The Cocktail You Should Never Order At A Busy Bar

You know the old adage "There's a time and a place for everything?" Well, a crowded bar is not the place to order a Ramos Gin Fizz. In fact, this cocktail is nearly universally agreed upon as being the most labor-intensive beverage in the modern bartender's recipe book. That foamy, meringue-like head may be iconic, but it's the product of an arduous method. The Ramos Gin Fizz is all about well-balanced flavors and textures. The drink is a dimensional combination of Old Tom gin, lemon and lime juice, simple syrup, egg whites, heavy cream, orange blossom water, and club soda. The rich, heavy cream marries cloud-like, frothy egg whites, which are softened by floral orange flower water, and completed with a final hit of club soda for a fizzy sparkle. 

The drink's signature stiff egg white peak — with structural thickness that can physically stand above the rim of the glass — can only be achieved by vigorous whip shaking, and it takes somewhere between 30 to 45 seconds per drink to do it. Even a beginner bartender can slam together a highball, crack open a beer, and pour a shot within the span of roughly 30 seconds. When a person orders a two-minute Ramos Gin Fizz, their order has just taken as much time to complete as the orders of all three people in line behind them combined — and now your server's arm is wicked tired, to boot. Here's hoping the next person in line doesn't want a margarita!

Per the lore, the Ramos Gin Fizz's inventor – Henry Charles "Carl" Ramos, bartender at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon in New Orleans in the late 1800s – staffed the bar with as many as 35 "shaker men" who were specifically dedicated to shaking Ramos Gin Fizzes all night. Chances are that your go-to cocktail bar does not have this. Frankly, from an industry perspective, unless you're literally at a bar in New Orleans, good bar etiquette means never ordering a Ramos Gin Fizz ever. Even if it's slow. They're a pain in the neck (and arm) to make, and a surefire way to annoy your bartender. 

But, if you're at a mid-range to high-end cocktail bar where you'll be paying a pretty penny for a craft cocktail either way, then by all means you should get what you want. As a general rule, reading the room is always a solid ordering tip. If you're warming a barstool at an Irish or English pub, order a pint. If you're strolling into your favorite dive bar, you might not even be able to get a glass of wine. But if you find yourself in the Big Easy, a Ramos Gin Fizz happens to pair legendarily well with raw oysters, and we emphatically recommend ordering both. Still, if the bar is packed, give your bartender a little grace and order a soda water with bitters to sip until the queue clears out. After all, patience is the most important etiquette tip to remember when ordering drinks at a bar.