In a viral TikTok, a bartender shared that how much alcohol her customers got in their drinks depended on how nice they were (or how well they tipped).
Cydney (@cydneyjordan) shared that she used to work in restaurants and would occasionally bartend. However, she was never trained as a bartender, so when the time to make drinks came, she said she used her own judgment to decide how strong a person’s drink would be.
In the background of the TikTok, Cydney had a picture of what looked to be an aluminum shot measure. The former bartender said no one ever explained how to use the tool properly, and she assumed one side held an ounce and the other held 2 ounces.
The way she decided which side to use was if a patron was “really nice,” tipped well, was on a first date, or was a regular, they got the big side. If the person was really busy or she was the only person working the bar, she used the little side, she said. The same applied when she was making drinks for someone who was “kinda an asshole” or habitually didn’t tip well
“You got the least amount of liquor possible,” she said.
Cydney said if she ever went back to bartending, she should “probably start Googling things.”
“No one ever told me. I was not trained,” she said
A quick Google search revealed that this is actually called a “jigger” and is, in fact, used to measure cocktails. One side is typically twice as large as the other. The large side holds the same amount as a shot glass, 1.5 ounces, while the smaller side holds .75 ounces.
@cydneyjordan and dont tell me! i dont need to know!
♬ original sound – cydney jordan
The video has more than 600,000 views and dozens of comments, many from former and current bartenders.
Most bartenders in the comments section shared that they followed the same logic as Cydney.
“I know the correct measurements and still do this,” one person said.
“Girl sameeeeee,” another wrote.
Other industry workers had mixed reactions.
“As a patron of bars this is hilarious, as someone with a license this is mortifying,” one shared.
A U.K. bartender said they risked getting fired if they used the wrong measurement.
Bar-goers shared their own reactions to this new tidbit of information.
“And this is why I always say please and thank you,” a commenter wrote.
One person said their best friend is “super nice” to people but she ends up getting “problematically strong” drinks.
The Daily Dot reached out to Cydney via email.
