17 Drink Orders That Bartenders And Baristas Associate With Very Specific Stereotypes
As a person who used to serve drinks, it's hard to deny that sometimes you start to see patterns with the customers, and no matter how hard you try not to judge, you can't really help but notice that certain drinks are always ordered by certain types of people.
But I've been out of the game for a while and was super curious about what the drinks I've been ordering recently have been communicating to my servers. So I asked baristas and bartenders in the BuzzFeed Community and on BuzzFeed staff to share, in their experience, what a person's drink order says about them. Here are some of the best responses:
1."As a career bartender, I try not to judge because hey, people like what they like and that’s cool with me. But, ANYTIME someone asks for a 'heavy' pour, but specifically tells me they don’t want to pay for a rocks pour or a double, I know instantly that they're gonna be a high-maintenance pain in my ass and not tip me anything."
2."Black coffee drinkers (I used to be one and still do from time to time) take themselves VERY seriously and are so impressed with themselves for drinking it black."
3."Anything with over five shots of espresso: either a night shift worker or a nurse about to start a 12-hour shift."
—anonymous
4."A Long Island Iced Tea. I just KNOW I’m gonna have to remove you from the bar later or clean up your puke from the bathroom. Basically, it screams, 'I wanna get trashed as quickly as possible.'"
—anonymous
"Ordering any variation of a Long Island Iced Tea usually screams trouble to me. I suspect that you’re just trying to get drunk fast because, let’s be honest, they don’t taste very good. You’re probably young, and I predict puking in your future."
5."I can't stand cortado drinkers or people who order anything that's not listed on the actual menu. It's like they're going out of their way to show that they're cultured in coffee drinking which is not that exciting because there are literally only three ways to drink coffee: milk, water, or neither. We just get fancy with how to prepare that."
"Anyone who orders a cortado wishes so badly that they were European and probably unironically says 'cheers' instead of 'thank you' in the cringiest way."
6."This one is pretty recent, but if you're bitching about Bud Light being sold where I tend bar, I'm 100% sure I don't want you around."
7."People who order Americanos have reached a level of ~Grown Up~ that I will never achieve."
—anonymous
8."Chai: a very nice older lady!"
—anonymous
9."Any of the 'Adios Mother F'er' drinks. You’re young, very inexperienced with drinking, and will 100% wake up with the worst hangover of your life from all the sugar. But, again, you’re probably 21–22 years old and can bounce back easily."
—anonymous
10."Cappuccino people are almost always Americans who think of themselves as European. I've heard so many of them talk about all the cappuccinos they drank in Italy."
11."I used to manage a restaurant/bar in South East England. We would 100% judge the men who ordered a pint of San Miguel because they were always flashy, 'I’m a big deal' types. I couldn’t STAND those guys who pronounced it 'San Migwell' and thought they were showing a fancy side of themselves. Mate, you’re ordering a pint of £4 beer in a family restaurant. Nobody gives a s**t how fancy you sound."
—anonymous
12."A 'Walk Me Down' or a 'Liquid Marijuana.' I am double checking that ID, and if it’s not fake then you are just of age and don’t know your tolerance of alcohol yet. Even if I'm slammed, I will definitely be hyper-aware of how many you've had and won't have any problem cutting you off. Not a judgment, just experience."
13."An extra-dry OR light foam cappuccino means they're more interested in the power trip of getting to micromanage and fuss at the barista for 'not doing it right' than the actual drink itself. They'll either automatically make you remake it at least once, no matter how closely you follow the directions, or they've decided there's one specific barista who does it right and will demand they stop whatever they’re doing to make it. Ultimately, they probably don't even know what a cappuccino is supposed to be."
—anonymous
14."So we have something called the 'Starry Night.' It’s basically a blue margarita (made with blue curaçao) with edible glitter mixed into the drink and the ice. And without fail, someone takes an aesthetic photo, takes another photo of them sipping it, and then leaves. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It’s a gorgeous drink but it’s also ACTUALLY good."
—anonymous
15."My co-workers and I always judged the customers who would come into the coffee shop and order a drink they saw on TikTok. Honestly, it would make our jobs so much harder since they’d only give us the name of the drink from the secret menu instead of the recipe."
16."I'm no longer a barista, but from when I was: caramel macchiato meant you're new to coffee and/or have only had regular coffee before and disliked it, so you're hoping the sweetness of the caramel will mask the coffee taste."
—anonymous
17.And finally, "If you order an iced coffee with oat milk and sugar, you're probably the worst person I’ve ever met. These customers are always super rude and have me remake their drinks several times. At that point, just buy the ingredients yourself."
—anonymous
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
