Order This One Shot If You Want A Bartender To Hate You

Most folks are keen to avoid the ire of their bartender. (They are in charge of when you get your drinks after all!) As is the case with any profession, some folks behind the bar shan't be won over, no matter how gracefully you walk on eggshells. Others are more than happy to make your drink — even if you ask for one of the 12 drinks most bartenders are begging you to stop ordering such as appletinis or Long Island iced teas. However, none (and we sincerely mean none) will think it's cute if you put in an order for a bar mat shot.

Lexi Parker, lead bartender at the Poka Lola Social Club in downtown Denver, exclusively tells Mashed, "In my opinion, it's never okay to order a bar mat shot because any sane bartender would never serve someone one of these." If you're unfamiliar with the painfully fratty elixir, it consists of whatever spilled liquid has been caught by the rubber mats atop the bar. Mind you, that could be beer, wine, spilled cocktails, pickle juice, cleaning products, or anything else the bartender may have been working with that evening. Perhaps you know this "drink" by one of its other names: Jersey Turnpike, Buffalo Sweat, Matt Damon, and Gray Snail (to name a few). "We call it 'The Birthday Shot' and give it to those insufferable adults that demand free s*** just cuz it's their birthday," one person writes on a bartending Reddit thread.

There are loads of reasons your bartender may end up hating you, including chatting them up when they're busy and undertipping for complicated drinks, but none will ignite their fury quicker than ordering a bar mat shot. For one, many responsible vendors assume serving unsanitary mat dregs is a violation of health codes. "At Poka Lola Social Club, we actually wouldn't be able to even make this shot for someone because our 'bar mat' is just a grate that drains directly below the well," says Lexi Parker. That's a reasonable response — but those asking for a bar mat shot are not being reasonable.

Most bartenders find orders of this nature insufferable because they are a massive indicator of immaturity. Sure, it's intended to be a spectacle — typically, for one friend to troll another. However, this is a red flag for service industry folks who have come to expect little to no tip from college students and other patrons who are quick to accept this sort of drunken dare.  It sends the same sort of message as when you ask for a "strong" drink but don't intend to pay for the extra booze (which bartenders also hate). A night at the bar is supposed to be fun and games — but not at the expense of the bartender and waitstaff.