Post #778997 by mikehooker on Fri, Aug 18, 2017 2:27 PM

On 2017-08-18 11:01, AceExplorer wrote:

On 2017-08-17 19:06, Tiki-boss wrote:
Sad thing is that outside of a tiki bar many people may actually send back a properly made Mai Tai simply because it's not what they expecting.

I believe it. My personal view is that bartenders would really benefit from trying to SELL the customer on the story that goes with the drink, thereby also EDUCATING their customers. Otherwise what is the bartender doing? Just slinging booze. Bartenders could (should) give their customers more value by teaching them to be better drinkers, and telling them awesome backstories. Oh, they're too busy 100% of the time to actually care about the customer? Then the bar will achieve very little other than slinging booze.

Would you rather drink "just a cocktail," or a cocktail with some passion and a great story coupled with it? I'm not saying the bartender should tell a 10-minute story with each drink, but at least say SOMETHING when you serve it, like "this is a famous one with a great backstory" and then let the customer become really curious and ask a question.

I think most bartenders don't know the history and backstory, or don't care to learn and enlighten. It's just a job for them. I've never been to bartending school so can't say for certain, but presumably they only teach technique and how to make the most commonly requested cocktails, which aren't that complex. Not that a Mai Tai is that difficult to master. But more than likely your average bar doesn't stock the ingredients needed to make a proper Mai Tai, and besides us whiners who know what it could and should be, the common consumer is unlikely to complain about the slop they're drinking cuz they don't know any better.