Should You Ask A Bartender For The Best Drink They Can Make?
Have you ever found yourself at a bar, stumped about what to order? This is not an uncommon dilemma. One tempting option for you is to ask the bartender for the best drink they can concoct. But should you ask this question? To explore this, Tasting Table sat down with an expert, Lex Madden, the bar manager at Point Easy in Denver.
Madden sees such a question as a sign of trust and adventure from a patron. "I love being asked what drinks I'm best at making! For me, it indicates that I have a patron who is both relatively experienced and fairly adventurous," she says. While one may think this gives the bartender a chance to craft a popular or easy drink, it's not always the case. It's more of an opportunity for you to experience a bartender's creativity and expertise. "Bartenders who truly love their craft will never default to the easiest drink they can think of; rather, this is an opportunity to really wow someone by sharing a cocktail they love," Madden explains. But before you ask the next bartender to make their best drink, note there's one thing to be aware of.
Embrace the unexpected
Lex Madden points out that you should only ask the bartender to make their best drink if you're open to trying anything, including drinks you might never have considered. She emphasizes, "...only ask this question if you're actually open to drinking anything and maybe trying something you haven't even heard of before!"
Madden's enthusiasm for such requests at Point Easy signifies a deeper aspect of bartending: The passion for creating personalized experiences for patrons and sharing personal favorites. Point Easy's cocktail menu, with drinks like "Fall Boyfriend" and "Birdwatcher," showcases a blend of unique ingredients, like prickly pear gin, mushroom rum, sextro rye, and rosenbitter, into memorable cocktails. This reflects a broader trend in contemporary and modern bartending, where the focus is as much on the story and experience behind a drink as it is on the drink itself. And sometimes, the bar can be akin to a laboratory.
The next time you're at a bar, asking a bartender for their best drink may open up a world of possibilities for you. So, why not consider letting the bartender surprise you with something special?