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Cocktails have been forever romanticised by… well, Cocktail starring Tom Cruise.
In a blinding show of skill development, Mr Cruise’s character goes from not knowing his gin from his rum to being a high-flying, trick-whipping bartender.
And, would you believe it, he gets the girl too.
While you might imagine bartenders take a similar interest in whipping cocktails up, the reality is that they’re a bit of a nightmare to cobble together.
When the bar’s busy and the pressure is on, the cocktails certainly don’t get any easier to make.
From the Pornstar Martini to the Bloody Mary, there’s no end of recipes to learn, ingredients to scrounge up, and customer palates to satisfy, and it can wear some bartenders down to the bone.
But bartenders love cocktails, right? You wouldn’t become a librarian if you hated books, so surely you wouldn’t tend a bar if not for a love of fruity-boozy-sometimes-minty concoctions?
Wrong.
There are plenty of bartenders on TikTok bemoaning customers’ penchant for cocktails.
If you order one then, as far as these guys are concerned, you must be trying to ruin their night.
The Long Island Iced Tea is top of many such bartenders’ grievance lists.
This cola-flavoured, headache-inducing tipple is typically made up of five different spirits: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and triple sec.
If you order one then it’s likely your bartender will have to walk the length of the bar to source each spirit, and the mileage is just one sticking point.
Incensed by their existence, one TikToker under the same @soulbowlbae shared a clip of her both making and lambasting a Long Island Iced Tea.
She said: "Let me tell y'all a secret. When you come up to the bar and you order a Long Island, the first thing I'm thinking is, 'Is everything ok? Like, is everything going on alright in your life 'cos why on earth would you want four different liquors in your drink?'.
"You are getting rum, vodka, tequila and gin all mixed in one,” she continued. “That's just insane."
As a bartender, we must assume she’s aware that many cocktails contain several different spirits. Isn’t that kind of the point?
At any rate, she went on to say that she would be 'judging you a little bit' if you ordered a Long Island at her bar.
Perhaps in a bid to get her customers to make them at home instead, she explained the process and recipe with the caption: "Recipe .75 ounces of Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila add .5 ounces of Triple Sec and Sour add coke to top. For flavours add puree, stir and top with Sprite."
Plenty of commenters were quick to weigh-in with their takes, and many agreed that the blend of different spirits was exactly why they would order a Long Island Iced Tea.
"My drink of choice because I don't have to buy very many for the amount of alcohol to get drunk,” said one efficient boozer. “One or two and I'm set.”
"Long Islands are the only way to make sure you got liquor in your drink," said another.
"I think people want the most alcohol for the money in one drink," noted a third.
Featured Image Credit: ivanmateev via Getty ImagesTopics: TikTok, Social Media
Rachael Davis