The Ramos has nine components and needs to be shaken a lot! When I have time to make one, I like the shaking workout, and I think I make ’em pretty good. But if I get one in the middle of the dinner rush, it’s either I deny it or I slow down everyone else’s drink times. I genuinely like making ’em. But in a full restaurant, it’s a death sentence. It’s actually the only drink I turn down making. Usually I offer a regular gin fizz as an alternative.

But not only because you have to pull the shot. It’s the new cosmo. It’s out there, everyone wants one, and every spot does them differently. There’s no real standard recipe, and because they’re so popular, people are really particular about the one they prefer. I used to be a barista for about five years, and, as everybody knows, you can burn your espresso.… There’s so many things that can go wrong with this drink. That said, I will make a spanish coffee, because we use Boon Boona cold brew, and then it’s consistent. But I’m not pulling a shot for you.

I’m not saying I won’t make them, but I can see how making Sazeracs regularly would get annoying if it was super busy. The recipe I learned takes a sugar cube, so that’s already pretty niche, to have sugar cubes on hand. Depends on the kind of bar! And then half a teaspoon of cold water, which…all of our pours are ounces, so I have to find an actual teaspoon back here. And then the Peychaud’s, and you have to muddle all that together. Then you have to coat an old-fashioned glass with absinthe first, and then you put in rye in the shaker, and you have to strain it into the glass and slowly stir it all together. Which is all fine. I can do it, but I don’t really want to muddle a sugar cube. I can tell you about my favorite, though! I love making martinis! Real martinis. I make good ones.