Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

These are delicious, but I also got enough for two dozen. I'm wondering if my apples were bigger than the ones they used, or if I grated more of mine than they did. Too bad they didn't provide a cup measurement for the amount of shredded apple.

Wow...I wish most of you drank at MY bar!

I have been a bartender for almost a decade, and am working for the first time in a very upscale establishment ($11-21 for a martini-style drink). All of our drinks are handshaken, use fresh fruits and fresh-squeezed juices and premium spirits. An average bloody mary takes a while to make, as we grind our own celery salt and grate our own horseradish. A mojito or a bramble can take even longer, what with the hand-selection of the best mint and berries and the muddling. I take a lot of pride in the drinks I serve, I love my job, and I always serve them with a smile.

You would be appalled (or if you're not, I may be describing you) at the stingy tips I get. Many people even use the higher price of a drink as the reason for not tipping better! As though I set the prices! I make minimum wage, and don't expect a lot from a patron if all I'm doing is pouring a glass of wine or a pint of beer. But if I'm making you a $16 bramble with fresh mint, limes and blackberries, I damn well expect more than a dollar!

And for those of you concerned with the poor service of cocktail waitstaff adversely affecting your bartender, you're absolutely right. I work where there is a generous "tip-out" from the servers, and I still get only 8% of their total liquor sales at the end of an evening (usually works out to $15-20 per server). So if they screw up your table and you tip them 10% on the total bill, I'm seeing 30-80 cents on that table. If your drink is great but your server sucks, by all means, stop by the bar on your way out and TIP THE TENDER! We will remember and be appreciative...and you'll probably not get sat down in the crappy section ever again (yes, we can influence these things).

Phew...glad that's off my chest.

Re: free drinks: i worked at a high-end martini bar, and drinks that we as employees would buy would be 50% off up to a point, and we'd get a drink for ourselves at the end of the night anyway. i'd occasionally count my "shift drink" as one i "bought" for a customer. note that the one time i did this for customers, they were [EXPLETIVE] and extremely ungrateful, so i never did that again. way to ruin it for everyone else...

anyway. our regular customers were fantastic, but at times overstayed their welcome. so. don't just assume that because you tipped $50 on a $70 tab the night before that your bartender will just let it go when you "forget" your wallet.

since i worked in food service, i have left a bad tip ONCE. i felt terrible about leaving 10%, but he wasn't even worth THAT much. my usual is 20% for average service.

I tip 20% in general for wait staff, bartenders, stylists, etc. I really wish resturaunts would pay their staff decent wages and we could just do away with tipping. Yes, I know it would make my dinner price rise. I don't care. I'm so tired of the tipping conversation. If the waitress sucks, then just fire her. Whatever.

I open a tab and tip 20% (or a little bit less or more based on service).

So they made something complicated....
Does anyone care that I'm a chef and I've never received a tip?...Still, don't be stingy to those that offer good service.

@StBernard: That is bull. At my bar we are told to give free drinks. It's to show appreciation for good patrons.

I used to tend bar, and I find that a big tip in the beginning can facilitate a lot of things. At our wedding, I gave our bartender £20 at the start, and boy was he attentive to our guests.

Tip what you want, but expect the service your tip will buy.

As an ex-bartender at a 5 star steak house I'll tell you that most of the time we would remember you if you left anything less than a dollar per drink if your tab was under $10 and anything over $10 should be at least 20%. We didn't remember those patrons fondly and they definitely didn't get the quality of service or attention we gave those that tipped the respected industry standard.

As bartender at a dive bar in Brooklyn, I think a $1 tip per drink is perfect. But, if I go to PDT or another cocktail bar, those $15 drinks + time making them warrant a $3 tip.

And, for those of you that think $1 for a minute of a bartender's time is unfair, you have to realize most bartenders work 8 to 15 hour shifts, have to deal with drunks, clean up after drunks, stand all day, and usually only get paid about $15-$30 a shift.

As far as crap bartenders go, yeah, that's another story. But you have to give a look around you. Is the bar busy? Does he/she have to go deal with a rowdy customer? Change a keg? Wipe up a big spill? Customer service isn't easy folks!

@negociants : Why would you tip less when drinks are cheap? If you are paying $1 for a happy hour drink, you should def. be tipping per drink.

@Bridget: I love you. Everything thing you said is RIGHT ON!

I would love to work somewhere where I get $2 for the 15 seconds it takes to pop the cap off of a bottle of beer or the 30 seconds it takes to mix a rum & coke.

Unless I'm ordering something other than bottle beer or a simple mixer, I almost always just leave a dollar for the two drinks I buy myself & the person with me. Obviously a more artfully-crafted drink will increase the gratuity substantially.

ok, question: i drink at a martini bar where the drinks are sometimes elaborate, lots of garnishes etc. but there's a waitress AND a bartender. often times the waitress isnt that great, drinks are very slow to arrive, she doesnt check in often, so in those cases dont tip well. but i want to be sure the person actually MAKING my drinks gets a tip... how should i do so?
reading these comments i realize i get crappy service at a lot of bars i go to, so i dont usually tip well. but i do live in a small city where drinks are usually around $3 [other than the afforementioned martini bar where they are $7-8, which is why i ask].