Using the Word "Try" at a Bar

"do or do not, there is no try"

 

Didn't read this whole thread, but should be pretty simple, ask for a taste. No confusion there.

 

OP... I'm a bartender and I get driven crazy by the same thing. "Taster" and "have" would be perfect

 

I have found that "hey shitface, give me a fucking xxxxx" always gets me a full serving. Sometimes in my lap.

 

I don't throw away cash on things I don't like or force myself to choke down whole pints I don't care for because I'm not an idiot.

 

I used to use the word "try", in the sense that I was asking for a full pour of a beer I've never had before.. and have been given a sample instead.. I didn't say anything, just tried the sample and said I'd take a glass.. I understand how it can be confusing for bartenders though..

 

Honestly, my view is, if you're the server the ball is entirely in your court when it comes to determining what your customers want. I worked in food service for a decade and if there is one axiom I can swear by, it is that there is ALWAYS a difference between what a customer asks for and what they actually want. I think the "half-pour or full pour" question is perfectly natural for you to ask every patron - unless they've been explicit up front or they're a regular whom you already have a steady rapport with. The better you are at asking the right questions in order to provide the most accurate service, the more your customers will love you.

 

Because of the confusion, the burden ultimately lies on the server or bartender. If some says, "try" a simple follow up of "do you mean sample or a full pour?" answers the question. It can be annoying if said 20 times a night, but if that is your biggest problem, you are doing ok.

 

Full disclosure, I'm not a server.

Two things I see here. 1). Customer is always right (notwithstanding completely unreasonable jackholes. They are simply jackholes and you don't want them coming back anyway). I think it is imperative for the server to request clarification as the customer is the one forking over money for this experience and if there is a miscommunication - especially on something such as pour volume - err in favor of the customer. Happy customer can mean returning customer. What the customer does not know is that this is a "thing" with you (and perhaps your colleagues).

The second 2). is that OP states he has lived in many places, some with really varied regional dialectical idiosyncrasies. What is a "try" in one region may be distinct in another (soda, pop, Coke, soft drink). The other thing is that "try" is a pretty vague verb. Can you discern that there is a Carolinian bent toward try as full-pour? Is it too inconvenient to repeatedly ask "taster or full pour"? I come from San Diego and my "try" means full pour and indicates that I have not had that one yet. But myself and about 10 other people are actually from here and this place is full of transplants. That makes it incumbent on the server to extract from the customer what "try" means from their home dialect. I imagine the Carolinas have also seen a surge in transplants lately, so...

 

I thought I had detected that in a couple of your responses, but I didn't go back and check so maybe I was attributing other people's comments to you. Sorry.

Still, my point is that people use the word both ways regularly. It really doesn't just mean one or the other. It would be nice for you and other servers if they were consistent when they were using it in the context of beer, but the connection between people's brains and mouths just don't work that way. I think it's just unrealistic to expect it to change and since people are not doing it with animus, I think you need to try to let it stop bothering you.

At a restaurant you might order by saying, "I'll try the filet mignon with demi-glace" because you've never had it and it is what you want. Clearly you are not asking for a little slice of steak before deciding what to order. Standing in your grandmother's kitchen you might ask to try the buttermilk because you see her drinking it and you've never had it. All you are asking for in that situation is for a sip from her glass. Same word, different meaning.

With that in mind standing at a bar looking over the options, the word may come out of your mouth because you have decided you want to have a glass of a new IPA or because you want a sip of farm house ale before deciding. It just kind of depends whether your brain decides to connect to the restaurant steak string of synapses or the grandma's house one, and you don't even necessarily think consciously about it. It is pretty natural and unless we make a concerted effort in schools and the media to change it, which might have an effect in 20 or 30 years, I just don't think there's much to do about it.

 

If its something I want to try I ask for a sample, pretty simple. Most bartenders ask if I'd like a try if we're discussing new stuff on tap.

 

Stop asking for samples of beer at a bar. Who does this?

If a smaller pour is an option on the menu, I might ask for that, but never even thought of asking for a small/taster/whatever of a beer at a bar.

Just order a beer and keep it moving, there is a thirsty person behind you.

 

I'm bad at this. Even at a restaurant when ordering food I'll say "I think I'll try the ..."

My wife asks me if i'm expecting a small portion of the dish.

 

When I want a full pour, I say "I'll go with...." When I want a taste, I say "Can I get a taste of..." or "Can I get a sample of..."

However, some of the good bartenders will ask what beers I'm thinking about and will pour me a taste of each before I even ask.

 

I may use the word "try" when speaking to the person next to me at the bar, but never to the server - too ambiguous. Although all the places I drink at offer sample trays at a very reasonable price, it is rare that I can put together 4 different taps that I have not already had or else I run into the spendy restricted ones not available on sample "flights". As a result I rarely order flights for myself, but sometimes do for friends I have brought there.

I use Beeradvocate right at the bar sometimes to skim the first couple of descriptions in the reviews of a beer not known to me, and nearly always if it is a quad or IPA regardless of the BA score, I will jump right in with a full serving on my first drink order. During that first pour I might request a "taste" or "taster" of something new on the list that caught my eye but had an awful review on BA.

I am personally frustrated and almost offended if I have ordered a full beer that it turns out I do not like, and after choking as much down as I can take order another full pint of something else leaving it on the bar and have the server offer to take it off my tab. I realize that is a gracious gesture so I usually mumble a thank you and include the cost of that pint in addition to the normal tip. A hardy cheers to those establishments that offer a reasonable price on reduced size pours, like 10oz or even 5!

 

Safe to say I have never asked to have a beer removed from my tab because I didnt like it. I just ordered another and had a learning experience.

 

I say can I try a sample of X?