Why Some Cocktails Deserve A Bigger Tip, According To A Bartender

Tipping is a common practice that comes with a lot of nuance. For one, some people in the restaurant industry, including some baristas, say that you should tip at coffee shops — even if conventional "service" is not offered. Some people won't tip at chains like Starbucks but will at small restaurants and mom-and-pop spots. And, the question of how much and when to tip is no clearer for bartenders, either.

One of the most important nuances in deciding how much to tip on a drink at the bar, per Cody Nicoll, a sommelier, mixologist, managing partner of Ember Live Fire Grill, co-owner of Bar Ocelli, and owner of Hospitable Nicoll, is the amount of work and preparation that goes into making them. "I think any cocktail that represents a labor of love through the use of ingredient is worth the extra spend," he says. However, knowing what that labor actually looks like might may not be easy. You may not even know that a certain drink component requires several days to prepare, especially because, as he explains, many bars pre-batch cocktails in advance. These might include cocktails like martinis, old fashioned, and Manhattans, which do not lose any of their aromatic or sensory draws if they're made ahead of time. 

You may assume that a drink is easy to make if it can be assembled in a matter of seconds and plopped right in front of you, but a lot of that work may happen behind the scenes, thus making you feel less inclined to tip. "It takes a curious customer and an eager bartender to pull back the curtain to see what really goes into the cocktails that we put out," he says. This work all factors into the amount of time spent on a drink and the overall service, thus warranting a higher tip than a canned cocktail or a beer, regardless of whether it was batched ahead of time or not.

Besides the level of difficulty and the amount of work that goes into making a cocktail, there are other considerations you should make when deciding how much to tip. If you are dining (or just drinking) with a large party, you can assume that the bartender and waitstaff have to do a little extra work in preparing for and serving your party, which warrants a higher tip (or gratuity charge, which some places automatically bill for above a certain party size). Think of a tip as acknowledgment of good care and service, and let that guide how much cash you decide to leave on the bar when you leave.

That said, how much should you actually tip, in terms of a percentage? Many people recommend tipping a base 20%, and going higher for better service. If you are only ordering beers, a standard 20% may suffice, but if you're ordering drinks that warrant rotovaps, you might want to consider being a bit less stingy.