The Over-Poured Spirit Measure
You are the only bartender on a quiet Tuesday evening shift at a 90-seat restaurant bar. The house standard is a 25 ml spirit measure, and all mixed drinks are built to a fixed recipe. At 20:30 a regular customer orders a gin and tonic. You free-pour the gin into a highball over ice, add tonic, and garnish. Later, while restocking, you notice the speed pourer on that gin bottle has a worn, slightly loose spout that has been delivering visibly more than 25 ml per count. You estimate roughly 35 ml has been going into each drink for an unknown part of the shift. Four gin-based drinks have been sold since your shift began, and one customer is still seated finishing theirs. The bar manager is off-site and contactable by phone. Your till shows no variance yet because stock has not been counted.
1. Identify the control failure in this situation and explain what you should do immediately about the loose pourer and the drinks already served.
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The control failure is equipment: a worn speed pourer that no longer delivers the calibrated 25 ml measure. Free-pouring is only accurate if the pourer and your count are verified, so the fault sits with the tool, not the recipe. Immediate actions: stop using that bottle for measured pours, remove and replace the pourer, and either use a verified pourer or a measuring jigger until the bottle is re-fitted. Do not simply keep pouring and 'adjust by eye'. For the drinks already served, you cannot un-serve them, but you should note the four affected sales and inform the manager at the first opportunity so stock variance and any customer issue can be handled transparently. The seated customer's drink is already made; there is no safe basis to remove it, but you should not repeat the error. The key judgement is containment first (stop the faulty measure), then disclosure (record and report), rather than concealment or guesswork.
2. The manager asks whether you should tell the seated customer their drink may be stronger than standard. Reason through the responsible course of action, considering both duty of care and commercial considerations.
Read the worked answer
Duty of care comes first. The drink was made with an unverified, likely larger measure of a 37.5–40% ABV spirit, so the customer is consuming more alcohol than the menu implies. That matters most if they are driving, are visibly affected, or have ordered several. A proportionate approach is to check how the customer seems and whether they have further drinks or transport plans. If they appear fine and are finishing one drink, a quiet, non-alarming word ('just so you know, this one may be a touch stronger than usual - can I get you water or call you a taxi if needed') respects both honesty and their dignity. Commercially, volunteering the issue protects the venue from a complaint or a driving-related liability and builds trust; hiding it risks far more. The judgement is calibrated disclosure: not a dramatic announcement to the whole bar, but an honest, caring check with the individual, logged for the manager.