Should bartenders taste their drinks?

As expectations of bartending standards mount, we ask two established mixologists to debate the controversial question: should bartenders taste every drink they make, or is it rude and unnecessary?

We ask an esteemed panel to consider whether bartenders should taste every cocktail they create, or whether this is rude and unnecessary?

While some bartenders claim tasting their creations is a necessary part of ensuring balance and quality, others claim an adept mixer should be able to create delicious drinks simply by working from strict recipes, ensuring consistency without the need to taste.

Questions surrounding the etiquette of tasting are also rife, with many customers fearing the dreaded “double dip”.

On the panel for this debate round is Tom Aske, esteemed mixologist and co-founder of bar consultancy firm Fluid Movement, and legendary bartender Salvatore Calabrese, of London’s Playboy Club.

Which of our revered judges do you agree with? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Salvatore Calabrese, Playboy Club, London

 

There are several reasons why bartenders should not taste every drink they create.

Bartenders often tell me that chefs are always tasting their food, but they only taste the sauce, and not the steak. Chefs only taste the sauce once at the beginning of the evening to check its balance. They know that sauce will then be perfect for the rest of the service.

The sauce for bartenders is the citrus. If they make a drink that has a sour note from citrus the bartender needs to make sure it’s balanced, so they need to taste it. But if the standard of citrus is even throughout the night, why do you need taste that drink every time you serve it? You are following the same recipe every time, so you already know what it tastes like.

The steak on the other hand is like a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned. There is nothing in those drinks that can be distorted. It takes about five minutes to make an Old Fashioned, so when you know the sugar has dissolved and it’s ready, why do you need to taste it at the end? What are you trying to achieve? If for some reason it’s not balanced what are you going to do, throw it away? It’s like biting a chunk out of every steak you serve, even though you know how it’s going to taste.

There’s also the issue of drinking at work. Every time you taste a drink how much are you taking out through the straw? About 5ml? That’s a lot if you’re tasting every drink, especially if the bartender is driving home afterwards.

Even when you must taste your drink, doing it through a straw is cheap. The journey of the cocktail is from the lips, to the middle palate to the end. When you use a straw it goes straight to the end. You should use a spoon, just make sure it’s washed afterwards. It’s more elegant and to the point. Imagine how much money you’d save by not tasting through straws! Then there’s the issue of hygiene. I’ve seen many times bartenders tasting a drink then dipping their straw back in for another taste. One thing I’ve learned is we should care for our customer. We should not give them something that doesn’t belong in the drink.

We shouldn’t taste because we think it’s cool; we should do it because we think it’s right. If we master our skill we should know when something is perfect – without tasting it.

Tom Aske, Co-founder, Fluid Movement

 

Taste is the most reliable source of information regarding the quality of any drink. Each time a cocktail is tasted the brain logs a variety of information that gives the imbiber an unbiased opinion on the balance and complexity of the drink in question. As a junior bartender learning the basics, tasting my mentors drinks enabled me to build in my mind a catalogue of flavour. The appreciation of both high quality and poor quality examples of cocktails resulted in an understanding of what was expected of my drinks. I needed to understand how tart or sweet a Margarita must be, how many dashes of bitters were too many in an Old Fashioned or had my Daiquiri been shaken sufficiently to create the desired temperature and dilution.

When considering this today my approach has not changed, there are too many variables behind the bar that can drastically affect a bartender’s finished drink. The quality of ice, the age or brand of spirit, glass or metal shaker, how vigorously the drink is shaken or stirred, citrus fruits’ country of origin, the list goes on. A number of variable factors will in some way change the resulting cocktail, but by tasting the drink you remove the potential for imbalance and promote consistency. Consider solid cubed Hoshizaki ice against poor quality hollow cubes. The hollow cubes with have a greater surface area resulting in an increased rate of dilution and therefore the potential for an over-diluted cocktail. When shaken their edges break away increasing further its already large surface area resulting in yet further dilution, changing the drink entirely. This is but one example of how a cocktail can be different despite being stirred the same number of times or shaken to the same rhythm; the bartender must adapt to their surroundings to provide consistent drinks.

This theory is particularly prevalent in event bartending or ‘star-tending’ where the bartender enters unfamiliar surroundings. They are using unfamiliar products with little or no control over the quality of ice, origin of limes, ratio of simple syrup or to be even more pedantic the rate at which the bitters bottle pours.

I have always been a believer that the key to repeat custom is consistency; to provide a faultless product time and time again, building a trust between bartender and guest. The moment that the trust of a guest is broken by an average cocktail it becomes difficult to rebuild. The guest may find it a lot easier to try the new bar that has opened down the road where they still take enough care to ensure the drink is worthy of themselves first. To offer a great product and keep it great the bartender must understand what first made it great. Tasting and evaluating all drinks is the only way to achieve this.