I Never Order These 6 Drinks & Bartenders Love Me For It
There are lot of benefits to befriending your local bartender. Your order may be prioritized on a busy night, you can try off-menu cocktail concoctions, or you might even score a special friends and family discount. But aside from the potential perks, it’s also just nice to have a familiar face at your regular haunt.
On the flip side, there are several ways you can end up on your bartender’s bad side. There are some obvious ones, like being rude, rowdy, or a bad tipper. But there are also some little things that make the job behind the bar more difficult—including the drink you order.
Not every bar has a full list of ingredients to make every concoction. On busy nights, bartenders don't have time to dedicate all of their energy into a complex cocktail. And some drinks are just straight up time consuming. We asked bartenders across the country to share the most annoying drinks you can order.
We need to include an important disclaimer before we proceed. Not every bartender is going to find the same cocktails annoying, and the same cocktail won’t be an annoying order at every bar. It all comes down to context. You can always assess the vibes and the menu before making your order if you care about this.
And if you like ordering some of the drinks mentioned on this list, all the power to you. Just make sure to tip your bartender accordingly (which you should be doing already).
Signature Cocktails From Other Bars
A lot of iconic cocktails originated at one bar before becoming household names. You can safely order a Negroni or Sazerac anywhere, but you steer away from ordering a bar’s niche signature cocktails outside of that establishment.
Beau du Bois, Vice President of Bar and Spirits at Puesto and Roma Norte, won’t make another bar or restaurant’s signature cocktail even if he’s familiar with the recipe. “This happens more often than you’d think,” he says. “Out of professional courtesy, I would encourage the guest to try something bespoke in the genre of that cocktail as my hope would be that the other business would do the same.”
Elaborate Martinis
Some of the trendiest cocktails are some derivative of a martini (or a false martini, if we want to get technical). Some bars produce a high volume of espresso, lychee, and porn star martinis to meet the demand. Francisco Velsaco, Bar Manager at El Lugar Cantina in New York City, thinks that espresso martinis are especially tedious because of how popular they are.
“It may look simple, but don’t be fooled, this little drink is basically a cocktail version of a high-intensity workout,” Velasco says. “The second you make one, you’re signing yourself up for a mini-marathon of shaken coffee goodness. Because here’s the catch: someone orders one, and suddenly everyone at that table wants one too. Before you know it, you're shaking like it's your full-body workout for the day.”
For other bars that don't specialize in elaborate martinis, ordering one requires a lot of prep for just one cocktail. Delish's Temporary Assistant Digital Food Producer Mackenzie Filson has similarly strong opinions from her bartending days. "Espresso martinis take a hot liquid (and another machine/more things to clean) and then you have to chill it properly," she says. "It just takes more time, too!"
Layered Shots
At a high volume bar, complicated drinks only slow your bartender down—which makes their job harder and means less money at the end of the night. Layered shots in particular require finesse and technical precision, says Katie Miller, Bartender at Lottie’s Pub in Chicago.
“Having to layer six shots perfectly not only takes practice but is extremely tedious,” Miller adds. “These cannot be batch-made either, so they aren’t worth the time or frustration.”
Hot Buttered Rum
The winter season may usher in some cozy cocktails, but there are certain ones that are more trouble than they’re worth. David Laing, Head Bartender at Campton Bar & Bistro and Bombay Brasserie in San Francisco, argues that hot buttered rum is one of the biggest offenders.
“These need to be made in advance and there are many different recipes. If a guest has a certain expectation in their mind of what it should taste like, the drink cannot be easily recreated to their liking,” he explains. “These drinks are also very messy, so overall it’s a thumbs down.”
Mojitos
Just like layering cocktails, muddling ingredients in the glass or shaker only adds another step that can disrupt a bar’s fast-paced rhythm. Bartenders everywhere hate making mojitos for that reason.
“Sure, it’s just rum, lime, mint, sugar, and soda water. No big deal, right? Wrong,” says Velasco. “First, you're slapping mint like you're in a desperate attempt to start a fire, only to have it sneak into your strainer and hitch a ride into your next margarita.”
“As annoying as all that is, what really sends the mojito over the top is the fact that it’s frickin’ delicious,” adds Matthew Rankin, Head Bartender at Winnie’s Jazz Bar in New York City. “It’s classic. It’s timeless. It’s refreshing. And super tasty. I can’t get mad at anyone for ordering it! But God, I hate it.”
Egg White Cocktails
At dives, pubs, and other bars that specialize in simple mixed drinks, having to break out the shaker can automatically annoy some bartenders. But the frustration gets compounded if the cocktail includes egg whites.
In order to accomplish the iconic foamy layer of egg white at the top of your glass, bartenders need to shake your drink not once, but twice. The first is a vigorous dry shake (that is, without ice) to agitate the egg white, followed by another standard shake with ice.
“I don’t want to shake a whiskey sour and crack an egg white for frothing. It would take way too long,” Miller says. “Plus, the bar area is too packed for us to take drink orders that require time to make.”
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