I would replace it without question. I would never penalize a guest for not being happy with their drink. It is the bartender's job to make sure the guest ends up with a cocktail they like. https://twitter.com/joseromero239/status/1321291917582360578

Whether the drink was made correctly or incorrectly is besides the point. Maybe they ordered something by accident or the name was misleading. Worst case scenario, you made a new regular. Which beats arguing with a guest and possibly losing their business for life.

However, before I made the replacement, I would be sure to ask a lot of questions to ensure that the guest gets a drink that they truly like. The guest is being kind enough to give you a second chance. You might not get a third.

I don't even think it falls on the guest to bring this to my attention either. Only a shit bartender couldn't notice that someone sitting in front of them didn't like their drink. The signs are obvious, ex. their facial expression upon the first and each subsequent sip, etc.

The staffs at all of my bars are trained to remove the drink they don't like immediately and get it out of sight, before getting them something they do like ASAP. They need no manager or supervisor approval to remedy, as they are each empowered to take charge and fix.

In fact from my experience, you create more regulars by demonstrating your ability to correct a mistake than by never making mistakes in the first place.

Empathy is a renewable resource.

Sometimes the issue is the bar's fault & we don't actually know it until the menu goes to print. Case in point, we had the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique on the menu at Polite Provisions & it kept getting sent back. But we knew it was a good drink & industry loved it.

It is bitter and boozy and stirred. Not for the novice drinker, but since the ingredients were coffee liqueur, mezcal, chocolate bitters and punt e mes. People immediately saw coffee and chocolate assumed it tasted like a mocha.

Plus the name of the drink is pretty badass, so people ordered it without thinking about what it tasted like. Furthermore, we noticed that the tasting notes on the menu did not accurately reflect the actual flavor of the drink.

So all we did was fix the description on the menu & literally overnight the drink stopped getting sent back. As you can see it turned out the problem lied with us, as we were not properly communicating the information that the guest needed to make an informed drink order.

People work hard for their money & life is stressful as is. The last thing that people need to worry about is whether or not they will be stuck with a $16 drink that they don't like.