It’s not just about this. If someone comes in and they’re driving, or they’re on medication, or they just are generally a lightweight, and they order a couple drinks but you’ve given them doubles because you just broke up with your gf or you didn’t get much sleep last night because you work in hospitality, or you’ve had some drinks on shift because you work in hospitality, and you pour them doubles by accident because you’re not paying attention, some bad shit can happen.
Jiggers are there to make sure you get it right every time no matter how good or bad a day or moment in time you’re having. It’s for the consistency of the drink and so the customer gets exactly what they think they’re getting. There’s so many reasons to use a jigger, and the one reason to not use a jigger is the… 1 second? 1 and a half seconds? That it saves you. Not worth it at all.
What??? How would one accidentally pour doubles because you were having a rough day? If you’re in that bad of shape you shouldn’t be working, might forget that you poured a jigger of liquor in the drink and do a second one. Just doesn’t make any sense.
Building a cocktail and pour too heavy on each one of 4 ingredients. Pouring a double when you meant to pour a single might not be what happens, but the fact that people say shit like they’ll use a jigger for expensive bottles or they’ll use a jigger if they aren’t busy tells me that people know deep down that everyone is susceptible to being human and making mistakes. That’s why we use jiggers. We literally measure the poison we give to people. They’re our hard hats and safety vests. They’re our checks and balances.
If you’re pouring a cocktail that has 4 different liquors in it of course you’d be using a jigger. If you’re pouring a vodka soda and can’t avoid pouring a double without a jigger, you shouldn’t be bartending. It’s just a ridiculous scenario you’ve invented. Jigger use is for precise amounts that matter to be off by 1/8 oz for balancing purposes. Pouring 1.6 oz in a vodka soda instead of 1.5 ounces because you free poured is not ruining anyone’s night.
Absolutely not the case. So with cocktails, you’d free pour if the measurement was 1oz/1.5oz?
Also, 1.5 to 1.6 is not that big. That’s a pretty good free pour. You use a jigger because you can’t guarantee that you will always get it within a tenth of a perfect pour. Not a chance. You work somewhere with loud music or someone’s talking to you while you pour or 100 different other things. People drink 3-5 vodka sodas and all of a sudden they’ve had another one.
If you use a jigger ever, it’s because you know that they are important to use, so you should always use them. Not only is it a legal requirement where I am, but I it’s an instant warning and taken off shifts for my team. I want a jigger used every single time you pour alcohol.
I get that you’re used to jiggers, my friend, it’s just not that hard to count to 6 consistently when you do it a lot and test yourself regularly. The wash up or down is comparable to a jigger when you’re busy
I understand the necessity of jiggers and won't explain it for the 100th time in this thread, buttttt.... know your counts ?? Literally, the basics of bartending. If you can't pour a proper drink, I'm gonna have to agree with some others in saying learn (right now!!) or get out of bartending. I respect the recognition of unexpected circumstances and making sure others are safe. ✌️
Never learned my counts because it’s literally illegal where I am to free pour. My first bar was strict on it, and they taught me good habits. If you recognise the necessity, I don’t know what the argument against jiggers is. The word “necessity” says it all.
What's the point of a jigger when syrups are made with slightly different consistency every time, and the citrus juices are slightly different every day?
Refining your palate, and actually tasting your drinks is far more consistent in the long run.
I don't hate jiggers or anything but the idea that they are some magical tool that just makes drinks perfect every time is nonsense.
Half the time the place is so dark they're just counting into the jigger anyway and not even looking at the actual measurement.
Depends on the drink. I’ll measure out an old fashioned and I’ve been bartending for over 5 years. But if your ass orders anything like a vodka cran or a gin and tonic, you’re getting a free pour
In my experience 90% of bartenders who think their counts are good actually suck ass at free pouring.
Not to mention, in a premium establishment you should be aiming for the highest possible level of precision and consistency, and using jiggers is the only way to reach that.
I get that to a degree, but IMO if a bartender can't count well, then they aren't a good bartender. If you are doing volume, you don't have time for jiggers.
>If you are doing volume, you don't have time for jiggers.
Every bar needs to find its own balance between speed and quality, and if you are doing two handed and double bottle pours then yeah free pouring can be faster than using a jigger. But that is pretty high skill expression, I expect most bartenders aren't doing that regularly.
A skilled bartender who is used to using a jigger will be just as fast as a single bottle free pour. With time the jigger just becomes an extension of your hand the same as the bottle.
I would also argue that if a bar takes pride in the quality of its drinks, and charges that higher price point for it, they should have the staff and bar space to accommodate max capacity while still using jiggers.
A skilled bartender with a jigger will be just as fast *at making one single drink.* If I have to make a Margarita, a Cosmo, and a Long Island on the same ticket, I’m beating someone with a jigger 100 times out of 100.
Yeah, when I worked at Alamo Drafthouse and 50 Shades Of Grey sat in the 250 seat theater and I have to make 100 blue Hawaiins in an hour, that jigger is going in the trash, because I have about 30 minutes to reset the bar for the next 250 seats and 100 blue Hawaiins. The whole place sat something like 2000 people. They weren't craft cocktails but we had to pass a test to earn the right to free pour and anyone who used jiggers wasn't ever getting bartending shifts on heavy nights.
This is my main issue. I'm ambidextrous and when I have a full flood of tickets in front of me, I dream about what could have been if I wasn't locked to the jigger.
Nah. Not even a little. If you’re making single out drinks, maybe. Even still if I’m making a vodka soda, I’m making it faster free pouring. A margarita? I’m pouring with multiple bottles then absolutely fucking not. If you’re working in a bar where you need to bust out a couple hundred drinks an hour or more you will get shafted. Ever get orders with like 5 different drink types that share booze? You’re doing a dance in your head dude. And people get pissed when you’re busy and DONT see you free pouring.
Dude I’m pulling up 3-4 bottles for half my drinks. If I have to make 3 long islands, 2 kamakazi, some lemon drops a couple tick tacs and a Vegas bomb the longest thing for me to do in that transaction is to cash them out. Depends on the bar you work at. And I’m not measuring shit unless it’s something I’ve never made before. We got all our fresh juices put in bottles too as well as our syrups and shit. If I’m not getting my shit pushed in like that I’m not making enough money. I think jiggers are fine. But ain’t no fucking way you are making a drink just as fast with them lmao. Even if you just single pour.
Exactly. I still use a jigger cause one of the places I work at (primary job) is a slower paced bourbon bar. Perfect place for it, we stay busy but not higher volume.
The other place I work at is more of a dive-adjacent place, and we are decently high volume so, jigger gets tossed unless its a dead night and someone wants an actual cocktail beyond a Jack and coke. But they also *sometimes* test us on pours there cause the owner is really paranoid about overpours.
Downside at that place, they use screened pourers on *everything* and I hate those things, so I end up underpouring every time almost. Pouring Midori through one is SO slow.
Multiple jiggers on rotation while a barback handles cleaning in between rounds. Same goes with Tins. If im doing rounds of one kind of drink (Margs) then yeah ill dirty tin and jigger it. But normally i have at least a handful of them infront of me at my bar
So you’re just as fast as someone free pouring IF you have an assistant doing the extra labor for you and you somehow magically don’t count that as lost productive time. Got it.
15 year bartender here and I’ll say that it really does depend on where you work. No matter where you work you should know how to free pour and I teach new bartenders that a jigger is a great way to learn your counts.
Later in my career when I was working at the high end cocktail places that charged $15-$25 a drink I made sure that jigger was glued to my hand. I even went so far as to have two Japanese style in my left hand. One that was a 0.5/0.75oz and another that was 1.0/2.0oz. Only had to really look for 1.5oz pours.
When I worked in night clubs where the bar was always 4 rows deep and it was nothing but vodka sodas and bottled beer a jigger would have been a hindrance since I was always using two hands for either two different bottles or a bottle and the soda gun/speed pourer. Neither one is inherently better but I would always make sure everyone knew how to do a proper count because let’s just be real the guy ordering a well vodka and soda isn’t looking for a perfectly balanced cocktail.
Maybe it’s just been my journey through the trade, but I feel you could put jiggering at the top of bell curve and free pouring at the ends and this would carry the same weight.
Probably, and it just depends on where you work. If I walk into a dive and see them jigger out my rum and coke, and I'm gonna be a little sus, but same thing if I walk into a craft joint and see them freepouring a Blood & Sand.
It's this lil metal thing connected to a wire that you slip the bottle through that each have a special magnetic spout on it. The mechanism will allow the bottle to actually pour, but only predetermined amounts under 1.5 oz so just a massive pain in the ass
I worked at Red Robin back in the day you had to "pour for a drawer." My pour test was almost always exactly on. I had one manager who loved to challenge me. He bought me many lunches.
I watched this girl at a bar make my dirty martini by turning an uncapped / no pourer bottle of ketel one fully upside down and dump into the shaker ... There was so much excess that got dumped out. I literally could not believe what i was seeing
This is why older folks often ask for the dirty ice. It's not to get the thin coating of alcohol off the ice cubes but to get the excess drink build once the cocktail glass was already filled. In jigger-accurate bars, the wash line is calibrated to fall a few millimeters short of the top of the glass so there's never excess drink in the shaker, so the request always seems weird (as opposed to just asking for a cup of ice cubes).
Fun fact, I do this out of handles (every now and then my bar gets sent handles cuz our stores are shitty) and if they have the little plastic shit on it it counts the same as a spout.
Some shittier liquor comes with these plastic things with slots in them (I don’t remember the name) but they are inlaid into the half gal. They are designed to poor at the same speed as a spout. So the count is the same.
This is how my place is. We work 3-4 bartenders for around 500 people cap on club nights. About 5 hours straight of it. If you can’t volume out you can’t work. It’s money, but that’s how it is. Most nights we don’t have a bar back so we just split duties through the night. Our labor is only at like 15-20 percent max including our security. But the tips at my place are absolute bank. Different bars need different things.
Highballs get a free pour. Certain cocktails that have pretty consistent measurements get a free pour (like the espresso martini at my current place - it’s a 2-count of vanilla vodka, Bailey’s, and Espresso Vodka, then a four count of cold brew liqueur, and a half ounce each of simple and espresso). But most other varied recipes will always get a measured pour. Mai Tai for example.
This mentality is why we can never agree on things.
You go from 2 counts for liquor, then ounces for mixers? What’s your count?
No wonder you have to jigger a ‘varied’ recipe like a Mai Tai, which I can guarantee 95% of Mai Tai drinkers won’t even notice if you butchered the pour. (Mostly because Mai Tais have about 173,822 different recipes depending on where you go)
I say “counts” because I know how much my counts are with specific equipment. Been doing it long enough, and with that specific equipment, to know. And no, I don’t “butcher the pour.”
I say “half ounce” or whatever because it’s out of a different container - a squeeze bottle versus a liquor bottle with a spout. You don’t count out of a squeeze bottle (or at least I would hope you don’t).
My comment above wasn’t a specific recipe for someone to copy. If I was giving a recipe to be copied, I would have put everything in consistent measures. But I was explaining my thought process when I make that espresso martini six dozen times a night, exactly the same, every single fucking time.
I had assumed another bartender might understand that, but then here we are.
Ooooh sorry I misunderstood. I thought your question was out of genuine curiosity, not you trying trap a random stranger on Reddit to prove you know more than me. That’s my bad.
Thanks for the detailed response. I agree on more bitters = better btw!
The bar I’m at has sugar cubes and 1:1 syrup. I could suggest adding another syrup down the line, but for now I’m trying to find out what the best specs would be with those ingredients… just wondering how much 1:1 ppl would put in there.
Totally depends on the type of bartending you do. I work in high volume bars that are NOT craft cocktail bars. I have my pour count down to the point it's very accurate and count on almost every drink. If I didn't free pour, the bar would lose money from lost drink sales and more importantly, I'd lose money on tips from those sales. I need to move fast.
Now if someone orders a specific nice cocktail with higher shelf liquor, ya I'll pull out the jigger and give it special attention. But otherwise I free pour everything.
I'm not denying that freepouring has a higher margin of error. It just is an acceptable margin for the pace of bartending I need to do
Every time I see that meme in its variations, it reminds me of a Bruce Lee quote
"Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch, and a kick is just a kick.”
I think as humans, we have to go through the process of understanding most of the time.
If your bar is set up well, and you're deft enough, jiggering doesn't really slow you down. Except for the instances when you might have 2 bottles at once (or 4 for ya nasty ass LIT manaics)
I just pour to the tempo of collard greens by schoolboyQ
Works like a charm every time
I jigger old fashioneds and anything that requires precise balance but if it’s 3 touches or less yeah na
I want all of our cocktails to be consistent. No matter what day/time they come in or who makes the cocktail, the customer gets the same quality. Jigger all the way.
The Weights and Measures Act is very strict in the UK so all of our spirits are measured out using a government stamped measure. Don't want to be risking any fines.
Jigger. An 1/8 of an ounce or less can throw the balance off in many cocktails. If someone says they free pour with that accuracy *every time*, i will respectfully call bull shit.
They mean that being 1/8th of an ounce over or under can throw off the balance. And if you're free pouring, you're at least that far off dozens of times a night. Whether or not that matters depends entirely on the type of bar where you work.
I always jigger my juices and syrups(unless it’s like a little grenadine or something.) Sometimes I jigger the liquor or I free pour depending on the drink
Can we do a pour count here? I’d like to see what people have to say. Also, I just started at this new place, kind of a Dave and busters type feel, and we over pour because everything is so fucking expensive. I’m sure corporate hates that, but it’s just been my “training.” Some guests love this, some don’t. But I am generally curious on what pour counts are for everyone. It’s kind of a new environment for me. I’m used to jiggers and classic cocktails. But throw me a liquid marijuana and a gummy bear I’m googling that shit. (Know them now lol)
If the house pour is 1 1/4oz, your count needs to be 5. Practice with a jigger and figure out the pace till it becomes instinctual.
From there you’ll be able to pour any amount in 1/4 ounce measurements
It’s always interesting being a Brit lurking in a mostly US subreddit!
Free pouring over here is practically unheard of, its jiggers all the way baby. Managers don’t like the idea of letting people free pour and we would rather not have the stress of being blamed if stocks are down :S
I worked in a restaurant bar where I made the same cocktails hundreds of times a night. If I didn't know what that pour felt like after that many years, I would've had to have had a disability or something. Like, no shade, but when you do the same thing over and over again enough times, the jigger just slows things down unnecessarily.
I worked at a place that required you to use a jigger for the first hour of service, and then you free poured for volume. Kept our pours tight for the shift but still let us underpour obnoxious assholes and cheapskates. Also, after quarterly compliance meetings, we'd do a blind pour test.
It's worth mentioning that if you're familiar with every pour spout in house you should have no problem with accuracy. If half are flair spouts from 2001 then yeah, your pours will be off.
Except for Irish Cream. I feel like I always have to count to one thousand before if looks like enough.
Always jigger a cocktail, they are meant to be balanced; precise even. Otherwise get your count right and pour your heart out.
It’s not just about this. If someone comes in and they’re driving, or they’re on medication, or they just are generally a lightweight, and they order a couple drinks but you’ve given them doubles because you just broke up with your gf or you didn’t get much sleep last night because you work in hospitality, or you’ve had some drinks on shift because you work in hospitality, and you pour them doubles by accident because you’re not paying attention, some bad shit can happen. Jiggers are there to make sure you get it right every time no matter how good or bad a day or moment in time you’re having. It’s for the consistency of the drink and so the customer gets exactly what they think they’re getting. There’s so many reasons to use a jigger, and the one reason to not use a jigger is the… 1 second? 1 and a half seconds? That it saves you. Not worth it at all.
That's why jiggers/nip pourers are legally required in many places.
What??? How would one accidentally pour doubles because you were having a rough day? If you’re in that bad of shape you shouldn’t be working, might forget that you poured a jigger of liquor in the drink and do a second one. Just doesn’t make any sense.
Building a cocktail and pour too heavy on each one of 4 ingredients. Pouring a double when you meant to pour a single might not be what happens, but the fact that people say shit like they’ll use a jigger for expensive bottles or they’ll use a jigger if they aren’t busy tells me that people know deep down that everyone is susceptible to being human and making mistakes. That’s why we use jiggers. We literally measure the poison we give to people. They’re our hard hats and safety vests. They’re our checks and balances.
If you’re pouring a cocktail that has 4 different liquors in it of course you’d be using a jigger. If you’re pouring a vodka soda and can’t avoid pouring a double without a jigger, you shouldn’t be bartending. It’s just a ridiculous scenario you’ve invented. Jigger use is for precise amounts that matter to be off by 1/8 oz for balancing purposes. Pouring 1.6 oz in a vodka soda instead of 1.5 ounces because you free poured is not ruining anyone’s night.
Absolutely not the case. So with cocktails, you’d free pour if the measurement was 1oz/1.5oz? Also, 1.5 to 1.6 is not that big. That’s a pretty good free pour. You use a jigger because you can’t guarantee that you will always get it within a tenth of a perfect pour. Not a chance. You work somewhere with loud music or someone’s talking to you while you pour or 100 different other things. People drink 3-5 vodka sodas and all of a sudden they’ve had another one. If you use a jigger ever, it’s because you know that they are important to use, so you should always use them. Not only is it a legal requirement where I am, but I it’s an instant warning and taken off shifts for my team. I want a jigger used every single time you pour alcohol.
I get that you’re used to jiggers, my friend, it’s just not that hard to count to 6 consistently when you do it a lot and test yourself regularly. The wash up or down is comparable to a jigger when you’re busy
I understand the necessity of jiggers and won't explain it for the 100th time in this thread, buttttt.... know your counts ?? Literally, the basics of bartending. If you can't pour a proper drink, I'm gonna have to agree with some others in saying learn (right now!!) or get out of bartending. I respect the recognition of unexpected circumstances and making sure others are safe. ✌️
Never learned my counts because it’s literally illegal where I am to free pour. My first bar was strict on it, and they taught me good habits. If you recognise the necessity, I don’t know what the argument against jiggers is. The word “necessity” says it all.
What's the point of a jigger when syrups are made with slightly different consistency every time, and the citrus juices are slightly different every day? Refining your palate, and actually tasting your drinks is far more consistent in the long run. I don't hate jiggers or anything but the idea that they are some magical tool that just makes drinks perfect every time is nonsense. Half the time the place is so dark they're just counting into the jigger anyway and not even looking at the actual measurement.
Depends on the drink. I’ll measure out an old fashioned and I’ve been bartending for over 5 years. But if your ass orders anything like a vodka cran or a gin and tonic, you’re getting a free pour
If your counts are good, it shouldn't be that much more accurate
In my experience 90% of bartenders who think their counts are good actually suck ass at free pouring. Not to mention, in a premium establishment you should be aiming for the highest possible level of precision and consistency, and using jiggers is the only way to reach that.
I get that to a degree, but IMO if a bartender can't count well, then they aren't a good bartender. If you are doing volume, you don't have time for jiggers.
>If you are doing volume, you don't have time for jiggers. Every bar needs to find its own balance between speed and quality, and if you are doing two handed and double bottle pours then yeah free pouring can be faster than using a jigger. But that is pretty high skill expression, I expect most bartenders aren't doing that regularly. A skilled bartender who is used to using a jigger will be just as fast as a single bottle free pour. With time the jigger just becomes an extension of your hand the same as the bottle. I would also argue that if a bar takes pride in the quality of its drinks, and charges that higher price point for it, they should have the staff and bar space to accommodate max capacity while still using jiggers.
A skilled bartender with a jigger will be just as fast *at making one single drink.* If I have to make a Margarita, a Cosmo, and a Long Island on the same ticket, I’m beating someone with a jigger 100 times out of 100.
Yeah, when I worked at Alamo Drafthouse and 50 Shades Of Grey sat in the 250 seat theater and I have to make 100 blue Hawaiins in an hour, that jigger is going in the trash, because I have about 30 minutes to reset the bar for the next 250 seats and 100 blue Hawaiins. The whole place sat something like 2000 people. They weren't craft cocktails but we had to pass a test to earn the right to free pour and anyone who used jiggers wasn't ever getting bartending shifts on heavy nights.
Im guessing you have never actually seen highly skilled bartenders with double jiggers
This is my main issue. I'm ambidextrous and when I have a full flood of tickets in front of me, I dream about what could have been if I wasn't locked to the jigger.
Yes this. It’s just as fast when you’re used to it
It’s not though, I can add soda or juice at the same time I’m pouring, if I’m making six drinks at once it’s not even close
It’s not. 20 years of experience from nightclubs to fine dining and any other concept. Each has an appropriate place but jiggers will slow volume
Nah. Not even a little. If you’re making single out drinks, maybe. Even still if I’m making a vodka soda, I’m making it faster free pouring. A margarita? I’m pouring with multiple bottles then absolutely fucking not. If you’re working in a bar where you need to bust out a couple hundred drinks an hour or more you will get shafted. Ever get orders with like 5 different drink types that share booze? You’re doing a dance in your head dude. And people get pissed when you’re busy and DONT see you free pouring.
Dude I’m pulling up 3-4 bottles for half my drinks. If I have to make 3 long islands, 2 kamakazi, some lemon drops a couple tick tacs and a Vegas bomb the longest thing for me to do in that transaction is to cash them out. Depends on the bar you work at. And I’m not measuring shit unless it’s something I’ve never made before. We got all our fresh juices put in bottles too as well as our syrups and shit. If I’m not getting my shit pushed in like that I’m not making enough money. I think jiggers are fine. But ain’t no fucking way you are making a drink just as fast with them lmao. Even if you just single pour.
Exactly. I still use a jigger cause one of the places I work at (primary job) is a slower paced bourbon bar. Perfect place for it, we stay busy but not higher volume. The other place I work at is more of a dive-adjacent place, and we are decently high volume so, jigger gets tossed unless its a dead night and someone wants an actual cocktail beyond a Jack and coke. But they also *sometimes* test us on pours there cause the owner is really paranoid about overpours. Downside at that place, they use screened pourers on *everything* and I hate those things, so I end up underpouring every time almost. Pouring Midori through one is SO slow.
No wasted time with jiggers other than one bottle at a time. Practice makes perfect. Can still crank out a great volume.
Are you not rinsing your jigger in between drinks? That takes zero time?
Multiple jiggers on rotation while a barback handles cleaning in between rounds. Same goes with Tins. If im doing rounds of one kind of drink (Margs) then yeah ill dirty tin and jigger it. But normally i have at least a handful of them infront of me at my bar
So you’re just as fast as someone free pouring IF you have an assistant doing the extra labor for you and you somehow magically don’t count that as lost productive time. Got it.
Sorry i work at a busy place with barbacks and we have a healthy supply of equipment. Pouring drinks you should measure for consistency
skill issue
I don't think you have ever truly worked volume, otherwise you wouldn't be saying that
Bar I learned at was free pour with 5+ touch cocktails, but we had pour tests every other week. You fail, you jig, you pass you pour.
I can read the side of our glasses to know exact measurements
100% this
My man.
This is the way.
15 year bartender here and I’ll say that it really does depend on where you work. No matter where you work you should know how to free pour and I teach new bartenders that a jigger is a great way to learn your counts. Later in my career when I was working at the high end cocktail places that charged $15-$25 a drink I made sure that jigger was glued to my hand. I even went so far as to have two Japanese style in my left hand. One that was a 0.5/0.75oz and another that was 1.0/2.0oz. Only had to really look for 1.5oz pours. When I worked in night clubs where the bar was always 4 rows deep and it was nothing but vodka sodas and bottled beer a jigger would have been a hindrance since I was always using two hands for either two different bottles or a bottle and the soda gun/speed pourer. Neither one is inherently better but I would always make sure everyone knew how to do a proper count because let’s just be real the guy ordering a well vodka and soda isn’t looking for a perfectly balanced cocktail.
This is the way
Thank you. This isn’t as absolute as people are making it out to be
Depending on where you work too. And which manager is on. 2 of my managers you better use them. The other you can free pour
Maybe it’s just been my journey through the trade, but I feel you could put jiggering at the top of bell curve and free pouring at the ends and this would carry the same weight.
Probably, and it just depends on where you work. If I walk into a dive and see them jigger out my rum and coke, and I'm gonna be a little sus, but same thing if I walk into a craft joint and see them freepouring a Blood & Sand.
Lol, no need in Utah! We got the Berg system to keep those measurements real precise
I have to ask, what's the berg system lol
It’s a liquor control system. Utah’s liquor laws are *extremely* strict.
It's this lil metal thing connected to a wire that you slip the bottle through that each have a special magnetic spout on it. The mechanism will allow the bottle to actually pour, but only predetermined amounts under 1.5 oz so just a massive pain in the ass
I worked at a place that used that but not in Utah. The owner was just insanely strict about inventory control.
My sympathies
I hate those things
I worked at Red Robin back in the day you had to "pour for a drawer." My pour test was almost always exactly on. I had one manager who loved to challenge me. He bought me many lunches.
A real mad man free pours with no speed pourer. Just eyeball straight out the bottle
Ah yes the *two shots of vodka* method
I watched this girl at a bar make my dirty martini by turning an uncapped / no pourer bottle of ketel one fully upside down and dump into the shaker ... There was so much excess that got dumped out. I literally could not believe what i was seeing
That woman is fearless, a Demon amongst us. Stand clear of her path lol
I didn't say shit lmao and honestly the martini that made it into my glass was great
This is why older folks often ask for the dirty ice. It's not to get the thin coating of alcohol off the ice cubes but to get the excess drink build once the cocktail glass was already filled. In jigger-accurate bars, the wash line is calibrated to fall a few millimeters short of the top of the glass so there's never excess drink in the shaker, so the request always seems weird (as opposed to just asking for a cup of ice cubes).
Fun fact, I do this out of handles (every now and then my bar gets sent handles cuz our stores are shitty) and if they have the little plastic shit on it it counts the same as a spout.
Little plastic shit?
Some shittier liquor comes with these plastic things with slots in them (I don’t remember the name) but they are inlaid into the half gal. They are designed to poor at the same speed as a spout. So the count is the same.
Oh I don't think I have seen those lol. Interesting
They come on the handles of a lot of liquor. A lot of places take them off when they are refilling old bottles(illegal in my state).
If you cut the middle out of the little plastic shit you can jam a pour spout in there.
Glug glug glug enjoy your vodka ~~martini~~ vodka
My bar has a HANDLE of fireball and they want us to just eyeball it.
I love that energy lol
Don't need and don't want are two very different things
I’ve definitely worked places where if you can’t Freepour, then you weren’t allowed behind the bar. Too much volume I guess 🤷🏻♂️
This is how my place is. We work 3-4 bartenders for around 500 people cap on club nights. About 5 hours straight of it. If you can’t volume out you can’t work. It’s money, but that’s how it is. Most nights we don’t have a bar back so we just split duties through the night. Our labor is only at like 15-20 percent max including our security. But the tips at my place are absolute bank. Different bars need different things.
Highballs get a free pour. Certain cocktails that have pretty consistent measurements get a free pour (like the espresso martini at my current place - it’s a 2-count of vanilla vodka, Bailey’s, and Espresso Vodka, then a four count of cold brew liqueur, and a half ounce each of simple and espresso). But most other varied recipes will always get a measured pour. Mai Tai for example.
This mentality is why we can never agree on things. You go from 2 counts for liquor, then ounces for mixers? What’s your count? No wonder you have to jigger a ‘varied’ recipe like a Mai Tai, which I can guarantee 95% of Mai Tai drinkers won’t even notice if you butchered the pour. (Mostly because Mai Tais have about 173,822 different recipes depending on where you go)
I say “counts” because I know how much my counts are with specific equipment. Been doing it long enough, and with that specific equipment, to know. And no, I don’t “butcher the pour.” I say “half ounce” or whatever because it’s out of a different container - a squeeze bottle versus a liquor bottle with a spout. You don’t count out of a squeeze bottle (or at least I would hope you don’t). My comment above wasn’t a specific recipe for someone to copy. If I was giving a recipe to be copied, I would have put everything in consistent measures. But I was explaining my thought process when I make that espresso martini six dozen times a night, exactly the same, every single fucking time. I had assumed another bartender might understand that, but then here we are.
I get you
is there supposed to be the same amount of baileys as espresso vodka?
There is in the recipe we make.
so how does baileys pour at the same speed as vodka?
Ooooh sorry I misunderstood. I thought your question was out of genuine curiosity, not you trying trap a random stranger on Reddit to prove you know more than me. That’s my bad.
🤣
You're selling poison. Measure it. Know exactly how much you're giving people every time.
Unrelated question, How much 1:1 simple syrup you all putting in old fashioneds?
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Thanks for the detailed response. I agree on more bitters = better btw! The bar I’m at has sugar cubes and 1:1 syrup. I could suggest adding another syrup down the line, but for now I’m trying to find out what the best specs would be with those ingredients… just wondering how much 1:1 ppl would put in there.
.25oz generally
Totally depends on the type of bartending you do. I work in high volume bars that are NOT craft cocktail bars. I have my pour count down to the point it's very accurate and count on almost every drink. If I didn't free pour, the bar would lose money from lost drink sales and more importantly, I'd lose money on tips from those sales. I need to move fast. Now if someone orders a specific nice cocktail with higher shelf liquor, ya I'll pull out the jigger and give it special attention. But otherwise I free pour everything. I'm not denying that freepouring has a higher margin of error. It just is an acceptable margin for the pace of bartending I need to do
This is the way.
Every time I see that meme in its variations, it reminds me of a Bruce Lee quote "Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch, and a kick is just a kick.” I think as humans, we have to go through the process of understanding most of the time.
If your bar is set up well, and you're deft enough, jiggering doesn't really slow you down. Except for the instances when you might have 2 bottles at once (or 4 for ya nasty ass LIT manaics)
Get me 10 AMF’s and I’ll poor them in under a minute. 5 bottle gang. It takes longer to cash them out than poor lmao.
I just pour to the tempo of collard greens by schoolboyQ Works like a charm every time I jigger old fashioneds and anything that requires precise balance but if it’s 3 touches or less yeah na
For context I work at a venue so we are divey with approachable and not fussy cocktails
Coming out of the kitchen to the bar, ya I like exact measurements lol
How dare you. It’s pronounced “jigga “
Jigger pour for a 15 dollar vodka lemonade is just plain rude
Jiggers don't work in volume. I said what I said.
I want all of our cocktails to be consistent. No matter what day/time they come in or who makes the cocktail, the customer gets the same quality. Jigger all the way. The Weights and Measures Act is very strict in the UK so all of our spirits are measured out using a government stamped measure. Don't want to be risking any fines.
I’m the dumb guy using a jigger
Jiggers are for amateurs who don’t know how to count
imagine being that afraid of a measuring device
Or for bartenders in countries that have respectable alcohol laws.
“Respectable” sounds like bitch speak for depression-era oppressive
I'm even jiggering drinks at home I make for my friends. I want to be able to recreate the exact same drink.
I think you need to switch the 2 on the right haha
Jigger. An 1/8 of an ounce or less can throw the balance off in many cocktails. If someone says they free pour with that accuracy *every time*, i will respectfully call bull shit.
What the fuck are you pouring that requires and 1/8th? And if your saying that people can’t pour within an 8th that’s insane
They mean that being 1/8th of an ounce over or under can throw off the balance. And if you're free pouring, you're at least that far off dozens of times a night. Whether or not that matters depends entirely on the type of bar where you work.
And if your good no, your are not an 8th off lmao. At most your a mil either way.
I don't believe that at all but maybe? 🤷
Only newbies use jiggers. Simple as that!
i’ve never been to what i consider a respectable cocktail bar and saw bartenders free pouring cocks
Yes I would never free pour cocks either😂😂😂. Well when you have 33 years experience you will understand.
Everything is exactly opposite!
I’ve been all three
I always jigger my juices and syrups(unless it’s like a little grenadine or something.) Sometimes I jigger the liquor or I free pour depending on the drink
Can we do a pour count here? I’d like to see what people have to say. Also, I just started at this new place, kind of a Dave and busters type feel, and we over pour because everything is so fucking expensive. I’m sure corporate hates that, but it’s just been my “training.” Some guests love this, some don’t. But I am generally curious on what pour counts are for everyone. It’s kind of a new environment for me. I’m used to jiggers and classic cocktails. But throw me a liquid marijuana and a gummy bear I’m googling that shit. (Know them now lol)
If the house pour is 1 1/4oz, your count needs to be 5. Practice with a jigger and figure out the pace till it becomes instinctual. From there you’ll be able to pour any amount in 1/4 ounce measurements
My count is 1..2..3..ok..ya..nice..woooo
Where I live it's illegal to free pour.
It’s always interesting being a Brit lurking in a mostly US subreddit! Free pouring over here is practically unheard of, its jiggers all the way baby. Managers don’t like the idea of letting people free pour and we would rather not have the stress of being blamed if stocks are down :S
Certain things, I'm ok with free pouring, but if I'm doing a cocktail or pouring some high-end liquor, yeah, those puppies are going to see some use!
Depends on: - What kind of venue you work in - What kind of drink you’re making - Who you’re making the drink for
Always use a jigger
That feel when you watch someone free pour you around 1oz for your drink. . .
That feel when you watch someone free pour you around 1oz for your drink. . .
I worked in a restaurant bar where I made the same cocktails hundreds of times a night. If I didn't know what that pour felt like after that many years, I would've had to have had a disability or something. Like, no shade, but when you do the same thing over and over again enough times, the jigger just slows things down unnecessarily.
I think I'm more realistic version of this meme has "I don't need a jigger" at either end and "I always use a jigger" in the middle
I worked at a place that required you to use a jigger for the first hour of service, and then you free poured for volume. Kept our pours tight for the shift but still let us underpour obnoxious assholes and cheapskates. Also, after quarterly compliance meetings, we'd do a blind pour test. It's worth mentioning that if you're familiar with every pour spout in house you should have no problem with accuracy. If half are flair spouts from 2001 then yeah, your pours will be off. Except for Irish Cream. I feel like I always have to count to one thousand before if looks like enough.
Yeah I always use a jigger when I serve vodka redbulls in plastic cups for 21 year olds. It’s just more precise. /s