A bartender has revealed some industry secrets, including how he handles a customer’s claim that their drink is too weak.
Benjamin Smith, who goes by the username @benjispears, on TikTok posted a video of himself training a new bartender behind the bar by acting out a skit of a customer who’d just claimed that their drink was not strong enough.
In the skit, it began with a server handing back a customer’s strawberry margarita to the training bartender. “My customer said that their strawberry margarita is not strong enough. They want, like, more alcohol in it… No, they don’t wanna pay,” the server said.
“So do you know what to do in this situation?” Smith asked the trainee, who then began to add extra sour mix to the drink, which Smith acknowledged is along the right track. “What I would do first is I would switch the glass. A lot of the time, the guest just wants to be heard. So we’re just gonna switch the glass and she’s gonna think it’s perfectly better,” he then revealed.
“I don’t think I need to train her, do I?!?!” the TikTok’s caption read, acknowledging how close the bartender in training had been to coming up with a solution without his help.
Since it was posted on 14 August, the video has been viewed almost two million times on TikTok. In the comments, fellow bartenders admitted that this is exactly what they do when customers request their drink be made stronger, while others revealed they have a couple of additional tweaks.
According to some of the viewers, in addition to doing exactly what Smith did, they then add alcohol just to the straw, so when the customers take their initial tester sip, it’ll taste stronger without wasting product the customers aren’t paying for. “Switch glass to look new, add more garnish and pour some down the straw so she gets that ‘extra.’ Then tell them ‘I pulled some strings’ card…,” one individual who identified themselves as a bartender in the comments wrote.
Others strongly emphasised the alcohol in the straw trick. “Then add booze to the straw!!!!!!!!” one commenter wrote. Another agreed, writing: “And a dash of vodka in the straw.”
“I would always drop a little alcohol down the straw voilà,” a third comment read.
Smith replied to the comments, revealing that he only does this when he’s “feeling nice”.
“YASSSSSS BAYBE, that’s when I’m feeling nicer,” his reply read.
Other viewers said that, instead of the alcohol trick, they just add extra garnishes to the “redone” drinks. “We’ll add two limes to make her feel like we really love her,” one person wrote. “Lmao when in doubt, add more limes,” a second commenter agreed.
“Also just add a tad of liquor on top that’s not mixed in!” another suggestion from the comments section read.
Some bartenders wrote that they don’t even try to cater to the customer’s wishes when they ask for stronger drinks. “I straight up told my tables ‘we can’t give you more alcohol you don’t pay for. Order a double if you want a double,’” one comment read. “If you want cheap strong drinks MAKE THEM AT YOUR HOME,” another agreed.
The Independent has contacted Smith for comment.