Just a few days ago I was at a bar and the bartender who checked my ID was very skeptical about whether I was of drinking age (USA). I was of course, I'm 25 years old but look very young (~16). She accepted my ID but made a snide comment about whether or not I could legally drink.
It didn't really bother me, but when I ordered a rum and coke, it was literally all coke. I could not taste even a hint of rum. I had a friend try it as well as a confirmation.
I'm pretty sure that she just gave me a coke with maybe a splash of rum since she was convinced I was underage. However I was charged for the entire $11 drink. So in my mind this bartender essentially scammed me.
I know it's not proper protocol to challenge bartenders but how to I confront someone who is purposefully selling me watered down drinks?
$11 for a coke and coke and a hawkeyed staff watching for fake IDs is pretty typical at the kind of trash clubs that charge $11 for a single anyway.
Go somewhere else.
Eh, I live in the middle of a major city. I've come to terms with the exorbitant price of booze.
Stay at home, get fucked up JUST enough, call an Uber, and then go.
Drinking on a budget is definitely an art form. I'll pregame more in the future, thanks for the advice.
I recommend Ketel One for Vodka's. You can get a 5th for about 20 bucks, and it taste better than Grey Goose which is almost twice the price. Unfortunately it's still expensive when bought as a drink from a bar, because it's considered "top" or "mid shelf" Vodka.. But for drinking at home, it's great.
Edit: I am sure you can find similar "tiers" of Rum, Whiskey, etc.
Throwing in a hat for Popov. It's a solid midgrade vodka. Just in a plastic jug for some reason.
Grab some Havana Club rum while you're at it too. It's a couple bucks more than Bacardi or Captain but you'll thank yourself later.
Luksosowa, great potato vodka. Cheap too.
Exactly what I did through college. I was able to afford exactly one 12 dollar Vlad handle a month. Sometimes chased w/water if I was reeeeally broke. Disgusting but not many other options.
I live in one of the most expensive cities in the USA -- $11 for bottom shelf rum mixed with coke is a fucking joke no matter where you live. If you're paying more than $6 for that low class shit you're getting fucked and definitely should go to a different bar.
Not at all lol, $11 is pretty standard in Manhattan depending on the bar you go to. $6 R&C you’ll get at happy hour or in Queens. And the happy hour drinks are usually weak as shit as well.
Sounds like NYC haha
You go to a different bartender and after they’re done pouring your drink throw like $2 on the table and say “can you make it a little stronger”
If they’re not assholes they’ll add in some more
I'm pretty sure that isn't the standard price in any city. Even in really expensive cities (like Hong Kong) or touristy places (Hawaii) that isn't a normal price for a simple mixed drink (clubs excepted, that is absolutely a normal price there).
in nyc nightclubs its like 12 dollars for a beer, 20 something for a double iirc not to mention the tip on top
normal in miami as well.
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Sounds like a good plan.
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Or you could not risk getting arrested for the sake of being a prick
11 DOLLARS FOR A RUM AND COKE?!?!?
Even if it had the proper pour you'd still be getting ripped off, unless that drink had a quarter bottle of rum in it.
For real. $12 got me 3 liters of rum and coke back in college
Yo Aristocrat isn't that bad
It is built for mixing where you aren't tasting the booze anyway.
You right!
I like beer.
C'mon, even back in college you knew it was bullshit to compare retail prices to bar prices.
I mean retail was even cheaper
Yea my brother bartended at a popular spot in my area, I would get three triple-shots for 5 bucks
Pretty reasonable depending on where OP lives. I could pay $15 for mixed drinks around where I used to live at a mid-tier bar.
I was recently in Atlanta and was blown away by how cheap the drinks are compared to where my main point of reference is.
Yea, but that's probably a well constructed fancy cocktail.
Big difference between that and a cup of soda and ice with some rum dripped in.
My gin & tonics are $13 at the bar I usually go to after work... it’s ridiculous.
Oh my god, where is that???
Yep, $11 for a mixed drink. I live in the middle of a city though. It's why I usually make my own rather than go out to buy them.
Yeah, I don't blame you. It's ridiculous what they can get away with charging at some places.
I was thrown out of a bar on the San Antonio riverwalk for refusing a 15 dollar run and coke. It might have been because I shoved the glass back over the bar when they told me the price.
Take this goddam overpriced drink and shove it!
It's pretty good for a decent place in a large city(even for well rum), but most places that's a lot for one drink.
Where or in what year do you live that you think that is overpriced ?
I’m in eastern Pennsylvania and an easy cocktail like that is usually $6-7. When I was in western Pennsylvania, standard was usually $4.
For a rum and Coke, that is an absurd price. More complicated drink with higher shelf components? Perfectly reasonable. Rum and coke made with the well rum? Incredibly steep.
If it was requested with high shelf rum that might be alright, but "Rum and Coke," generally gets you a pour of Captain Morgans or Bacardi.
Las Vegas, a good drink shouldn't cost more than 4 or 5 bucks, that's with a top shelf pour.
Unless you go to the tourist spots of course.
Typically if I suspect a place of watering down drinks, Using low grade booze in top shelf bottles. I go for a beer and watch them open it.
The best thing to do is find another bar, Dive bars are the best..... cheaper drinks and great conversations with salty old fuckers like me :)
and pouring booze from one bottle to another is highly illegal.
Yes and I’ve know a few bars that do it...
That's not super uncommon lmao especially for dive bar types
Yes of course, so it would NEVER happen anywhere. Thank god it’s illegal.
Funny, as a young man I took a bartending class during a recession layoff period and got a job in a pretty big country bar and poured a bottle into another not knowing the rule and was chastised by a fellow bartender. Not cheating, just topping off to save space. Oops...
That’s good. I’m sure there are good bars, as much as I’m sure there are cheap shitty bars
How do you find good dive bars?
Make a mental note when you are out and about on a normal day of little bars you don't always notice. Then go. You can only find one you like by going to it yourself, unless you have a close friend that is all about dive bars
IMO good, fun dive bars are the ones where they successfully appeal to a pretty broad audience and most everyone feels welcome.
If you go in at say...10pm-midnight on a weekend and you've got a wide variety of people in there, it's probably going to be a good time. If you go in and 90% of the crowd is one specific demographic (ex: 40-60yr old alcoholics, bikers, people who look like they're in a gang, etc), it is probably not the sort of dive bar you will enjoy or that will be happy to have you there.
If you've got the full spectrum of >21 humanity in there and they all look like they're getting along, it's probably a good place.
If they have events, wildly incongruous events are a weird good sign. If the audiences for a punk band, a poetry reading, watching a certain sports event, and a darts tournament are all willing to come to that place, it probably meets the above test.
It's not worth causing a scene because you'll just get kicked out. It sucks ass, but if the staff are being dickheads, you just gotta go to a different bar.
I remember one bouncer randomly started talking shit to me because apparently I rolled my eyes at him (I hadn't even acknowledged the guy, he was just another face in the crowd to me) and wouldn't let me in with my friends. I called my friends and then told him to go fuck himself and we moved on.
I though about going to his boss in the morning or something but by then I had forgotten about the whole thing.
Yeah, I'm not a huge dude either so I'm definitely not going to start shit with the bouncers. I was just wondering if there's any appropriate course of action other than never going there again.
Go to a different bar, havnt had this happen to me (I look younger as well) but have had places do the liquor in the straw thing (little alcohol in the drink, but the straw is loaded with whatever your poison is so it tastes like alcohol), some places just suck so it’s best to find a bar where you can get along with the bartender.
You don't, unless you want to get tossed out.
You just go to a different bar. $11 for a rum and coke is pretty steep tho. Sounds like that place is just trying to rip you off in general.
I would not go back to that bar or just order beer
Perhaps bottled as well...
You don't. You never return to this venue again.
Simple enough
I’ve never seen a bartender hide the drink mixing process. They measure the liquor in front of you.
You talk to their manager, refuse to pay, and file a complaint...
I used to bartend in college. Usually bartenders do that to customers who are already shitfaced but keep demanding more drinks.
What you can do is order rum on ice and coke on the side, This way you know how much rum you got.
Side note: Please don’t demand that a bartender makes you a stronger drink. We do a standard 4 count pours. Now, if I like you, I’ll probably hook you up. But if you demand it, you’re not getting anything.
That includes the passive-aggressive crap such as “yo, this drink is weak.” I’’ll just offer to make you a double for double the price.
It was my first drink of the night, so I'm positive I wasn't already trashed. Thanks for the tip on getting coke on the side.
I get the shot on the side and add it myself.
Probably the best thing to do in OPs situation.
I meant that’s why most bartenders do it. In your case, you just had a shitty bartender. Glad I could help though.
I would do the following next time it happened
If they are pouring the drink in front of me and I notice that they put almost no rum in it, I would semi jokingly say that they havent really put much rum in it.
if they are bringing the already mixed drink to the tabe. I would try it and if it seems to be mostly cola, I would go to the bar and tell them that I think that they forgot to put the rum in my drink. I wouldnt make a big deal out of it, just be polite and say that it seems like they forgot it because it tastes just like cola.
If you want to continue going there and you are afraid of them doing this all the time, the comment above is great then. just order a cola and a shot of rum on the side :)
This is how I order will my hard liquor. I find pop too sweet so one glass of coke usually lasts me 2-3 whiskey.
Order Long Island Iced Teas.
Send it back. I've sent back drinks that were weak, I've sent back Vodka/Tonics when the Tonic was flat, etc. If she refuses, ask for the Manager.
But really, go to a different bar. $11 for a rum and coke? Either you're drinking in an airport bar, or at some snooty club with VIP sections with absurd cover charges.
Take the trouble to write a letter. You may never get a reply but it should get the owners / managers attention
Just walk out, don't pay the tab, and never go to that shitty bar again.
Eh, I want to avoid being arrested.
What are they going to do, call the cops over $11? You will probably just get banned from the establishment, which is no loss to you.
Just say "Yo...... There's no rum in here." If they put up a protest then fuck it, if not then they'll re-make it. Chances are she knew she shorted you so she would probably re-make (although begrudgingly probably), if she says anything snide again then just disregard it
Order a coke on ice. After receiving that, order a shot of rum. It's very easy to see how much rum is in a shot glass. Dump the rum in the coke glass. Return the shot glass and smile. When asked by the bartender why you did that? Calmly reply that you changed you mind after your first order.
Hey what's the deal you didn't put alcohol in this? Can I talk to your manager? Leave a nasty Yelp review. Don't tip.
Could you not just watch her next time she makes a drink for you? At most, next time take a sip and say this shit is weak.
You don't. If you don't like the establishment, go somewhere else. There's no need to get offended and cause trouble.
Go to a dive bar?
No tip that’s for sure
I always watch bartenders and see how they pour. If they use a jigger, I either go to a different bar or, if that's not in the cards, order beer. Beer is dependable.
Watch the bartender make your drink.
Alternatively, order a shot of rum and a "coke back".
Sounds more like the bartender has a hardon for giving you a tough time... and maybe every younger looking patron that frequents her establishment, since she's feeling "over the hill". Go to another bar. OR simply go, order one drink, and tip with a penny while you give her the middle finger as you walk away. Up to you.
You tell them to make you a different drink - simple as sending an under-cooked steak back to the kitchen.
If they refuse, don't drink it and ask for a refund. No refund? Leave the bar but before you do, place a coaster on top of the glass, turn over, and place on the bar. Slip the coaster out quickly.
She can be a bitch but so can you.
Go to bathroom, jerkoff into your hand, then walk back up to the bar and throw your cum in his face.
Wtf... Just Wtf?
How do you read the post and not realize the bar tender is a woman?
You're acting out of pocket right now. I'mma need you to shut your dicksucker.
I don't understand what you're even talking about. Have you had a stroke?
Did you watch the bartender make your drink?
Are you a sticking plaster?. . . . . Or a postage stamp? . . . . . A badly sewn on sleeve? Need some details.
Oof, an 11 dollar rum and and coke is an expensive hangover for me. I would have contended it. Or not drank the drink and turned right around and ordered a beer as a sort of "fuck-you, see I can drink alcohol, motherfuckers"
Explain the situation to a manager. Preferably when the bar is not busy/crowded/loud. If they threaten to call the police, let them, the cop will verify your ID and problem solved.
Give her a penny as a tip and never go back there again
Tell her you want a real drink. If she gives you attitude go to another bar and leave a bad yelp review. Usually an owner wants to know when his employees are being rude and scaring away customers.
Ask to watch her make the drink
You have to say it right off top “this is poured bad I don’t want it,” or something of the sort and if she asks why don’t beat around it tell her there’s no booze in the MFer
order complicated drinks that can't be watered down, then don't tip.
$11 is too expensive for rum and coke anyway
Just go to a different bar. It's $11 dude. Also, some bartenders are more generous than others. Some bars are more generous than others. You're probably getting the same drink everyone else is getting
8 out of 10 bartenders rip you off.. be it with less alcohol, and more coke in your rum and coke, or keep serving you knowing you are at full capacity, just so they can keep getting your money and tips, cause you don't know any better. You can't confront them. You just have to pick a regular watering hole to go to, where after a time they won't rip you off. Or play it safe and drink beer. They cant mess with it's content.
If you don't like the drink send it back
In Texas we have the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, you typically contact them for issues like that in Texas. Find out who does that where you live.
Lol! There is nothing more to be done here. If you go to a place where they're charging $11 for drinks, it's probably for that places "ambience and gravitas" and whatever BS they advertise. I hope you at least got some of that.
If you wanted more rum, you should've said that on the spot. Now, just accept it and move on.
Been there. Good luck doing that at 1 AM in obnoxiously loud music, low lights and hundreds of others pushing around you for a drink. Remember, the management is in on this, all the time.
Ask for a single shot of rum and a glass of coke.
Mix the 2 and become your own bartender.