“Oh no. We have to toss them out,” the bartender said with a sour look on her face as she removed a thin, black straw from her mouth. Four intricate cocktails she just made were lined up in a row in front of her.

“All of them?!” her coworker asked.

“Yep. When I taste-tested them, I realized I added too much Fernet-Branca.”

And down the drain the cocktails went.

A couple months ago, I sat a few feet away from this interaction and observed the bartender acknowledge her mistake, even though it was costly. She then produced the proper cocktails before presenting them to …read more