Yes, absolutely yes. I get the desire to want to have all your cocktails made à la minute, but let’s be honest, most of the cocktails at even the best cocktail bars aren’t fully made from scratch; at least a portion of the drink is batched. That’s because when service is hectic, consistency is key. What if, in a rush, your bartender accidentally mismeasures a pour resulting in a very unbalanced cocktail? Batching allows for a great cocktail experience every time and that’s basically all a cocktail on tap is — a large batched cocktail.
To make cocktails on tap, bartenders simply multiply one of their recipes to an amount that will fill a keg, account for dilution (this is trickier than you might think), mix it all together, and then put the keg on the line. Often with draft cocktails, there is still some finishing that takes place after the cocktail is poured, such as a topping of soda water or a specialty garnish. However, there is still a lot of work that goes into batching the cocktail in the first place. So just because the cocktail came from a tap instead of being shaken or stirred, that doesn’t mean you should tip any less.
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