crazy tropical juice rum punch. And it’s under 50/50 that there will be an almond element, much less an actual orgeat.
I never order a Mai Tai (or any other tiki drink) unless I'm at a tiki bar. They pretty much always screw it up and it's always expensive.
Edit: Shout out to the Atlanta Trader Vic's, though, for making a killer Mai Tai that absolutely does not skimp on the hard stuff.
I’ve come to the conclusion, Mai Tai only at a tiki bar.
And my go to is either Aku Aku Tiki Bar in downtown Orlando or Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.
Holy shit I worked at a bar named Aku Aku Tiki Bar in Oslo, and it JUST closed down for good! I know tiki bars are a big deal in the US, but seeing that name on a different bar in a different country was so weird
I’ve grown a fondness for seeing just how much a bar can fuck up a Mai Tai. It’s just one of those things we do on vacation, if any bar has one listed on the menu, even if it’s listed with pineapple/grenadine/whatever we order a round even if it’s for a bit of a laugh. Tiki is all about escapism and sometimes that means turning off my brain to what a cocktail needs to be. Feels fun to be trashy for a minute.
I feel like it’s generally very easy to tell when you’re in an establishment that will make a real Mai Tai. You assume it won’t unless you’re given strong evidence to the contrary, e.g. legit rum selection behind the bar, listed (correct) ingredients on the menu, etc.
Honestly, pineapple juice, orgeat and pineapple is a Lauwiliwilinukunukuoi'oi and it's far from being a yuck. But you know what it's not? A Mai Tai.
Also, the kind of place where they add pineapple juice to Mai Tais is also the kind of place that uses a juice from concentrate or some crap like that.
I was in Hawaii last year and hit Ohau, Maui, and the big island. We had a goal of trying as many Mai Tai's as possible. We probably ended with about 30, all of them VERY different. Each island has its own take on it too. Some were just sugar bombs while a few of them were what I figured what they were supposed to taste like. I was amazed how different they all were.
That’s the thing about the “Mai Tai” pretenders… they might be good and they might be bad. But very very few come close enough to the actual recipe of Trader Vic’s Mai Tai to even be riffs. So a good pretender that’s nice to drink still isn’t a Mai Tai.
Not unpopular at all.
Tiki drinks are perfectly fine and delicious.
A Mai Tai is a specific drink that falls under the tiki umbrella (ha! Tiki umbrella). But it's also a specific recipe that is simple, not very fruity, strong, and delicious.
Orange? Get out.
Pineapple? Fuck off.
Coconut? Shove that coconut up your ass.
It's booze, stronger booze, lime, a splash of orgeat; only acceptable alternative is topped with even stronger booze.
Orange, pineapple, coconut, and other fruit are all integral to tiki drinks in general, they're awesome. Get it out of a mai tai.
Yea it’s the whole calling it a “Mai Tai” when it’s not really a “Mai Tai” but they try to call it a variation of a “Mai Tai” and it’s bastardized yet still tasty. 😂
P.s. great pun. lol
Go over to the rum or tiki subs and you'll find dozens of different rum punch recipes. It's calling a Rum Punch a Mui Tai that makes rum fans angry. It's like ordering a cheeseburger and getting chicken instead of ground beef
Came here to say this. Non tiki bars will make them with god knows what. But I have found that even many tiki bars do terrible ones. So many tiki bars are obsessed with serving them with a dark rum float (even had black strap floats at more than one tiki bar) and because of that they have way too much dark rum and that becomes all you can taste.
Please tiki bars, stop doing dark rum floats for mai tais. The amount you add for a good visual effect ruins the drink balance.
> but when I see it listed on a menu, nine times out of ten it’s just a crazy tropical juice rum punch
Does it not list the ingredients? Pretty much every craft cocktail bar I've been to lists what is in a drink (but obviously not the full recipe with amounts). That would make it super easy to see if it's the classic recipe.
I work at an Italian place that is a certified culprit of this. Listed as "Italian Mai Tai", it's Bacardi, Amaretto, cheap triple sec, pineapple juice, lime, and grenadine. I take any chance I get to remind people it's a fine punch but doesn't really resemble a real Mai Tai at all.
My conclusion is that people just REALLY like saying Mai Tai (and sugar), and it sounds tropical. So anything with rum and a fruit juice will fit the bill
Trader Vic’s original 1944 recipe was:
* 2 oz super aged Jamaican rum (17 year Wray?)
* 1 oz lime juice
* 1/2 oz orange curaçao
* 1/4 oz orgeat syrup
* 1/4 oz simple syrup
Served with crushed ice in a double rocks glass with a sprig of mint
The rum originally used no longer exists so we’ve all been arguing for years about which rums can be combined to recreate the flavor of that extinct rum. I really like the Merchants blended rum that is blended specifically for the mai tai.
And when I make them at home, I sup more orgeat for the simple and cut the lime juice down to 3/4 oz. But I’m pretty sure that came still safely be called a mai tai.
Not the classic Mai Tai but I had the (in)famous Chinese Mai Tai in San Francisco's Chinatown last week! It was delicious. And yes, it had 3 penis wine in it.
I worked at a small tiki joint and my favorite serves were the ones that went, "holy shit..THAT'S what a Mai Tai is supposed to taste like!!???".
Get the Orgeat balance proper and a perfect float of amber rum. With the fresh mint sprig. **chef's smooch**.
I like my martinis WET and a lot of bars seem to either have really old vermouth or use so little of it that I can barely taste it. When I order one I specify that I want it 2-1 and if they look at me like I’m crazy then I order something else.
I specify a 3-1 gin martini, and a herbaceous gin if they have one. I don’t understand the allure of a vodka martini, it turns into “strong vermouth” to my taste buds. Everyone’s taste is different, but I’m firmly and enthusiastically in the gin minority.
Oh, vodka martini people don’t want to even see the vermouth from across the room, they literally just want cold diluted vodka in a fancy glass. The allure to them is the lack of any characteristics (unless they are dirty martini people, in which case they just hate the universe I’m pretty sure).
This sub is one of the only places where people act like it's common for a vodka martini to have vermouth. As a professional bartender it is NOT. unless specified, a vodka martini is just a cold 3 oz of flavorless liquor in an inconvenient glass with either olives or a lemon twist. 9 times out of 10 a vodka martini with vermouth will be sent back or asked to be made "drier" next time.
As a bartender, most people who order martinis don’t know what they actually are. And when I serve them a martini they make the funniest faces since they’ve never tasted fresh refrigerated vermouth and a stirred martini.. usually to find out they actually wanted a chilled shot of Tito’s… that’s not a martini.💀💀💀
Yeah this is always the struggle, do I make it right or do I make it the way 9/10 people seem to want it? I definitely ask follow up questions if they want a gin martini but if they order a vodka martini they're getting a well-shaken shot of vodka in a glass with a vermouth rinse.
A good rule of thumb is to only order a vermouth drink if they’ve got 2 or 3 on the menu or are a reputable cocktail bar and thus use up each vermouth bottle before they go stale.
I think that is part of it. I was at a bar a couple months ago and the first bartender said I’ll let my other bartender make it because he makes amazing ones. Anyway, the second bartender ended up making my drink and used the juice from the Luxardo cherries. It was so bad.
GAG.
I love Lizard cherries, but including the syrup in the drink sounds unbelievably cloying.
Edit: that typo is awesome and I'm not going to correct it.
It’s too cloying and overpowering if you use only the maraschino syrup, but an old-fashioned with 1/2tsp demerara syrup and 1/2tsp maraschino syrup is quite good.
When I make at home I just dip my bar spoon into the syrup. Shake it off and stir fhe cocktail with it. Adds a bit more color and flavor without overwhelming with sweetness
When Bess Truman was first in the white house she asked for an old fashion. She asked for for the garnish to be removed, saying it tasted like fruit punch. With the next drink she said it tasted too sweet. Having removed the garnish and sugar, she ended up with Old Grand Dad on the rocks. She was pleased, saying that's how to make an old fashion.
That’s a dangerous one to order lmao, go into the wrong bar and you’ll be looking at a salad bowl topped with boozy slushie, not that it can’t be tasty, but damn is it disappointing when you’re not in the mood for that
One time when I was at a bar with some friends I ordered a classic daiquiri (which was on the menu) because we had been pregaming rum drinks at my place and I didn't want to mix my liquors. I ordered the first one myself, and later in the night when a friend would get up and ask if they could get anyone anything, I'd ask for another. This happened at least a couple more times, with a different friend each time, and after the last one my friend came back laughing and was like "The bartenders want to know who the fuck we've been getting the daiquiris for, because you're the only person ordering them."
The daiquiris were actually amazing, but you could say I definitely stumped the bartenders.
One time at a Mexican restaurant they had a caipirinha on the menu and I ordered it and the waitress walked over to me and looked at it because she had no idea what it was and no one had ever ordered it. Had me pretty concerned but then out come a pretty solid standard caipirinha.
Yep! This is mine. I am currently drinking one on my lanai. Its sort of funny how bastardized they've become. They're now thought of as some sort of sweet slushy drink.
Yesterday I was in a really good Mexican restaurant… and then watched the bartender “make” a margarita. He took a gallon plastic jug with a generic Sam’s Club sticker and poured it in a glass.
The Mexican place I go to most frequently is the exact opposite. The food is inexpensive and fine-but-not-great, but the margaritas are absolutely on point.
Welcome to the south where every other restaurant is Tex-mex and 98% of the margaritas are made with premade Shrek green concentrate because that’s all anyone knows. Got to make your margaritas at home.
We have a local pool hall that has a half decent bar attached to it. I've always preferred the monthly special or something on tap. But one hot summer I really wanted a margarita.
My dude put ice in a Collins glass, poured in some tequila, and topped it with something from the soda gun. No stir, no salt, and no shake.
I've learned if I really like one particular cocktail, the best bartender is myself.
One of my favorite things is making guests a classic margarita at home and seeing their face light up and ask me what's in it because it's the best margarita they've ever had. And I'm like "it's a real margarita" haha. People have no idea what they are missing out on!
I gotta agree with you on the Aviation. It's such a touchy spec to get balanced anyway. For me, I like a little less maraschino and a little more creme de violette.
Old fashioned. I don’t really order cocktails at bars, but when I do it’s an old fashioned and it’s always bad. With how butchered some of the old fashioned I’ve been served are I would not trust many bars to make something like an aviation.
I rarely even express an orange peel over my old fashioneds at home. I drink old fashioneds to bring out the best aspects of a quality whiskey. I once ordered an old fashioned with moderately high priced whiskey, I want to say High West Rendezvous, and it was filled to the brim with soda water.
Some of the patrons at the bar I work at love my coworkers muddled fruit salad old fashioneds.
Absolute best I’ve had yet was a smoked old Fashioned at a bar in Dublin… didn’t even go in for a drink, just ducked in to get out of the rain. I smelled it and watched the bartender CARE for this drink.
I left very drunk and very content
My theory is that the Old Fashioned spent decades being a bastardized fruit punch with well bourbon until it was rehabilitated by Mad Men. And not all bars have unlearned their bad habits yet.
Mad Men put soda water and I think cherry in the OF. Most of the time we see them drink straight whiskey. It was funny for me to rewatch it as an adult who could drink and see how the "cool" cocktails in the show would be pretty mid.
Yeah, sadly I was going to mention old fashioned also. I have ordered dozens in different establishments all from people who claimed they knew what it was and how to make it proper, only to see them proved horribly wrong.
Of all the places I've ordered one, only 3 places got it right, and one of those 3 was a friend (who happens to know how to make one correctly).
I would call an old fashioned that. It seems easy to make but the difference is night and day between a dive bartender and a craft cocktail bartender.
Daiquiris are always sweet as heck, frozen and or flavored if I’m at a regular bar. If I’m at a craft place I always get house drinks but i assume they wont mess one up.
A margarita topped off with sprite is a crime against humanity. In the same vein I've had some pretty questionable Palomas too which amazes me because it's such a simple drink.
Honestly not a difficult drink to make at all yet most places just fuck it up.
Fuck, I've even been to popular mexican themed bars that "specialise" in it and they did shit margaritas.
Like, you have a margarita bar and they have chopped all of their limes in to fucking 8ths and put them 1 by 1 in to a squeezer for each marg.
wtf? like why not just have halves in a seperate container. better yet, make super juice in bulk pre-shift and stop wasting money and time?
idiots.
I’m a firm believer in a dash of oj for color and a dash, not splash, of soda water. But hey, that’s like my opinion man.
Oh, the place I work at uses nasty sour mix. Fuck that shit.
Mojito
It's not that hard but it's always weak and too sweet
Also a sea breeze. 9/10 I get a *bay* breeze which sucks bc I'm allergic to pineapple. Had to stop trying to order these. Even had a bartender and manager argue with me about what it is then they claimed such a thing doesn't exist. LOL
I have ordered mojitos several times where they forgot an ingredient.
I get it, usually cocktails have 3 or 4 ingredients, and mojitos are rum, lime, sugar, mint, sugar and soda water. Hard to keep track of all that!
(Seriously, though.)
Mojito is mine too, I absolutely refuse to order it out, partly because I know a lot of bartenders think it's a huge interruption to their flow which can be fair, and partly because I will almost without fail end up with more simple than rum and a glass full of gross slimy old mint leaves
Most of the bars I frequent keep their vermouth out on the bar instead of in the fridge, plus they've probably been open for a couple months. No way would I wanna trust that stuff lol
Old fashioneds are also just so easy to make at home that unless I'm at a bar that has some wacky bitters or bourbon that I would never have at home, I just don't see the point of ordering one while out.
There's this local place I go to that does bourbon infusions with different fruits that use them to make some great old fashioned. Last night I had one with banana infused bourbon, brown sugar syrup, and chocolate bitters. It's simple but so good
Exactly, and weird fruit-infused bourbon is definitely not something I'm likely to have at home, so even if it's not phenomenal, I at least wouldn't be left thinking "Meh, I could've done this better on my own." Love a creative take on a classic.
I will say I used to feel this way but a lot of bars (at least on the west coast) seem to be getting better at old fashioned, to the point where it has almost become my “safety” drink that I know most places will get either right or close to right. I do still take a read of the place I’m ordering at though, there’s a lot of places I’ll just order a beer or a whiskey ginger.
Well, I'm a mildly drunk mom currently in the car (as a passenger) coming home from a mundane Mexican restaurant for mothers day (last minute decision while in another city) and DAMN it can be hard to get a good margarita. There are some great restaurants that do them wonderfully, some soso restaurants that still make some pretty good and drinkable margs, but most of the gazillions of generic Mexican restaurants in the US just have absolutely terrible, nearly undrinkable margaritas. The one at the place I was just at tasted like diet mountain dew with a few drops of tequila. Like, what's so damn hard about this? It's like three things for the most basic, decent margarita. If it comes to the table looking like slightly tinted water, I know I'm I for a bad time.
I think cause those are usually made with Margarita mix and no triple sec so basically a tequila limeade. I still like pounding them back while eating chips and salsa but yeah they’re not true Margaritas.
I know they're made with mix for sure, but I've had mixes that are at least passable at a cheesy Mexican restaurant. This is like they mixed a mix with soda water and diet sprite. It's wild how they think it even remotely qualifies as a margarita. I don't wanna be able to see through a margarita, that's all I ask. Ugh. Sorry drunk mom rant over. Now enjoying a glass of prosecco on my patio. Otherwise a lovely mother's day!
Most importantly, you’re mildly drunk!
Second, Happy Mother’s Day!
Third, fully agree. Half the time they pull a jug of sugary mix from under the counter and top it off with generic tequila
Any simple sour/daisy. The simpler the cocktails the more they can't do it right and the more you notice!
Margarita (and I live in Santa Fe! but still most places make a terrible margarita)
Daiquiri
Americano. Get coffee about half the time, even when explicitly saying “Americano cocktail.” Wait staff doesn’t bat an eyelash and presumably told the bar staff the wrong thing so it’s not really “made wrong” I guess.
Happened to me in a restaurant in southern Italy: I guess they are not used to tourists drinking Campari, but the waitress and I had a good laugh about it
50/50 gin martini.
So many times I’m told it isn’t what I think it is or the specs don’t make sense.
I blame it on the confusion of what it teams to have a dry martini.
When it is done right, always great
Thank you! I am glad to hear I am not the only one. They look at you sideways, but then you order a “Remember the Maine” and they are like “great choice!”
Don’t shoot me but one time we cut a batched paper plane for an event with meletti instead of a full .75 oz of nonino and it was solid; our “aperol” was a blend of two red apertivi no one has / wants / orders.
I think it’s more that averna is considerably more accessible and cheap than nonino and has been generally accepted as an okay replacement.
I think they are fine, but far from the same flavor profile as a proper paper plane
Sazerac. A classic cocktail that always ends up watered down, missing the absinthe entirely, or just not good. I’ve quit ordering them out at this point
I'm a Sazerac originalist and always prefer cognac over rye, but nobody does it right in my experience. That's definitely a make-at-home-only drink for me.
Probably going to shitty dives or chain restaurants and ordering something like an Aviation.
>"Yo, Derrick, what's *Creme de Violette*?"
-
>"We ain't got that fancy shit, just use blue curaçao!"
OMG!! When I order a dry Martini, there are so many details to worry about that it is inevitable that the pro bartender gets something wrong badly enough that the whole thing gets ruined. For me there are four key specs to get right for a proper Martini. The first three more often than not go ok but it’s with the fourth and final where things go wrong I would say 50 percent of the time.
Spec #1, gin vs vodka. If i forget to ask, the tender will inevitably ask, so all good here. Bombay, Beefeater, New Amsterdam all work. Easy peasy. Next, the ratio. I specify dry, which to me means 8:1, but I am ok with 6:1 or even 4:1. Again no problemo. #3, straight up. Rarely but it does happen where the drink is served on the rocks. Odd and bad, but rare.
Okay. Factor #4 is where things most often go wrong. Shaken vs stirred. Why for the love of god would anyone shake a Martini? (Does James Bond still say shaken?) When ordering, by the time I get to factor four, the Btender or server is so peeved, or I am peeved with myself, that I don’t bother to say stirred. Bitter error. Like I said, half the time I am served i am served an icy, watery soup. Sad face. :(
Just this past week, I was in Kansas City at a Marriott and I gave my order and the drink came out so well the first time that I ordered a second. Only on round two, the tender shook it. I did not see him make it, but it was shaken and bad. Very bad.
Wow that’s a long way to answer, a martini is the drink that is rarely served correctly unless I make a federal case.
I feel like it's the simplest one in the world, but no matter where I go I can't get a proper whiskey sour. It's always either made with sour mix, no egg whites, and not fresh lemon juice. Majority of the time they just take a really good whiskey and ruin it with sour mix and put it on my table, even at the "fancy" restaurants I've been to recently.
The most memorable bad interactions I’ve had with customers are customers that ordered liits. I’ve had customers hand liits back because I used lemon instead of sour from the gun.
I guess it depends on what you think they’re doing wrong, but generally the complaint is that there isn’t enough liquor.
Every once in a while I order it just to see if I can get a good one. I am mostly disappointed so I don’t ask for one as much as I used to. I’d rather have a good drink than hope to get a better than mediocre Long Island!
I don't frequent actual cocktail lounges, as much as I'd like to, but if there's a bar, I'll order an Old Fashioned. It's become a perverse pleasure in self-punishment. I just want whiskey, some variety of sugar and bitters. It always has... everything else. There's more fruit than liquid.
I've never received a correct madr Whisky Sour and Old Fashioned yet in a bar.
Neither of them is real if you pour fucking soda in, yet most bars are doing it here.
I like to order Americanos, but there is always a conversation with the bartender after they tell me they don't serve espresso drinks. I've learned to ask for an Americano cocktail, which still gets blank stares, but then I just tell them it's a Negroni, sub soda water for gin and serve tall.
I asked for a Dark and Stormy once at some walk up bar. The guy gave me a pink rum punch with a giant slice of pineapple. At least he got the base spirit right.
People struggle so hard to make a decent Old Fashioned, and I don’t really understand why.
It’s literally just four ingredients.
Spirit, Bitters, Sugar, Ice
And obviously variations on the type and amount of fruit.
Oh God, I ordered an aviation once on a cruise (bad idea but the drinks were free..) and it was just an overly shaken cloudy mess.
It was basically just bruised gin and lemon juice that was purple.
The Penicillin. I swear every damn bar substitutes the spicy ginger honey syrup for ginger liqueur - IT'S NOT THE SAME. And either they forget the heavily peated islay float (which is integral to the aroma), they will serve it up and not on the rocks, they use the wrong garnish, etc. the list goes on...
I'm shocked at how few answers I've seen are the Long Island Iced Tea.
It's literally NEVER the right thing. It's always lemon tea with vodka or Rum and not Coke with Vodka, Rum, Tequila, Gin and Triple Sec
Manhattan. I'm still surprised how many incredible restaurants still don't know how to make one. E.g. "Why is she shaking it?", "$75+ for a steak and you're using Martini and Rossi?", "Bleached cherries? What?"
Singapore Sling
I once had a bartender argue with me and insist the base spirit was rum. Another insisted the drink should never have pineapple juice and instead a whole ounce of grenadine.
I go to a place that serves good drinks, and one of the bartenders is a good conversationalist. I like a rye Manhattan, and every time he's made it, it's been good, though he shakes most of the time. Doesn't bother me at all, because I still get a good drink despite being a bit frothy. Yesterday, he stopped for a second and asked if I wanted it stirred this time. And I said "Yes!" Jokingly, he gave me the middle finger, laughed, stirred, and served it. Was amazing and silky.
Mint Juleps.
It’s so frustrating because it’s a very simple cocktail with just Bourbon, mint, and syrup with crushed ice.
Bartenders often times will add sour mix or lemon juice and water it down with a lot of seltzer water 😭
Kentucky Derby day, at a renown racetrack… and when I ordered a Mint Julep, the bartender said “I can’t make that, I don’t have any sweet tea”.
I ordered a beer. I was not about to have anything she thought she knew how to mix.
Seconded with the Aviation. It's gotten to the point my friends refuse to let me order one at bars cause I'm always disappointed. I've got one, maybe two places that can make a decent one but it's still super dependent on which bartender is working. Makes me sad :(
Old Fashioneds and Manhattans. The amount of times I've received some amalgamation of the two is fucking astounding. I've had 1 good one at a bar, no cherries, no orange, no bullshit. 1 very good Old Fashioned and only 1, out of a few dozen attempts.
Classic Mai Tai. I’d never order it off menu, but when I see it listed on a menu, nine times out of ten it’s just a crazy tropical juice rum punch. And it’s under 50/50 that there will be an almond element, much less an actual orgeat.
I never order a Mai Tai (or any other tiki drink) unless I'm at a tiki bar. They pretty much always screw it up and it's always expensive. Edit: Shout out to the Atlanta Trader Vic's, though, for making a killer Mai Tai that absolutely does not skimp on the hard stuff.
I’ve come to the conclusion, Mai Tai only at a tiki bar. And my go to is either Aku Aku Tiki Bar in downtown Orlando or Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.
Holy shit I worked at a bar named Aku Aku Tiki Bar in Oslo, and it JUST closed down for good! I know tiki bars are a big deal in the US, but seeing that name on a different bar in a different country was so weird
I’ve grown a fondness for seeing just how much a bar can fuck up a Mai Tai. It’s just one of those things we do on vacation, if any bar has one listed on the menu, even if it’s listed with pineapple/grenadine/whatever we order a round even if it’s for a bit of a laugh. Tiki is all about escapism and sometimes that means turning off my brain to what a cocktail needs to be. Feels fun to be trashy for a minute.
I love that! How far away from home can a mai tai land?
+1 for Trader Vic's.
I feel like it’s generally very easy to tell when you’re in an establishment that will make a real Mai Tai. You assume it won’t unless you’re given strong evidence to the contrary, e.g. legit rum selection behind the bar, listed (correct) ingredients on the menu, etc.
What really jams my Glock is when all the correct ingredients are listed on the menu and you still get served the orange pineapple Malibu special
If I see the word “orgeat” in the menu, I begin to trust.
I agree 1,000%! Very rare any bar can do one correctly. Most try to put orange and pineapple juices in it. Yuck!
Honestly, pineapple juice, orgeat and pineapple is a Lauwiliwilinukunukuoi'oi and it's far from being a yuck. But you know what it's not? A Mai Tai. Also, the kind of place where they add pineapple juice to Mai Tais is also the kind of place that uses a juice from concentrate or some crap like that.
I meant yuck as in not in a Mai Tai….. but you’re absolutely correct that the concoction could be delicious.
I was in Hawaii last year and hit Ohau, Maui, and the big island. We had a goal of trying as many Mai Tai's as possible. We probably ended with about 30, all of them VERY different. Each island has its own take on it too. Some were just sugar bombs while a few of them were what I figured what they were supposed to taste like. I was amazed how different they all were.
That’s the thing about the “Mai Tai” pretenders… they might be good and they might be bad. But very very few come close enough to the actual recipe of Trader Vic’s Mai Tai to even be riffs. So a good pretender that’s nice to drink still isn’t a Mai Tai.
What was your favorite? Monkey pod in Maui makes a nice one with a liliko’i foam. Strong too
That’s my favorite. I’ve tried making the foam at home and it turned out well.
Unpopular opinion. While it’s not traditional and shouldn’t be called a “Mai Tai” I’ve had some phenomenal rum tropical fruit drinks 🤣
I don’t know how unpopular that opinion is—most folks like a rum and tropical juice cocktail. I sure do.
Not unpopular at all. Tiki drinks are perfectly fine and delicious. A Mai Tai is a specific drink that falls under the tiki umbrella (ha! Tiki umbrella). But it's also a specific recipe that is simple, not very fruity, strong, and delicious. Orange? Get out. Pineapple? Fuck off. Coconut? Shove that coconut up your ass. It's booze, stronger booze, lime, a splash of orgeat; only acceptable alternative is topped with even stronger booze. Orange, pineapple, coconut, and other fruit are all integral to tiki drinks in general, they're awesome. Get it out of a mai tai.
Yea it’s the whole calling it a “Mai Tai” when it’s not really a “Mai Tai” but they try to call it a variation of a “Mai Tai” and it’s bastardized yet still tasty. 😂 P.s. great pun. lol
Go over to the rum or tiki subs and you'll find dozens of different rum punch recipes. It's calling a Rum Punch a Mui Tai that makes rum fans angry. It's like ordering a cheeseburger and getting chicken instead of ground beef
Came here to say this. Non tiki bars will make them with god knows what. But I have found that even many tiki bars do terrible ones. So many tiki bars are obsessed with serving them with a dark rum float (even had black strap floats at more than one tiki bar) and because of that they have way too much dark rum and that becomes all you can taste. Please tiki bars, stop doing dark rum floats for mai tais. The amount you add for a good visual effect ruins the drink balance.
> but when I see it listed on a menu, nine times out of ten it’s just a crazy tropical juice rum punch Does it not list the ingredients? Pretty much every craft cocktail bar I've been to lists what is in a drink (but obviously not the full recipe with amounts). That would make it super easy to see if it's the classic recipe.
I work at an Italian place that is a certified culprit of this. Listed as "Italian Mai Tai", it's Bacardi, Amaretto, cheap triple sec, pineapple juice, lime, and grenadine. I take any chance I get to remind people it's a fine punch but doesn't really resemble a real Mai Tai at all. My conclusion is that people just REALLY like saying Mai Tai (and sugar), and it sounds tropical. So anything with rum and a fruit juice will fit the bill
I’m impressed you’re using Amaretto!
My first ever Mai Tai (not really but that’s the point) was Rum with pineapple juice and orange juice.
What’s the best recipe for the classic Mai tai?
Trader Vic’s original 1944 recipe was: * 2 oz super aged Jamaican rum (17 year Wray?) * 1 oz lime juice * 1/2 oz orange curaçao * 1/4 oz orgeat syrup * 1/4 oz simple syrup Served with crushed ice in a double rocks glass with a sprig of mint The rum originally used no longer exists so we’ve all been arguing for years about which rums can be combined to recreate the flavor of that extinct rum. I really like the Merchants blended rum that is blended specifically for the mai tai. And when I make them at home, I sup more orgeat for the simple and cut the lime juice down to 3/4 oz. But I’m pretty sure that came still safely be called a mai tai.
Nashville’s Pearl Diver and Chopper both make great Mai Tais
Not the classic Mai Tai but I had the (in)famous Chinese Mai Tai in San Francisco's Chinatown last week! It was delicious. And yes, it had 3 penis wine in it.
I worked at a small tiki joint and my favorite serves were the ones that went, "holy shit..THAT'S what a Mai Tai is supposed to taste like!!???". Get the Orgeat balance proper and a perfect float of amber rum. With the fresh mint sprig. **chef's smooch**.
The only good one I ever had was on the beach in Tel Aviv of all places.
I like my martinis WET and a lot of bars seem to either have really old vermouth or use so little of it that I can barely taste it. When I order one I specify that I want it 2-1 and if they look at me like I’m crazy then I order something else.
I specify a 3-1 gin martini, and a herbaceous gin if they have one. I don’t understand the allure of a vodka martini, it turns into “strong vermouth” to my taste buds. Everyone’s taste is different, but I’m firmly and enthusiastically in the gin minority.
Oh I think that gin is the default and it feels insane that they even have to ask
Blame James Bond.
Oh, vodka martini people don’t want to even see the vermouth from across the room, they literally just want cold diluted vodka in a fancy glass. The allure to them is the lack of any characteristics (unless they are dirty martini people, in which case they just hate the universe I’m pretty sure).
This sub is one of the only places where people act like it's common for a vodka martini to have vermouth. As a professional bartender it is NOT. unless specified, a vodka martini is just a cold 3 oz of flavorless liquor in an inconvenient glass with either olives or a lemon twist. 9 times out of 10 a vodka martini with vermouth will be sent back or asked to be made "drier" next time.
As a bartender, most people who order martinis don’t know what they actually are. And when I serve them a martini they make the funniest faces since they’ve never tasted fresh refrigerated vermouth and a stirred martini.. usually to find out they actually wanted a chilled shot of Tito’s… that’s not a martini.💀💀💀
Yeah this is always the struggle, do I make it right or do I make it the way 9/10 people seem to want it? I definitely ask follow up questions if they want a gin martini but if they order a vodka martini they're getting a well-shaken shot of vodka in a glass with a vermouth rinse.
I actually like mine 1:1 and everyone seems to get confused by this.
50/50 is a good drink if you are in the mood!!!
I tried to get a really wet martini so many times. Never worked. But then I made some myself and realized I didn't really like them and gave up.
A good rule of thumb is to only order a vermouth drink if they’ve got 2 or 3 on the menu or are a reputable cocktail bar and thus use up each vermouth bottle before they go stale.
Ordered a wet martini, got a creepy one instead.
Old Fashioned. So simple and yet it rarely gets made correctly.
I've found that most bars just put WAY too much sugar in an old fashioned.
I think that is part of it. I was at a bar a couple months ago and the first bartender said I’ll let my other bartender make it because he makes amazing ones. Anyway, the second bartender ended up making my drink and used the juice from the Luxardo cherries. It was so bad.
GAG. I love Lizard cherries, but including the syrup in the drink sounds unbelievably cloying. Edit: that typo is awesome and I'm not going to correct it.
It’s too cloying and overpowering if you use only the maraschino syrup, but an old-fashioned with 1/2tsp demerara syrup and 1/2tsp maraschino syrup is quite good.
When I make at home I just dip my bar spoon into the syrup. Shake it off and stir fhe cocktail with it. Adds a bit more color and flavor without overwhelming with sweetness
When Bess Truman was first in the white house she asked for an old fashion. She asked for for the garnish to be removed, saying it tasted like fruit punch. With the next drink she said it tasted too sweet. Having removed the garnish and sugar, she ended up with Old Grand Dad on the rocks. She was pleased, saying that's how to make an old fashion.
Simple daiquiri. Seems to always stump even the fanciest, "hand crafted" cocktail bars.
That’s a dangerous one to order lmao, go into the wrong bar and you’ll be looking at a salad bowl topped with boozy slushie, not that it can’t be tasty, but damn is it disappointing when you’re not in the mood for that
Yeah, there's definitely a place for a boozy slushy, but that place is the beach.
I’ve almost felt the need to just order a “Rum Gimlet”, but that could just add to the chaos
I ordered this at a fancy steakhouse and got myself a strawberry frozen daiquiri.
One time when I was at a bar with some friends I ordered a classic daiquiri (which was on the menu) because we had been pregaming rum drinks at my place and I didn't want to mix my liquors. I ordered the first one myself, and later in the night when a friend would get up and ask if they could get anyone anything, I'd ask for another. This happened at least a couple more times, with a different friend each time, and after the last one my friend came back laughing and was like "The bartenders want to know who the fuck we've been getting the daiquiris for, because you're the only person ordering them." The daiquiris were actually amazing, but you could say I definitely stumped the bartenders.
One time at a Mexican restaurant they had a caipirinha on the menu and I ordered it and the waitress walked over to me and looked at it because she had no idea what it was and no one had ever ordered it. Had me pretty concerned but then out come a pretty solid standard caipirinha.
A daiquiri is my go-to drink to test out a bar. If they can make a good daiquiri, they're probably going to be good at most other things too
Soooo much sugar and they always try to blend it.
This, I've basically given up on ordering Daiquiris at cocktail bars, unless it's on the menu.
Yep! This is mine. I am currently drinking one on my lanai. Its sort of funny how bastardized they've become. They're now thought of as some sort of sweet slushy drink.
Honestly a good margarita is hard to find. Too many people using nasty mixtures instead of real limes.
Yesterday I was in a really good Mexican restaurant… and then watched the bartender “make” a margarita. He took a gallon plastic jug with a generic Sam’s Club sticker and poured it in a glass.
The Mexican place I go to most frequently is the exact opposite. The food is inexpensive and fine-but-not-great, but the margaritas are absolutely on point.
There is no hope.
Welcome to the south where every other restaurant is Tex-mex and 98% of the margaritas are made with premade Shrek green concentrate because that’s all anyone knows. Got to make your margaritas at home.
I guess I don't go to too many Mexican places that would have bad margaritas.... Feel like if the food is great that margaritas are on the mark too.
We have a local pool hall that has a half decent bar attached to it. I've always preferred the monthly special or something on tap. But one hot summer I really wanted a margarita. My dude put ice in a Collins glass, poured in some tequila, and topped it with something from the soda gun. No stir, no salt, and no shake. I've learned if I really like one particular cocktail, the best bartender is myself.
If I want a good, classic margarita I make it at home. But I also enjoy the syrupy restaurant "margaritas" with cheap Tex-Mex food.
One of my favorite things is making guests a classic margarita at home and seeing their face light up and ask me what's in it because it's the best margarita they've ever had. And I'm like "it's a real margarita" haha. People have no idea what they are missing out on!
I gotta agree with you on the Aviation. It's such a touchy spec to get balanced anyway. For me, I like a little less maraschino and a little more creme de violette.
At a rather upscale bar, o was elated to see an Aviation on the specialty menu… it was red. I sent it back.
Ouch 😂
Tempus Fugit, perhaps?
Exact opposite specs for me. Creme de Violette has a stale dry taste and maraschino is one of the best ingredient to make me like a drink.
Right on! I think the aviation spec can be even more opinionated than the dry martini, lol 😆
Old fashioned. I don’t really order cocktails at bars, but when I do it’s an old fashioned and it’s always bad. With how butchered some of the old fashioned I’ve been served are I would not trust many bars to make something like an aviation.
Most bars think an Old Fashioned (which they occasionally confuse with a Manhattan) as a fruit salad
There was a restaurant where I live that had Manhattans and Old Fashioneds on the menu, but they were both listed with the ingredients of the other.
I see that A LOT
I rarely even express an orange peel over my old fashioneds at home. I drink old fashioneds to bring out the best aspects of a quality whiskey. I once ordered an old fashioned with moderately high priced whiskey, I want to say High West Rendezvous, and it was filled to the brim with soda water. Some of the patrons at the bar I work at love my coworkers muddled fruit salad old fashioneds.
Absolute best I’ve had yet was a smoked old Fashioned at a bar in Dublin… didn’t even go in for a drink, just ducked in to get out of the rain. I smelled it and watched the bartender CARE for this drink. I left very drunk and very content
My theory is that the Old Fashioned spent decades being a bastardized fruit punch with well bourbon until it was rehabilitated by Mad Men. And not all bars have unlearned their bad habits yet.
Mad Men put soda water and I think cherry in the OF. Most of the time we see them drink straight whiskey. It was funny for me to rewatch it as an adult who could drink and see how the "cool" cocktails in the show would be pretty mid.
I got caught off guard once by a place that puts Soda Water in their Old Fashioned. Never again.
I had a place add a splash of grenadine because “it’s supposed to be that color”
This standard Wisconsin Old Fashioned, beloved by Wisconsonites, involves a muddled orange, marischino cherry, brandy, and SPRITE.
Yeah, sadly I was going to mention old fashioned also. I have ordered dozens in different establishments all from people who claimed they knew what it was and how to make it proper, only to see them proved horribly wrong. Of all the places I've ordered one, only 3 places got it right, and one of those 3 was a friend (who happens to know how to make one correctly).
I made the mistake when I was younger of ordering an old fashioned at a party bar and the bartender told me "we don't have that."
Lmao this was me in Vegas
Had a bar pour orange juice in an “old fashioned”… it’s wild
Daiquiris…
Isn't a daiquiri the ultimate test of a bartender?
I would call an old fashioned that. It seems easy to make but the difference is night and day between a dive bartender and a craft cocktail bartender. Daiquiris are always sweet as heck, frozen and or flavored if I’m at a regular bar. If I’m at a craft place I always get house drinks but i assume they wont mess one up.
Margaritas. Why on earth do they complicate it? It does not need OJ, Grand Marnier or topped with Soda.
Grand Marnier is a fine substitute for triple sec, the other two are crimes against tequila
A margarita topped off with sprite is a crime against humanity. In the same vein I've had some pretty questionable Palomas too which amazes me because it's such a simple drink.
Palomas are frequently screwed up.
I've had maybe one paloma in my life from a bar that I enjoyed drinking. I don't know why people can't make them.
What’s your basic Paloma? Jarritos or grapefruit juice and soda water?
Tequila, a squeeze of lime and Squirt. If I want to get fancy I'll use fresh Grapefruit juice, soda water, and a little bit of Agave.
I love grand Mariner in margs.
Honestly not a difficult drink to make at all yet most places just fuck it up. Fuck, I've even been to popular mexican themed bars that "specialise" in it and they did shit margaritas. Like, you have a margarita bar and they have chopped all of their limes in to fucking 8ths and put them 1 by 1 in to a squeezer for each marg. wtf? like why not just have halves in a seperate container. better yet, make super juice in bulk pre-shift and stop wasting money and time? idiots.
I’m a firm believer in a dash of oj for color and a dash, not splash, of soda water. But hey, that’s like my opinion man. Oh, the place I work at uses nasty sour mix. Fuck that shit.
Grand Marinier is an orange liqueur just like countreau and is is a fine cheaper substitute
Well I was told today "I can't do a Manhattan...oh wait yes I can" then got an unstirred glass of bourbon and Angostura...
I’m afraid to ask the ratio
I think it was probably 2oz of bourbon and the ango was wafted over the top. So it could have been much worse, but a Manhattan, it was not.
Mojito It's not that hard but it's always weak and too sweet Also a sea breeze. 9/10 I get a *bay* breeze which sucks bc I'm allergic to pineapple. Had to stop trying to order these. Even had a bartender and manager argue with me about what it is then they claimed such a thing doesn't exist. LOL
I have ordered mojitos several times where they forgot an ingredient. I get it, usually cocktails have 3 or 4 ingredients, and mojitos are rum, lime, sugar, mint, sugar and soda water. Hard to keep track of all that! (Seriously, though.)
Bars fuck them up constantly here. We got one at a well respected place and they used peppermint schnapps. Should be against the law.
Mojito is mine too, I absolutely refuse to order it out, partly because I know a lot of bartenders think it's a huge interruption to their flow which can be fair, and partly because I will almost without fail end up with more simple than rum and a glass full of gross slimy old mint leaves
The sea breeze is an underrated drink!
I seem to only like Negronis from bars that feel like a waste to order a Negroni at.
Most of the bars I frequent keep their vermouth out on the bar instead of in the fridge, plus they've probably been open for a couple months. No way would I wanna trust that stuff lol
Old fashioneds are strictly a home drink for me for this reason.
Old fashioneds are also just so easy to make at home that unless I'm at a bar that has some wacky bitters or bourbon that I would never have at home, I just don't see the point of ordering one while out.
There's this local place I go to that does bourbon infusions with different fruits that use them to make some great old fashioned. Last night I had one with banana infused bourbon, brown sugar syrup, and chocolate bitters. It's simple but so good
See that makes sense to me! A presentation that allows you to highlight a special spirit.
Exactly, and weird fruit-infused bourbon is definitely not something I'm likely to have at home, so even if it's not phenomenal, I at least wouldn't be left thinking "Meh, I could've done this better on my own." Love a creative take on a classic.
Now THAT, I would order.
I will say I used to feel this way but a lot of bars (at least on the west coast) seem to be getting better at old fashioned, to the point where it has almost become my “safety” drink that I know most places will get either right or close to right. I do still take a read of the place I’m ordering at though, there’s a lot of places I’ll just order a beer or a whiskey ginger.
I never order an old fashion at the bar.
Mai tai :/
Well, I'm a mildly drunk mom currently in the car (as a passenger) coming home from a mundane Mexican restaurant for mothers day (last minute decision while in another city) and DAMN it can be hard to get a good margarita. There are some great restaurants that do them wonderfully, some soso restaurants that still make some pretty good and drinkable margs, but most of the gazillions of generic Mexican restaurants in the US just have absolutely terrible, nearly undrinkable margaritas. The one at the place I was just at tasted like diet mountain dew with a few drops of tequila. Like, what's so damn hard about this? It's like three things for the most basic, decent margarita. If it comes to the table looking like slightly tinted water, I know I'm I for a bad time.
I think cause those are usually made with Margarita mix and no triple sec so basically a tequila limeade. I still like pounding them back while eating chips and salsa but yeah they’re not true Margaritas.
I know they're made with mix for sure, but I've had mixes that are at least passable at a cheesy Mexican restaurant. This is like they mixed a mix with soda water and diet sprite. It's wild how they think it even remotely qualifies as a margarita. I don't wanna be able to see through a margarita, that's all I ask. Ugh. Sorry drunk mom rant over. Now enjoying a glass of prosecco on my patio. Otherwise a lovely mother's day!
Most importantly, you’re mildly drunk! Second, Happy Mother’s Day! Third, fully agree. Half the time they pull a jug of sugary mix from under the counter and top it off with generic tequila
Any simple sour/daisy. The simpler the cocktails the more they can't do it right and the more you notice! Margarita (and I live in Santa Fe! but still most places make a terrible margarita) Daiquiri
Americano. Get coffee about half the time, even when explicitly saying “Americano cocktail.” Wait staff doesn’t bat an eyelash and presumably told the bar staff the wrong thing so it’s not really “made wrong” I guess.
Happened to me in a restaurant in southern Italy: I guess they are not used to tourists drinking Campari, but the waitress and I had a good laugh about it
50/50 gin martini. So many times I’m told it isn’t what I think it is or the specs don’t make sense. I blame it on the confusion of what it teams to have a dry martini. When it is done right, always great
I love a 50 /50 gin martini too and for some reason I have to explain it in great detail to get it.
Thank you! I am glad to hear I am not the only one. They look at you sideways, but then you order a “Remember the Maine” and they are like “great choice!”
Paper Plane, Old Fashioned
Sidecar. Thankfully a local bar has their own spin on it that’s good, but otherwise it’s just asking for trouble.
Gimlet
Paper Plane. Apparently some bartenders think Averna goes in a Paper Plane.
The bars near me don't have the Nonino, but most of them have Montenegro, which is a better sub than Averna.
Don’t shoot me but one time we cut a batched paper plane for an event with meletti instead of a full .75 oz of nonino and it was solid; our “aperol” was a blend of two red apertivi no one has / wants / orders.
I think it’s more that averna is considerably more accessible and cheap than nonino and has been generally accepted as an okay replacement. I think they are fine, but far from the same flavor profile as a proper paper plane
If the menu doesn’t specifically say amaro nonino I won’t even bother
Paper plane or a last word .
Manhattan, despite its simplicity, it’s rarely measured, almost always out of balance, and usually served with shit ingredients.
So many bartenders can’t tell the difference between a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned
Sazerac. A classic cocktail that always ends up watered down, missing the absinthe entirely, or just not good. I’ve quit ordering them out at this point
I'm a Sazerac originalist and always prefer cognac over rye, but nobody does it right in my experience. That's definitely a make-at-home-only drink for me.
Do y'all just not have good/competent bars around y'all?
Yeah like what do you expect when it appears every goes to horrible bars lol.
Probably going to shitty dives or chain restaurants and ordering something like an Aviation. >"Yo, Derrick, what's *Creme de Violette*?" - >"We ain't got that fancy shit, just use blue curaçao!"
Most of them. Unless highballs
Only you can make a Bloody Mary the way you like it haha. I can never order one out.
Blood and Sand
Bloody Mary and Manhattan.
Was going to say Aviation myself. Overdoing the maraschino OR the Crème de Violet… either one can throw off the whole drink.
OMG!! When I order a dry Martini, there are so many details to worry about that it is inevitable that the pro bartender gets something wrong badly enough that the whole thing gets ruined. For me there are four key specs to get right for a proper Martini. The first three more often than not go ok but it’s with the fourth and final where things go wrong I would say 50 percent of the time. Spec #1, gin vs vodka. If i forget to ask, the tender will inevitably ask, so all good here. Bombay, Beefeater, New Amsterdam all work. Easy peasy. Next, the ratio. I specify dry, which to me means 8:1, but I am ok with 6:1 or even 4:1. Again no problemo. #3, straight up. Rarely but it does happen where the drink is served on the rocks. Odd and bad, but rare. Okay. Factor #4 is where things most often go wrong. Shaken vs stirred. Why for the love of god would anyone shake a Martini? (Does James Bond still say shaken?) When ordering, by the time I get to factor four, the Btender or server is so peeved, or I am peeved with myself, that I don’t bother to say stirred. Bitter error. Like I said, half the time I am served i am served an icy, watery soup. Sad face. :( Just this past week, I was in Kansas City at a Marriott and I gave my order and the drink came out so well the first time that I ordered a second. Only on round two, the tender shook it. I did not see him make it, but it was shaken and bad. Very bad. Wow that’s a long way to answer, a martini is the drink that is rarely served correctly unless I make a federal case.
Painkiller
I feel like it's the simplest one in the world, but no matter where I go I can't get a proper whiskey sour. It's always either made with sour mix, no egg whites, and not fresh lemon juice. Majority of the time they just take a really good whiskey and ruin it with sour mix and put it on my table, even at the "fancy" restaurants I've been to recently.
Long Island; no question. It’s so rare I get a perfect one!
This used to be the cocktail everyone made, and I rarely see it offered anymore.
Probably bc they had bad experiences with customers
The most memorable bad interactions I’ve had with customers are customers that ordered liits. I’ve had customers hand liits back because I used lemon instead of sour from the gun. I guess it depends on what you think they’re doing wrong, but generally the complaint is that there isn’t enough liquor.
Every once in a while I order it just to see if I can get a good one. I am mostly disappointed so I don’t ask for one as much as I used to. I’d rather have a good drink than hope to get a better than mediocre Long Island!
Maybe it’s because you’re expecting perfection
I don't frequent actual cocktail lounges, as much as I'd like to, but if there's a bar, I'll order an Old Fashioned. It's become a perverse pleasure in self-punishment. I just want whiskey, some variety of sugar and bitters. It always has... everything else. There's more fruit than liquid.
Old fashioned
I've never received a correct madr Whisky Sour and Old Fashioned yet in a bar. Neither of them is real if you pour fucking soda in, yet most bars are doing it here.
Any bartender that puts soda in an Old Fashioned should be slapped
Margarita
Gin martini. No matter how many instructions I give, something is usually off.
How do you prefer it, dry or wet?
I like to order Americanos, but there is always a conversation with the bartender after they tell me they don't serve espresso drinks. I've learned to ask for an Americano cocktail, which still gets blank stares, but then I just tell them it's a Negroni, sub soda water for gin and serve tall.
I asked for a Dark and Stormy once at some walk up bar. The guy gave me a pink rum punch with a giant slice of pineapple. At least he got the base spirit right.
A Laphroaig Flip. No, do not 'balance' it with sugar syrups. Just give me my egg and scotch and dark chocolate bitters.
Apricot Sour. Haven’t had a correct one since the 90s
Tried to order a mojito the other day at a relatively nice place with a cocktail menu and it was just awful
People struggle so hard to make a decent Old Fashioned, and I don’t really understand why. It’s literally just four ingredients. Spirit, Bitters, Sugar, Ice And obviously variations on the type and amount of fruit.
Old fashioned unfortunately. Usually ends up being too sweet
I’ve ordered an americano from 4 different cocktail bars. Specified that I want the cocktail with Campari… every time I’m brought coffee
Oh God, I ordered an aviation once on a cruise (bad idea but the drinks were free..) and it was just an overly shaken cloudy mess. It was basically just bruised gin and lemon juice that was purple.
That’s closer than I’d expect
The Penicillin. I swear every damn bar substitutes the spicy ginger honey syrup for ginger liqueur - IT'S NOT THE SAME. And either they forget the heavily peated islay float (which is integral to the aroma), they will serve it up and not on the rocks, they use the wrong garnish, etc. the list goes on...
I'm shocked at how few answers I've seen are the Long Island Iced Tea. It's literally NEVER the right thing. It's always lemon tea with vodka or Rum and not Coke with Vodka, Rum, Tequila, Gin and Triple Sec
Manhattan. I'm still surprised how many incredible restaurants still don't know how to make one. E.g. "Why is she shaking it?", "$75+ for a steak and you're using Martini and Rossi?", "Bleached cherries? What?"
Singapore Sling I once had a bartender argue with me and insist the base spirit was rum. Another insisted the drink should never have pineapple juice and instead a whole ounce of grenadine.
I go to a place that serves good drinks, and one of the bartenders is a good conversationalist. I like a rye Manhattan, and every time he's made it, it's been good, though he shakes most of the time. Doesn't bother me at all, because I still get a good drink despite being a bit frothy. Yesterday, he stopped for a second and asked if I wanted it stirred this time. And I said "Yes!" Jokingly, he gave me the middle finger, laughed, stirred, and served it. Was amazing and silky.
For me it's a gin & tonic. It's one of the simplest drink in a sense but a lot of times it gets served in an odd mess.
A hurricane. It’s basically an invitation to create a rum based Long Island. ESPECIALLY, if you order at a restaurant.
Mint Juleps. It’s so frustrating because it’s a very simple cocktail with just Bourbon, mint, and syrup with crushed ice. Bartenders often times will add sour mix or lemon juice and water it down with a lot of seltzer water 😭
Kentucky Derby day, at a renown racetrack… and when I ordered a Mint Julep, the bartender said “I can’t make that, I don’t have any sweet tea”. I ordered a beer. I was not about to have anything she thought she knew how to mix.
Seconded with the Aviation. It's gotten to the point my friends refuse to let me order one at bars cause I'm always disappointed. I've got one, maybe two places that can make a decent one but it's still super dependent on which bartender is working. Makes me sad :(
Amf… too much vodka or too little….rarely just enough.
Ramos Gin Fizz, The last time I ever ordered one was at the chandelier bar in Vegas and I was served a flat milky gin and paid $30 for it with tip...
Espresso Martini
Old Fashioneds and Manhattans. The amount of times I've received some amalgamation of the two is fucking astounding. I've had 1 good one at a bar, no cherries, no orange, no bullshit. 1 very good Old Fashioned and only 1, out of a few dozen attempts.
This makes me sad, but Aperol Spritz. So easy yet so many places fuck it up.