5 Signs You’re in a Good Cocktail Bar
Really good, expertly made cocktails can cost a lot of money, and that’s fine with me. However, I’m not happy with the fact that I’m paying fifteen dollars for a shaken drink garnished with sad dried fruit. Any bar can claim to make “craft” cocktails, but how can you be sure you’re getting what you pay for?
Of course, the easiest way to find out if a bar is making good cocktails is to try the cocktails, but this can be an expensive taste test. GQ recently published an article in which bartenders share their favorite Tells. (The recommendation is “look for dust,” and while it might indicate attention to detail, I’ve been to some very clean cheesecake factories, and I wouldn’t put their cocktails on a “craft” level.)
As someone who drinks a lot of drinks in a lot of bars, I have developed several strategies to determine if I’m going to buy a trendy gin or stick to a simple soda drink. These are the questions I ask myself; feel free to use them:
- Can staff provide recommendations? I’m not suggesting that you ask the bartender what “drinks they like to make” because that’s the worst, but if you have a hard time choosing between the two drinks, he can help you describe the drinks. their menu.
- How do they make martinis? It’s one thing to ask if you want your martinis to “shake or stir” – although you really need to mix them all the time – but it’s quite another to shake by default . A watery martini is unacceptable, and a good cocktail bar won’t serve you one either.
- Are they filtering drinks onto new ice? Although the shaker may contain ice, chilled or diluted drink should always be poured onto fresh ice. Shocked ice will not only look sad in a glass, but it will already be halfway melted, which means that it will not keep your drink chilled for that long, and it will dilute it too quickly.
- What about the side dish and juice? If you are spending big bucks on a juicy drink, this juice should be real and, in my opinion, fresh. It’s the same with the side dish. While it is possible to make zest wedges, circles, or strips a few hours before they are used, nothing should look dried out, and your cherry shakes go best with this nice dark cherry.
- Have you been welcomed? As my favorite bartender likes to say: “You are having a party,” and you should feel welcome, not a burden. The good bar staff will greet you as quickly as they can, offer you a menu and, if they can’t get to you right away, at least say in a friendly way, “I’ll be there for you!”
Finally, I am always wary of overusing Saint Germain. While it’s a delicious elixir, I find it can sometimes be used to try and hide the myriad of cocktail sins. (They don’t call it “bartender’s ketchup” for a reason.) Is this a very snobbish attitude? Sure, but paying twelve or more American dollars for a drink requires a certain amount of snobbery.