Twelve years behind the bar teaches you a lot. You learn patience, you learn people, and you learn very quickly which drinks are going to ruin your Saturday night rush before it even starts. Honestly, it’s not always about the drink itself. Sometimes it’s the attitude that comes with it, or the jaw-dropping timing of the order, or the fact that you just looked me dead in the eyes and asked for something that takes fifteen minutes to make while thirty other people are waiting.
I’m not here to shame anyone for what they like to drink. You want what you want, I get it. But after more than a decade of shaking, muddling, pouring, and smiling through gritted teeth, I think it’s fair to pull back the curtain a little. Be surprised by what made the list.
1. The Ramos Gin Fizz: A Workout Disguised as a Cocktail Order
Let me be clear about something right away. The Ramos Gin Fizz is a New Orleans favorite and a bartender’s least favorite. It’s a gorgeous drink, genuinely. Nobody is disputing that. The problem is everything that goes into getting it there.
Described as a mix between key lime pie and an orange creamsicle, it comes with a long list of fussy ingredients including egg whites, heavy cream, and orange flower water. What’s more, it requires a frankly absurd amount of shaking. The original recipe calls for a full 15 minutes of shaking, which would be enough to drive anyone mad.
Historically, the drink was so demanding that bartender Henry C. Ramos employed dedicated “shaker boys” whose sole job was to shake the drink continuously. Think about that. An entire job category created just to shake one cocktail. At the 1915 Mardi Gras, Ramos had up to 35 shaker boys a shift. There are not 35 of me behind this bar right now.
In busy bars, ordering a Ramos Gin Fizz can significantly slow down service. Some establishments in New Orleans have even invested in special machines to shake these drinks, but most bars aren’t equipped for such a time-consuming process. So if you want one on a Friday night at peak hours, just know that I’m making a mental note.
2. The Long Island Iced Tea: A Red Flag in a Glass
Here’s the thing about the Long Island Iced Tea. If something screams a certain type of customer to a bartender, it’s the Long Island Iced Tea, which contains not a single ounce of iced tea and is mostly made of bottom-shelf liquor and a sugary sour mix. Bartenders say this translates to a mean hangover and a meaner headache the next day.
Bartenders mainly hate making the drink because of how labor-intensive it is to prepare. With an ingredient list featuring five different alcohols and cola, a Long Island Iced Tea isn’t exactly akin to filling a glass with whatever beer is on tap. That’s five different bottles I’m hunting down while the ticket line grows behind me.
As Lauren Lenihan, director of operations for Paris Café and Common Ground Bar in New York City, put it, “No bartenders ever order a Long Island iced tea. It’s definitely a ‘green,’ juvenile drink of choice. Most customers just want it because it’s strong and they’re looking to get drunk quickly.” I’ve been doing this twelve years. I can already tell where the night is heading when I hear this order.
I know it sounds harsh, but the Long Island Iced Tea is often seen as a “rookie” drink in the bar scene. Experienced bartenders might inwardly groan when they hear this order, as it’s often associated with patrons looking to get drunk quickly rather than savoring a well-crafted cocktail. The mix of so many different spirits also tends to mask individual flavors, resulting in a drink that’s more about alcohol content than taste.
3. The Mojito: Beautiful in Theory, Brutal in Practice
The mojito is one of the most notoriously disliked drinks for bartenders. I know that surprises people. It seems like such a simple, refreshing order. And look, on a slow Tuesday, it genuinely is a pleasure to make. The problem is that almost nobody orders a mojito on a slow Tuesday.
Muddled mint bruises easily. Over-muddling makes it bitter, under-muddling leaves it flavorless. Fresh mint and individual builds are slow. It requires per-drink preparation, lots of waste, and time during busy shifts. Every single one needs to be built from scratch, one at a time, no shortcuts.
Whenever someone ordered the mojito, the bartender had to rummage around in the fridge, pick off the mint leaves, race back to the bar to muddle them, and by that point more than a dozen drink orders had stacked up. That domino effect is very real. One mojito order can set back an entire round by five minutes.
There is actually a known workaround that some bartenders use. If a bartender is too strapped for time, they may tell a patron the bar has run out of fresh mint to avoid preparing the cocktail. Whether or not I’ve ever done that is strictly between me and the mint drawer.
4. The Espresso Martini: The TikTok Drink That Won’t Die
Let’s be real. The espresso martini had its moment. Then it had another moment. Then it kept having moments, well past the point where any of us behind the bar were still entertained. The espresso martini saw significant growth, experiencing a 116 percent increase in ordering year-over-year. That kind of popularity is flattering. It’s also exhausting.
There’s no real standard recipe, and because they’re so popular, people are really particular about the one they prefer. There are so many things that can go wrong with this drink, especially when espresso can easily be burned. You cannot rush an espresso shot. The machine doesn’t care about your impatience, and neither does physics.
Nothing is worse than someone ordering a round of espresso martinis thirty minutes before close. In busy venues, fresh espresso can be impractical, often leading to pre-batched coffee in cocktails. And if I happen to be the one cleaning the espresso machine at 1:45 AM and you walk up and order a round of four? We are going to have a spiritual disagreement.
The espresso martini and Aperol Spritz were among the trending drinks of 2024 and 2025, with the espresso martini seeing ordering growth of roughly half again its previous numbers. Any bartender across the country is probably tired of making them. Honestly, same.
5. The Bloody Mary: A Brunch Drink Ordered at Midnight
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The Bloody Mary is a masterpiece of a drink. I mean it. During brunch, when everything is prepped, the garnish tray is loaded, and the tomato juice is cold and fresh? Pure joy to make. The issue is when someone waltzes in at 11 PM on a Saturday and confidently orders one.
Ordering this cocktail outside of brunch hours can be genuinely problematic. Many bars don’t keep fresh tomato juice, horseradish, and other Bloody Mary-specific ingredients readily available throughout the day, as these items have a limited shelf life and are primarily used for this one cocktail. Think of it like ordering a full breakfast at a steakhouse at dinner. It can be done, but someone back there is suffering.
With its many ingredients, it takes more than the average amount of time to prepare, and bartenders are usually only set up to take on this challenge during brunch hours. After that, the ingredients have been put away, and getting them back together for one Bloody Mary would be inconvenient. That word “inconvenient” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
6. The Frozen Blended Drink: Please Just Go to a Beach Resort
Nothing clears a bartender’s mood quite like the sound of a blender at full throttle during a packed dinner service. It drowns out every other noise in the room including my ability to hear drink orders, table requests, and my own quiet inner screaming.
Bartenders hate making pina coladas. Too sweet and typically reserved for tourists. God forbid you want one frozen in a blender. That last part is the problem. The frozen version adds a whole new layer of chaos to the evening. It takes time, it’s loud, and it demands the full attention of whoever is making it.
Save the frozen drinks for a vacation spot where they’re already blended and ready to drink. That’s the smartest advice anyone in this industry has ever given, and I stand behind it completely. A beach bar with a dedicated frozen drink station? Absolutely. A craft cocktail bar on a Friday night? Please reconsider.
7. The “Surprise Me” Order: My Personal Nemesis
I want to like this. I genuinely do. The idea of a customer trusting me completely to choose their drink sounds wonderful in theory. It sounds like respect for the craft. In practice, when I have a dozen tickets up and a three-deep crowd at the bar, it is the equivalent of someone walking into a busy kitchen and telling the chef to “just make something fun.”
There is one customer habit that stands supreme above all others in terms of bartender frustration. Asking for a busy member of staff to “surprise you” is not cute, funny, or flirty. It is, to someone who has about 100 other customers to see in the next 10 minutes, unbelievably annoying.
As bartenders noted on Reddit, if there is time to discuss a customer’s specific preferences and the customer is willing to engage and assist the bartender, asking for a creative cocktail may not be a problem. Whether someone is annoyed by such an order depends on how busy they are at any given moment. If a bar is slammed, they’re unlikely to afford the mental bandwidth required to concoct a special beverage.
It’s hard to say for sure, but I think most people who order this way genuinely believe they’re being easygoing and charming. They’re not wrong. They’re just very wrong about the timing. Come back at 4 PM on a Wednesday and I will make you the most creative drink of your life.
8. The Deconstructed Cocktail: Why Do You Want My Job?
This one doesn’t come up every night, but when it does, it sticks with you. About once a week, someone will ask a bartender to bring a deconstructed cocktail to the table for them to mix themselves. That is one bartender’s number one pet peeve. And honestly? Same.
When people ask for all the separate ingredients of a cocktail so they can pour it themselves, “that’s annoying for so many reasons.” You may not know what really goes into making your favorite cocktail, and you’re also showing that you don’t trust the bartender to do their job. It’s a little like going to a restaurant, ordering a steak, and then asking for the raw meat and a portable grill.
There’s also a practical issue. Measuring out and presenting each component separately means I’m doing more work, not less, for what amounts to a statement of distrust. When the bar is busy, bartenders hate making anything with more than three ingredients that’s not on the menu. Asking for each of those ingredients in separate vessels, one by one, is a creative new way to test that principle.
I will make it. I’ll do it professionally and without complaint. I’m just going to be thinking some very specific thoughts while I do. Context, as always, is everything behind the bar.