That's true. I can only say about this that when I worked weekends with another bartender, I tried to be very aware (within reason), of leaving tips that she'd earned, so she could scoop them. In general, like you said, we always just assumed that a person had tipped, but occasionally we'd have to ask each other, and how much. If it was an especially big tip, I would always make sure she was the one to get it, as it just feels strange to pick at ten dollar bill off the bar that you haven't earned. I would expect this to be the case most places, but as Adsman said, a lot of bartenders, like bar patrons, are stupid.
Thanks, and agree!

So the pickle juice just makes it seem like you haven't taken a shot?

What if you enjoy the sensation of having just downed a shot

SC,

Then don't chase with pickle brine! But the way we sold them, it was with the well liquor, so you probably wouldn't mind the taste of Kentucky Gentleman being washed away. Also, actually liking the taste of pickle juice doesn't hurt

I see. The "magical" description makes it sound interesting, but if it's just a shot eraser... eh. I'd rather just drink booze that I enjoy tasting.

Good, I suppose that makes me feel better about it.

I just would want to make sure that if someone went above and beyond or was particularly pleasant to deal with, they would know that I was very appreciative, even if I was leaving and not expecting more out of them at the time.

What are some of the major non-alcoholic edible items one should have handy if they have a small bar?
Off the top of my head I can only think of jarred olives, jarred cherry's, jarred onions, vermouth, lemon juice (forgot brand, smallish bottle) and margarita salt.

Edit: what is the best mixed drinks book?

DLU,

To reassure you a bit further, if someone left a nice tip, we almost always pointed it out if we thought the other person hadn't noticed. I would assume this is pretty standard practice--just good business practice, really.

looks like you got tater tot trainwrecked

I'll try that tonight.

One that was huge in my bar was a rum and pear shot. Two shot glasses, one filled with a good dark rum, the other with pear juice. Slam down the rum and then immediately follow with the pear. It softens the blow so much even girls can do it.

Wanted to add another question,

Best tasting dirty martini in your opinion, vodka (what brand) or gin (brand), and the perfect amounts of each ingredient.

I too am seriously intrigued. My favorite drink as of late has been a martini about 3.5oz gin, 1/2 oz high quality olive juice (like from an olive bar at a high end grocery store like Whole Foods), and about 1 1/2 tsp vermouth. Shake heavily and serve. Honestly, half the reason I drink it is for the olive juice.

Rye whiskey or bourbon plus olive juice doesn't sound that good, but now I want to try it.

That's pretty good for a small bar, would probably cover like 90% of garnishes and such. You could make your own sour mix too, using reallime and lemon juice and sugar to taste. And you need simple syrup.

Best mixed drinks book is honestly the internet. Every major recipe has youtube videos that are mostly pretty good. I think we used the Playboy Bartender's Guide at my last bar--it's pretty good b/c it has a lot of the old cocktail standbys.
I like Tito's for vodka, and though I'm not a gin drinker, I feel like I prefer Beefeater as far as not-expensive gins, but I would defer to real gin drinkers.

Good ratio (imo) is 2.5 oz liquor, .5-.75 vermouth, olive juice to taste, maybe .5ish

50

Definitely am. You are right word of mouth is king for us.

what's a good liquor/scotch to start drinking straight up?

i dont enjoy or appreciate any hard liquor neat but i think it's time i put an effort into actually trying

Single malt scotches ldo.

Yeah, just go to a bar that has a good selection and tell the bartender you don't know anything about Scotch but you'd like to learn. I believe there's an EDF thread you could read, but really, it comes down to personal preference. I'd start with the basic 12 yo single malt standbys (Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan) and see how they compare with blends like Dewar's/Johnny Walker/etc.

when you order them, I assume you get the cheapest/youngest one unless otherwise specified?

Probably, yes, but if there's more than one variety of a brand available I would always specify which one I wanted LDO. You'll want to start with the cheaper and less strongly flavored ones and expand your palate from there.

You might try going somewhere that specifically bills itself as a Scotch bar- they should be well equipped to introduce you to the wonders of Scotch whisky.

Hmm, it's always struck me that scotch is kind of the hardest liquor to develop a palate for. But maybe that's just b/c I have a bad palate for it. I would probably put in a biased dissenting vote for bourbons. Maybe start off with the standards from the ground up--Beam, Makers, Knob Creek, Elijah Craig, Woodford, Bakers, Basil Hayden, etc.--and see what type of bourbon (smooth and sweet vs. less sweet and biting for example) you like best.

How safe is buying scotch in most bars? I've always stayed away from anything pricy for fear that it's at least somewhat diluted (be it with water or some other lesser scotch). How about liquor in general being diluted?

Enough people drink scotch that if they actually diluted their premiums people would almost assuredly call them out on it.

Lol, appropriate username. Anyway, like Nozecandy said very safe, probably the safest liquor to buy, since serious scotch drinkers usually have favorite brands and can tell the difference. I'd be inclined to say that dilution/substitution/general chicanery is more likely to happen with vodka, which is supposed to be flavorless anyway, and with which it's pretty hard to tell the difference between Stoli and Chopin or whatever (not impossible, but hard).

I will also say that in all my years of bartending and waiting, I've never actually seen a place doing this. I think people are, in general, more paranoid about ethical practices at most bars and restaurants than they need to be.

Yeah, I think the bar owner has a much higher chance of getting ripped off by employees, than customers getting ripped off by employees/owners. In my opinion