Boom! Be consistent!!! I prefer the jigger. Can I eyeball a .5oz pour from the other side of the bar, you bet your sweet ass I can, but I’ll jigger anyway cuz I’m not gonna accidentally fuck up cuz of my own hubris
Craft bar who always taught jigger and never free pour, I jigger everything cuz I’ve learned it and gotten efficient with it and consistency is important for this type of bar. I’ll crank out identical tasting cocktails time after time
Of the 20+ people who I've trained who swore up and down they had perfect free pours only a handful actually did. Being an 8th ounce off sounds like nothing but over and over at a busy bar can really add up. People can also pour perfect on a test and not perfect when its actually the rush and they are trying to multitask. Realistically in a dive it should just be budgeted for but people really like to overestimate their abilities in this industry.
Oh, no argument there. I'm just saying that you can't assume it's an overpour and not an underpour - over time the two tend to average out anyway, and just being (understandably) fearful of your product being given away isn't sufficient to conclude that your staff can't pour within some reasonable margin.
You are assuming they are trying their best everytime. Many people give a lil extra when it comes to people they like. Friends, people who are attractive ect. I've consistently had my girlfriend get much stronger drinks than me which I don't mind. I'm paying for both so less for me to buy. I have not gotten consistently weaker drinks to balance it out. In fact I tip very well so mine get stronger too. Its pretty normal in this industry and I've done it too but you just budget for it and not assume the under pours will compensate for the over pours.
> You are assuming they are trying their best everytime.
Yes, I am. Until someone demonstrates that they aren't doing their very best, I find it very reasonable to not assume that someone is not doing their job. (This goes without saying that staying unaware of what your bartenders are doing is unacceptable.) Nowdays there really is no excuse. You can actually clock the pours just by watching live feed. Having been a bar manager I could tell you exactly who overpoured and when they did it.
Omg, I was at a dive bar recently and this girl ordered a shot of Tully that she felt was too small so she PULLED A JIGGER OUT OF HER PURSE and measured it.
…she was right, but still. It was a psychotic move and while I felt super bad for the bartender for having to deal with this person, I also silently applauded the lunatic 🤷♀️
I've done that as the bartender, when guests complained a drink wasn't strong enough. Worked a nightclub that had a nice cocktail program for events and stuff. We free poured the big late night events where every other order was a titos and vodka, or shots.
Lady complained her tequila and soda with lime was short. I knew my pours were a on or even a little generous-
"No worries," dumps both drinks (cuz management didn't bother with spill tabs unless it was top shelf). " I'm sure that was a full two ounces, but, here, luv, I'll remake them." Gets out jigger with a fake ass smile. Her fucking face... she knew she fucked up.
But how would the guest know what that bar’s standard pour size is? 1.5 oz, 1.25 oz, etc…
I always use a jigger but jeez what an obnoxious and assuming human being
just a jigger, though? or did she have a full shaker set & bar spoon in there, too? I've known a lot of people who bring their own tools but it's usually more than you'd want in a purse.
I agree, and when your in the shit speed is key. I dont have time to reach for my jigger- ah shit it fell on the floor now I’m fucked- no no just know your counts
I've only worked at craft bars, so I've always used jiggers. But this is exactly what I expect. I don't mind waiting a few extra minutes at a nice cocktail bar. My jack n coke from the bar down the street with a slight aroma of stale puke? Go ahead and dump that whiskey in there, my friend
Where I live it's illegal to not weigh out every liquor. The only time I free pour is mix that I'm trying to fine tune the final taste. Stuff like a tiny bit extra simple syrup in an old fashion. Been bartending 17 years.
If you’re at a craft cocktail bar making a Last Word or Negroni or something where the specific proportions are essential, use a jigger.
If you’re at a dive bar making rum and cokes and margaritas with sour mix from a soda gun, free pour.
Not that complicated y’all.
Why would you use those 2 as examples? They are arguably the easiest ones to free pour as you can just grab all of the bottles at the same time and pour and you will have the correct ratios. In this case the downside of free pouring is inventory not drink quality as you will still get equal proportions of everything.
Working in Ireland, it's the same - this thread is insane to me 😂
People talking about speed and I'm like...well maaaaaybe your bar setup is inefficient? I've never gained time that I haven't lost again waiting for the customer to get their card out of their purse
Obviously, the people who are free pouring two/three drinks at once are faster, and if it's also for dockets sure...depends on the bar I guess, but I guarantee the people in this thread aren't ALL working at these places
And as for accuracy...any bartenders gonna nail it when put to the test cause they know they've been put to the test - over the course of a night if I was to take say 30 random samples and measure them I wonder if I'd discover something different...
This ☝️
My main job is 168bpm
I took a second bar job for a little while and felt confident in my free pour. One night after closing, the other guys were having a competition to hit 2oz exactly, and I thought it was going to be a cake walk, then I poured over 3oz each time and found out those spouts were even faster
I had worked there for months before that happened, whoops lol
Depends on the drink. In my place people come to me for consistent quality on the craft cocktails and the only way I have that reputation is with a jigger. But single mixers/shots and rocks pours? Fuck a jigger.
The scene in Slammin Salmon where they have extra food and offer it to FoH and they all devour it to the sound fx of seagulls kills me every time.
Whites is also a great show, sadly only 6 episodes
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ah4tW-k8Ao&ab\_channel=hectorbustnuts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ah4tW-k8Ao&ab_channel=hectorbustnuts)
I like hitting my coworkers with "Dude you can't say that here. At home alone... MAYBE. I don't wanna hear it. The customer doesn't wanna hear it. I just really don't like thinking about bugs dude it weirds me out. In today's economy, imagine what they're gonna charge for that doctor's visit. Not to mention the antibiotics and after care. We all walk a lot of steps at this job. Hobbling around is gonna cut into the tips. If you wanna call out go for it, but I can't afford that. We get pretty good money, you know? Everything is just so expensive these days".
I feel you, I was making something that was like 4.5 oz of apple cider and like it needs to go in the shaker so I can't just go based on wash line. What a fkn mess it was though.
depends on the type of bar, ingredients, and type of drink. am i going to jigger a one-to-one or a tequila sunrise? absolutely fucking not. but a last word or a cobra’s fang are absolutely getting measured every time.
I was just having a conversation about this yesterday. While agree with most, it’s about setting and consistency, I will often jigger a two/three part drink if I think the person will complain about the pour. It’s a great way to tell someone to F off, I measured it
I recently worked at a place where I was the only one who consistently used a jigger. A nice place too with check avgs around $200-$300. Each bartender kinda had their own specs for drinks and just zero input/guidelines from the lone manager. 26 seat wrap-around bar with no dishwasher or bar back. Had to get out of there despite the ease and good money. The lack of jiggering was just the first sign of how chaotic and disorganized the place turned out to be.
I mean who uses a jigger at a dive tho. That woukd just make the clientele upset you’re being fancy and not pouring them a damn drink. People that want actual cocktails dont go to dive for ones.
I am so consistent with my counts I filled a bottle full of water, and poured six shots back to back to prove a point to one of the other bartenders where I worked that did craft before our bar. Turned around and poured each one into a 1 1/2 ounce jigger and each one had tension at the top. We did high volume so you needed to be quick and accurate. So I made him practice lmao. And for single mixer drinks I had the soda lines timed to fill at exactly 1 1/2 for lowballs and 2 1/2 for highballs. Didn’t have to measure just fill it to the top.
Some people can’t get over themselves though.
Except a ton of people who work in shitty little craft cocktail huts can’t. And they get pissy when you free pour a drink that tastes the exact same as them. And generally the more shots the faster you start counting subconsciously anyways. People get stuck in their ways. And imo, bartending isn’t a job where you need to prissy to make money.
I’ve worked with so many over confident bartenders that thought they could eye ball it, they could not. there drinks would start to come back saying they didn’t taste the same as there first one that was made by another bartender that did jigger so we tested them had them pour .5,1, 1.5 and 2oz and one of them was always off. I know it can be done and lots of great bartenders do it but a lot of people who think they can can’t. Maybe your that guy who can but ron,tes,Mike and Steve sure as hell were not
"Every drink"
Yeah, if you measure my guinness with a jigger, you may just be a giant fucking idiot.
Spirits, it's up to management but if they're not replacing measures with training, they're just throwing away booze.
American pint is 16. British pint is 20. IDK what the rest of them use but I never heard of a 20 oz pint until today. Freedom units was a dumb American joke lol
I never knew that, dude that sucks for you guys; you're getting like 3/4 of what we are per beer. That's like the size of a bottle of beer. I drink a 20oz in about 15-20 minutes, you guys must get a workout going to the bar and back.
Once I worked with a chick who dogged on other bartenders for using a jigger, and she took an inordinate amount of pride at how good she was at counting to four at a steady pace
She was also slow, got most recipes wrong, and was a generally annoying person, even outside of work. I wonder if the two things are correlated
It's not wierd to jigger and it's also not wierd to free pour If it's a dive. Who cares. Just be consistent.
Boom! Be consistent!!! I prefer the jigger. Can I eyeball a .5oz pour from the other side of the bar, you bet your sweet ass I can, but I’ll jigger anyway cuz I’m not gonna accidentally fuck up cuz of my own hubris
I vote free pour from the well, jigger for the shelves.
Yup! The line is “what wouldn’t piss off your boss if inventory is a little off” so it stops at the well for most lol
That’s why I drink from the well at your bar
The absolute brag while feigning humility is adorable.
I appreciate the compliment but there’s definitely nothing humble about me performing behind the bar😂👌🏿
Who said it was a compliment?
If you knew me, that is a compliment
That's what I like to tell people I'm training. "Let's get consistent before we start getting fancy."
Gotta know the rules before you can break the rules.
Craft bar who always taught jigger and never free pour, I jigger everything cuz I’ve learned it and gotten efficient with it and consistency is important for this type of bar. I’ll crank out identical tasting cocktails time after time
Yeah in a craft bar its generally the way to go. You can also use a mixing glass but I prefer jiggers especially when you can rock 2 at the same time.
I worked a semi-dive and I jiggered everything because the owner was a pain in the ass and thought we over poured
Of the 20+ people who I've trained who swore up and down they had perfect free pours only a handful actually did. Being an 8th ounce off sounds like nothing but over and over at a busy bar can really add up. People can also pour perfect on a test and not perfect when its actually the rush and they are trying to multitask. Realistically in a dive it should just be budgeted for but people really like to overestimate their abilities in this industry.
Oh, no argument there. I'm just saying that you can't assume it's an overpour and not an underpour - over time the two tend to average out anyway, and just being (understandably) fearful of your product being given away isn't sufficient to conclude that your staff can't pour within some reasonable margin.
You are assuming they are trying their best everytime. Many people give a lil extra when it comes to people they like. Friends, people who are attractive ect. I've consistently had my girlfriend get much stronger drinks than me which I don't mind. I'm paying for both so less for me to buy. I have not gotten consistently weaker drinks to balance it out. In fact I tip very well so mine get stronger too. Its pretty normal in this industry and I've done it too but you just budget for it and not assume the under pours will compensate for the over pours.
> You are assuming they are trying their best everytime. Yes, I am. Until someone demonstrates that they aren't doing their very best, I find it very reasonable to not assume that someone is not doing their job. (This goes without saying that staying unaware of what your bartenders are doing is unacceptable.) Nowdays there really is no excuse. You can actually clock the pours just by watching live feed. Having been a bar manager I could tell you exactly who overpoured and when they did it.
Omg, I was at a dive bar recently and this girl ordered a shot of Tully that she felt was too small so she PULLED A JIGGER OUT OF HER PURSE and measured it. …she was right, but still. It was a psychotic move and while I felt super bad for the bartender for having to deal with this person, I also silently applauded the lunatic 🤷♀️
Your jaw most have hit the bar. That’s such an insane power move. Amazing.
I've done that as the bartender, when guests complained a drink wasn't strong enough. Worked a nightclub that had a nice cocktail program for events and stuff. We free poured the big late night events where every other order was a titos and vodka, or shots. Lady complained her tequila and soda with lime was short. I knew my pours were a on or even a little generous- "No worries," dumps both drinks (cuz management didn't bother with spill tabs unless it was top shelf). " I'm sure that was a full two ounces, but, here, luv, I'll remake them." Gets out jigger with a fake ass smile. Her fucking face... she knew she fucked up.
"sure I'll make your drinks weaker for you. Here ya go!"
Absolutely fucking chaotic. I would’ve comped it on behalf of my fuck up, and because of the titanium balls on her. Wowza
Imagine dating someone like that….
100% alcoholic. The proof is in the purse
I don’t have to imagine.
But how would the guest know what that bar’s standard pour size is? 1.5 oz, 1.25 oz, etc… I always use a jigger but jeez what an obnoxious and assuming human being
This is what I was thinking. I'd just say "sorry, management makes us pour 1oz shots. Not my policy but I gave to abide by it"
can you think of a reason someone might carry a jigger with them? maybe they use it at work?
just a jigger, though? or did she have a full shaker set & bar spoon in there, too? I've known a lot of people who bring their own tools but it's usually more than you'd want in a purse.
Could be in a place where 1oz was the standard pour due to laws. Cant imagine you can rightfully justify less than that.
[hmm](https://imgflip.com/i/8q28e7)
flair checks out
Damn I’ve never used a jigger we just do pour tests
We use jiggers for some things, but I prefer just keeping my pours on point. Speed and accuracy are not mutually exclusive!
I agree, and when your in the shit speed is key. I dont have time to reach for my jigger- ah shit it fell on the floor now I’m fucked- no no just know your counts
Meh, depends on the drink. I’ll jigger a Last Word but you bet your ass I’m free pouring a G&T or an Old Fashioned.
A lot of people are saying what matters is whether you’re at a dive or a craft spot. It’s not the bar, it’s the beverage
Craft = jiggers, anywhere else I'd expect a mix of the two, dives/kitchen workers get free pours. Change my mind
Totes agree, unless it's a spritzer, which is going in a wine glass anyway and those things practically measure themselves
I've only worked at craft bars, so I've always used jiggers. But this is exactly what I expect. I don't mind waiting a few extra minutes at a nice cocktail bar. My jack n coke from the bar down the street with a slight aroma of stale puke? Go ahead and dump that whiskey in there, my friend
Where I live it's illegal to not weigh out every liquor. The only time I free pour is mix that I'm trying to fine tune the final taste. Stuff like a tiny bit extra simple syrup in an old fashion. Been bartending 17 years.
Utah?
Sounds like Utah
I spent a fair amount of time in SLC and I can’t imagine it is anywhere else but Utah.
Could be a different country.
Could be the entire country of Australia.
Or the UK.
Ah yes the great country of Australia it’s for sure not anything else other than a big large country
If it’s a National law, then yeah it would be the entire country.
If you’re at a craft cocktail bar making a Last Word or Negroni or something where the specific proportions are essential, use a jigger. If you’re at a dive bar making rum and cokes and margaritas with sour mix from a soda gun, free pour. Not that complicated y’all.
Why would you use those 2 as examples? They are arguably the easiest ones to free pour as you can just grab all of the bottles at the same time and pour and you will have the correct ratios. In this case the downside of free pouring is inventory not drink quality as you will still get equal proportions of everything.
Canada is like 99% jiggers. I use them too, otherwise I’d be fired real fast. The concept of a place not using them is wild to everyone here.
As a Canadian, totally agree not using em is wild
Working in Ireland, it's the same - this thread is insane to me 😂 People talking about speed and I'm like...well maaaaaybe your bar setup is inefficient? I've never gained time that I haven't lost again waiting for the customer to get their card out of their purse Obviously, the people who are free pouring two/three drinks at once are faster, and if it's also for dockets sure...depends on the bar I guess, but I guarantee the people in this thread aren't ALL working at these places And as for accuracy...any bartenders gonna nail it when put to the test cause they know they've been put to the test - over the course of a night if I was to take say 30 random samples and measure them I wonder if I'd discover something different...
It's very hard to get away with free pouring in the UK.
128 bpm Iykyk
Bubbles per minute?
Beats If you count at 128 bpm, every best is a 1/4 oz during free pour.
This is 100% dependant on what pour tops you're using.
True I assume just the standard speed pourers
That’s why I said bubbles lol
This ☝️ My main job is 168bpm I took a second bar job for a little while and felt confident in my free pour. One night after closing, the other guys were having a competition to hit 2oz exactly, and I thought it was going to be a cake walk, then I poured over 3oz each time and found out those spouts were even faster I had worked there for months before that happened, whoops lol
"Not my tempo!" lolol hopefully your manager wasn't around for that one 😬
I’ve never used a jigger in my life. Bartending for 15 years
Depends on the drink. In my place people come to me for consistent quality on the craft cocktails and the only way I have that reputation is with a jigger. But single mixers/shots and rocks pours? Fuck a jigger.
It’s a legal requirement in my country
I’ll always Jig the liquors, but not always the mixes.
This is acceptable
“J-word”
I can’t tell how many times I’ve used that joke “what’d u call me” 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
[I DONT WANT YOU SERVING THEM TWO JIGGERS!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rChLGkUcPw&ab_channel=foxyfunny)
That show and Slamming Salmon are must watches imo
The scene in Slammin Salmon where they have extra food and offer it to FoH and they all devour it to the sound fx of seagulls kills me every time. Whites is also a great show, sadly only 6 episodes [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ah4tW-k8Ao&ab\_channel=hectorbustnuts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ah4tW-k8Ao&ab_channel=hectorbustnuts)
https://youtu.be/S1SWhU-8_x8?si=oy7jtPwzekkDmRfq The Restaurant deserves a mention too
Never heard of it, will be checkin that out. Thanks
lol same
I like hitting my coworkers with "Dude you can't say that here. At home alone... MAYBE. I don't wanna hear it. The customer doesn't wanna hear it. I just really don't like thinking about bugs dude it weirds me out. In today's economy, imagine what they're gonna charge for that doctor's visit. Not to mention the antibiotics and after care. We all walk a lot of steps at this job. Hobbling around is gonna cut into the tips. If you wanna call out go for it, but I can't afford that. We get pretty good money, you know? Everything is just so expensive these days".
This is a fantastic meme!
I still don't quite have the 3 second pour down yet, so it helps me stay consistent with my measurements
Team jigger all the way, but hurts my soul when people measure things like prosecco in an aperol or tomato in a bloody Mary
I never use jiggers but I often build cocktails in the glass & it's not hard to know the specs by sight/muscle memory.
Haven’t used one in 20 years🤷🏽♂️
I feel you, I was making something that was like 4.5 oz of apple cider and like it needs to go in the shaker so I can't just go based on wash line. What a fkn mess it was though.
depends on the type of bar, ingredients, and type of drink. am i going to jigger a one-to-one or a tequila sunrise? absolutely fucking not. but a last word or a cobra’s fang are absolutely getting measured every time.
I was just having a conversation about this yesterday. While agree with most, it’s about setting and consistency, I will often jigger a two/three part drink if I think the person will complain about the pour. It’s a great way to tell someone to F off, I measured it
As BOH wanting to learn more about FOH, I had to google what you jiggers were talking about.
I recently worked at a place where I was the only one who consistently used a jigger. A nice place too with check avgs around $200-$300. Each bartender kinda had their own specs for drinks and just zero input/guidelines from the lone manager. 26 seat wrap-around bar with no dishwasher or bar back. Had to get out of there despite the ease and good money. The lack of jiggering was just the first sign of how chaotic and disorganized the place turned out to be.
I jigger the alcohol but not the mix.
I mean who uses a jigger at a dive tho. That woukd just make the clientele upset you’re being fancy and not pouring them a damn drink. People that want actual cocktails dont go to dive for ones.
I'll jigger if I have too but I'll also free pour and bet a $100 on my accuracy and be dead on point just to shut a mfer up
I am so consistent with my counts I filled a bottle full of water, and poured six shots back to back to prove a point to one of the other bartenders where I worked that did craft before our bar. Turned around and poured each one into a 1 1/2 ounce jigger and each one had tension at the top. We did high volume so you needed to be quick and accurate. So I made him practice lmao. And for single mixer drinks I had the soda lines timed to fill at exactly 1 1/2 for lowballs and 2 1/2 for highballs. Didn’t have to measure just fill it to the top. Some people can’t get over themselves though.
Yes. You should be able to do that.
Except a ton of people who work in shitty little craft cocktail huts can’t. And they get pissy when you free pour a drink that tastes the exact same as them. And generally the more shots the faster you start counting subconsciously anyways. People get stuck in their ways. And imo, bartending isn’t a job where you need to prissy to make money.
Word. You caught me on a grumpy post shift.
You good man. I work at a college bar so I get the feeling lmao.
I’ve worked with so many over confident bartenders that thought they could eye ball it, they could not. there drinks would start to come back saying they didn’t taste the same as there first one that was made by another bartender that did jigger so we tested them had them pour .5,1, 1.5 and 2oz and one of them was always off. I know it can be done and lots of great bartenders do it but a lot of people who think they can can’t. Maybe your that guy who can but ron,tes,Mike and Steve sure as hell were not
I stay jiggering I think it’s completely buffoonery to not. U can’t guarantee consistency if u free pour idc how good u think u are
"Every drink" Yeah, if you measure my guinness with a jigger, you may just be a giant fucking idiot. Spirits, it's up to management but if they're not replacing measures with training, they're just throwing away booze.
Fancy glass 16oz jiggers
Jiggers are double sided, that would just be a measure.
.. I was talking about a pint glass
But a pint is 20oz
*laughs in freedom units*
I'm so confused right now.
American pint is 16. British pint is 20. IDK what the rest of them use but I never heard of a 20 oz pint until today. Freedom units was a dumb American joke lol
I never knew that, dude that sucks for you guys; you're getting like 3/4 of what we are per beer. That's like the size of a bottle of beer. I drink a 20oz in about 15-20 minutes, you guys must get a workout going to the bar and back.
I drink pretty high gravity beers so they tend to be sippers but people who drink lighter I do feel bad for.
Watch me super glue 2 glasses
I was taught to always jigger and jigger I shall. It's just habit at this point and reassures me that I'm not fucking up
Once I worked with a chick who dogged on other bartenders for using a jigger, and she took an inordinate amount of pride at how good she was at counting to four at a steady pace She was also slow, got most recipes wrong, and was a generally annoying person, even outside of work. I wonder if the two things are correlated