+1 for the horseradish vodka for bloody marys sounding awesome.

What do you think of customers who always order well liquor? Do you respect them for finding the best value at the bar, or are you annoyed because it means less tip?

One time in my student days, I told the bartender I was down to my last five dollars (which was the truth). I asked for as big a glass of well whiskey as he could pour, and told him to keep the change as tip. Dude gave me a triple pour, easy.

I bartended for a bit, one of the most tilting things was when some dickhead guy would come in with a girl and order some super-premium liquor w a mixer, such as a grey goose and cranberry---a total waste. Once a guy ordered Blue Label and Coke....i almost cried

And I never understood why black people always seemed to like really sweet drinks (grown men ordering adios motherfckrs?!?!)....and the stereotypes of them not tipping as well is generally true IME

And a general tip for guys, dont bother hitting on the hot bartender (or dont expect anything to come of it), she gets hit on every night and she's flirting cuz she wants ur $$$$$$

Cool thread clare, brings back some fun memories

I like all three of the ones you listed.

Some other favorites of mine (I tend to enjoy slightly mellower places with a good selection of beers):

Apex - Great summer beer bar with a bicycle/motorcycle theme. Tons of outdoor tables, feels like a fun house party when it's packed. Sick beer selection.

Green Dragon - Another beer-centric place. Cavernous on the inside, fun atmosphere.

Le Bistro Montage - Mainly a restaurant (although they have a bar-only annex called "le merde") but a Portland institution that does have a small bar area. Formerly famous for serving 16 oz Rainier bottles for $1 and Mickey's hand grenades. Now the Rainers are 12 oz and $1.5 or $2.50. Serves food until 4am Objectively the food isn't all that great but I have a soft spot for their mac and cheese.

East Burn - Good beer selection, all beers $2 on Tuesday. Slightly fratpartyish at times but nevertheless fun. Cool basement and patio.

The Foggy Notion - This is KJS' bar, so I'm biased. But they pour stiff drinks, have pinball and a pretty solid patio. Also I've heard that the food is quite good The only unfortunate thing is that it's like 8+ miles from where I live.

I'll probably think of more later.

wow

grey goose's whole reason for existing is so that people can order it in mixed drinks to impress morons

Maybe he meant cocaine?

umph you know I love you dog but my first act as censor is to have the 'lol grey goose' guy thrown off the tarpeian rock, just fyi

Excuse me because I need to punch a thousand babies

i almost prefaced that with i know it's become trite to point this out, but the dude did call grey goose 'super premium'.

Ok good, this is what I was going to ask. I generally tip $1 a drink for pretty much everything I order, whether it be a $2 Natty Boh or a $8 mixed drink. Wasn't sure if that was appropriate. I imagine when you start getting into drinks that are a bigger pita to make, upping it to $2 is the way to go.

Cool thread.

edit: also worth mentioning that on the other hand, if I start a tab I just tip 20%. Usually this means I end up tipping much more than $1/drink. But it feels way too nitty to count the amount of drinks you've had and then put that down as the tip.

CQ,

What are your thoughts on manly/girlie or beginner/experienced drinks? In particular where does a Jack and Coke fall on the continuum?

sorry---its a classification system my bar used for pricing: well, call, premium, super premium, then top shelf----in my bar, grey goose was classified as a super premium

Beginner -----------|------------------------------------Experienced
....................Jack and Coke


Girlie -----------------------------|----------------------Manly
.......................................Jack and Coke

imho

AND WHAT'S WITH THESE WESTERN BARBARIANS AND THEIR ROFL MOUTAI CUSTOMS SHOWING DIRESPECT TO THE ANCESTORS? LOL L2P AMIRITE

bah hopefully that makes sense

it does but you're setting a dangerous precedent imo, expect to be holding down the - key for many a moon henceforward

I don't mind the - key... it's the ..... that is tilting me. Forum software doesn't trust me to use extra spaces.

Neuro--I think people who get well liquor w/ highballs are smart. It's basically a waste of $$ otherwise. I think people who get well liquor up or on the rocks are probably broke. No shame in that, but aristocrat gin on the rocks is pretty gd gross.

anything & coke is obv beginner.

Thanks.

I'll do you one better, though. These guys who owned and worked at this other bar would sometimes come in. They were complete madmen when they were out drinking together. One of them is this humongous dude named Sam, like 6'5" /350. They're getting slammed and he demands a Pappy Van Winkle 25year and coke. For those who don't know, PVW is basically just about the best bourbon there is--we sold it for, idk, $30 or $35 a glass or something? Basically sacrilege. I asked him once to reconsider, but he was deadset and huge, so I made his $35 bourbon and coke. Pretty hilarious and depraved.

I think I remember RDH talking about that **** in, like, reverent tones once

Yeah, I mean, when you get up there over $20 on a tab, I think ~20% is totally fine. I think it probably comes out close to the same most places, where the average decent beer or drink is around 5 bucks. Obviously less true in places like NYC/Miami/LA.

Hi Todd--I think SC just about nailed where I would put Jack and Coke, although maybe slightly more beginner-y even, since it's one of those drinks with a name that novice drinkers are aware of.

I'm not sure what you mean by "my thoughts" on that continuum. I mean, first, I think manly/girlie and experienced/beginner, is basically the same thing. I'm trying to think of an experienced girlie drink and all I'm coming up with is maybe Cosmopolitans, sort of? Most experienced lady drinkers I know sort of think of themselves as drinking like men fwiw.

I mean, there's no doubt that such a continuum exists. Novice drinkers don't like the taste of alcohol, and experienced drinkers/drunks do. I would put highballs in general kind of on the left side of SC's continuum, moving right toward more complicated yet still sweet drinks like margaritas/mojitos/etc., then on toward the classic cocktails like manhattans/sidecars/old-fashioneds/sazaracs, and finally on the right-hand side martinis and booze on the rocks or neat.

But it depends on what you are looking for. Unless you are advocating that people only drink their alcohol neat, you are going to find people that have definite differences in the taste profiles they prefer.

Sure, I don't think that mixing coke with high end scotch or bourbon is a good idea but a regular rum and coke can be quite nice-especially when it includes some angostura and lime!

i don't care what you drink. i have consumed many liquor + coke drinks in my life. it's still clearly beginner.