“This one’s on me” are perhaps the four best words one can hear at a bar, especially considering the rising prices of cocktails these days. Whether you’re in the industry, a regular who’s racked up a lofty tab, or just happen to be well liked by the bartender, getting comped for a drink is a telltale sign that your presence at the watering hole is appreciated. Even if it’s not a bona fide cocktail that’s getting knocked off the bill, a free shot isn’t a bad consolation prize.
Unfortunately, the social tango that comes with receiving free drinks can vary from bar to bar, and there’s never a guarantee that it’s going to happen. After all, this is a business that’s notoriously hard in which to make a profit. However, there is one fairly surefire way to get a free shot. Admittedly, it’s a little weird, and it involves one particular bottle that every respectable bar has.
As far as we know, the trick comes from LeNell Camacho Santa Ana, owner of LeNell’s Beverage Boutique in Birmingham, Ala., and was relayed to VinePair via bartender KJ Williams of Brooklyn’s Long Island Bar. LeNell was a big figure in the NYC bar scene in the early aughts. Not because of any chops behind the stick, but due to the curated selection of hard-to-find bottles she stocked at her now shuttered Red Hook shop, LeNell’s. She also gained considerable fame for her short-lived Red Hook Rye, a small batch of whiskeys that now fetch up to six figures on the secondary market.
“I was at a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2008 called ‘Amor Amari,’ and the panel speakers were Eric Seed, the late Daniel Hyatt, and LeNell Smothers (now Camacho Santa Ana),” Williams says. “At some point LeNell said, ‘Here’s a good tip for all you bartenders. You want to get a free shot of alcohol? Go up to a bartender and ask them for a whole ounce of Angostura bitters.’”
That’s right. It sounds gross — and depending on which way your palate swings, it is — but since bitters are normally dispensed in dashes, most bars simply don’t price out shots of Ango in their POS systems. “They will watch you drink it out of curiosity and not know how to charge you for it,” Williams says. “Ultimately, they’ll just let you have it for free because it’s such an oddity that they got to watch.”
The bartender might think you’re crazy, but some might be flat-out impressed. In some circles, a 1-ounce pour of Ango is a bartender’s handshake shot. Hell, there’s even a bar in Wisconsin that’s been slinging Angostura shots for decades.
Bitters are potent in flavor, but they’re also a time-honored tincture and remedy for nausea, hiccups, and even preventing malaria due to their unique botanical bill. Plus, at 44.7 percent ABV, they come in at a similar strength to most well whiskeys. They’re sort of a win-win.
As far as we’re concerned, gulping down a full ounce of an 89 proof bittering agent is a respectable flex. In the same breath, though, whoever said “the best things in life are free” probably never did a shot of Ango.
The article A Guaranteed (if Weird) Way to Get a Free Shot at a Bar Every Time appeared first on VinePair.