Drink Not Strong? Louisiana Bartender Reveals Sneaky Solution
People in Louisiana have three people they trust. They trust their mom, they trust their preacher, and they trust their bartender. We will not go into discussions as to which of those three people "we" spend most of our time with.
As a former bartender in Louisiana, I can tell you, that slinging drinks is a great way to get to know somebody. It's also a great way to find out which of those "somebody" is never satisfied. Those are the customers that talk your ear off.
Bartenders do listen to their customers when they complain about the drinks they have been served. Many bartenders, such as myself back in the day, had very specific instructions on what to say and what to do to make you feel as if you were getting your money's worth.
During my time behind the bar at Lafayette's world-renowned Daiquiri Hut on Johnston Street, I was known as a frozen drink specialist. Okay, that's what I told people I was. I was a bartender who basically sold a lot of alcohol-infused Icees through our drive-thru window. If you're not from Louisiana we sell booze to people driving cars down here. Yeah, what a country, right?
The biggest complaint we got about our daiquiris and frozen margaritas was "it's not strong enough". I can assure you, it was mixed properly, Mr. Fred Elsing made sure we gave the customer enough booze. It was cheap booze, the cheapest he could find sometimes, but the quantity was always right. And according to Fred, he owned the place, and the customer needed to be treated right.
So once we would take your drink from you, even if you were sipping at the drive-thru we'd go add a little more booze to the mix, but how we added it, is a bartender secret I am about to reveal to you with help from Tik Tok Creator @soberbartender19. He also goes by Coach from what I understand, so watch and learn.
It's called spiking the straw and it only takes a smidgen of pure booze to make its way down the straw to do the job. Because once you hand the drink back to the customer and they take that first sip, they are going to get a nice mouth full of pure booze.
That immediately stops them from complaining about the "strength of the cocktail" and it also amps up their tastebuds. So, the rest of the drink will taste incredibly good and refreshing and they'll still have the lingering burn from that straight shot of whatever poison they're having.
So, it's nothing sinister and it's nothing evil but a really good margarita or daiquiri when it's made right will not allow you to "embrace the taste of alcohol" if you want to feel the burn, drink your stuff straight or on the rocks.
Mixed drinks were invented because a lot of booze tastes like paint thinner, so we modify it with flavors so you can stomach enough of it to go look like a fool on the dance floor with that Beyonce song comes on. Or, whatever this woman is doing.
Just remember your bartender is a professional who washes his or her hands a lot. They also don't get paid worth a crap so tip them well and treat them right and don't ever say your drink isn't strong enough.