I recently visited New York to see my brother, who’s been living there for a few years. One night we went out for drinks and I ordered what I always order back home: a Bacardi and Coke.
The bartender looked at me like I had said something weird and told me, “I don’t know what that is” and that they didn’t have it.
I figured maybe they didn’t carry Bacardi specifically, so I just said any rum would work.
When I got back to the table, my brother looked embarrassed and asked why I ordered like that. He told me people don’t ask for drinks that way and acted like I’d committed some kind of social crime.
Where I’m from, ordering by liquor brand + mixer is completely normal. People say things like Captain and Coke, Tito’s soda, Smirnoff cranberry, etc. So asking for Bacardi and Coke never crossed my mind as unusual. Bacardi feels about as standard as rum gets.
I shrugged it off and for the rest of the trip mostly ordered whatever my brother ordered so I wouldn’t keep apparently offending bartenders.
Then on my last night we ended up in a smaller bar and I noticed an actual Bacardi bottle sitting behind the bar.
I thought, okay, redemption.
So I walked up and ordered a Bacardi and Coke again.
Same reaction.
Bartender looked confused and asked what that even was.
I said, “Rum.”
He replied, “Yeah, we don’t have that.”
At that point I literally pointed at the Bacardi bottle behind him.
Now both bartenders were involved and started scanning the shelves trying to find it. One finally grabbed it, looked at it like he’d uncovered an artifact, and said to the other bartender, “I’ve never used this before.”
Then he made the drink while looking mildly annoyed the whole time.
I went back to the table and my brother was annoyed too.
I drank it but spent the rest of the night wondering if I’d somehow missed an unwritten New York rule.
I wasn’t asking for some ultra-specific top-shelf liquor or complicated cocktail. It wasn’t busy either. I just wanted rum and Coke with a brand I recognized.
So now I’m wondering…
AITAH for ordering a Bacardi and Coke instead of just asking for rum and Coke?