These are the 5 drinks you should avoid in most bars (and why!)

A good cocktail can be a real taste experience – but you can't always get the quality you expect. In many bars, some drinks are made with cheap ingredients, pre-mixes, or prepared without care. The result? Overpriced, unbalanced, or simply bad cocktails.

So that you are not disappointed on your next bar visit, we show you 5 drinks that you should generally avoid ordering in most bars – and which alternatives are worth it!

1. Long Island Iced Tea – a chaos of cheap alcohol

👉 Why avoid?
A real cocktail should be harmoniously balanced – the Long Island Iced Tea is exactly the opposite. Five different spirits (vodka, gin, tequila, rum, triple sec) in one drink? This often leads to an undefinable mixed taste.

📌 Problem in many bars:

Cheap spirits, as the quantities cover up the taste.
Cola and lemon juice from the gun – often too sweet and artificial.
Not a real cocktail, but rather an alcohol bomb without sophistication.

✅ Better to order: A whiskey sour or daiquiri – few ingredients, but crafted with skill and quality.

2. Piña Colada – often just a sweet cream bomb

👉 Why avoid it?
A good Piña Colada needs fresh pineapple, coconut milk, and high-quality rum. But in most bars you will instead get:

Artificial pineapple mixes full of sugar.
Fatty whipped cream instead of real coconut cream.
Way too sweet, because cheap ingredients have to be covered up.

📌 How to recognize it?
If the Piña Colada looks like a milkshake and you feel full after just two sips, then quality has been compromised.

✅ Better to order: A Mai Tai – fruity, but with real rum flavor and good balance.

3. Mojito – when made wrong, it is undrinkable

👉 Why avoid?
The Mojito sounds like a simple classic – but many bars make serious mistakes here:

Old, mushy or dried mint instead of fresh leaves.
Way too much crushed ice, causing the drink to get watered down quickly.
Ready-made syrup instead of fresh lime juice – the biggest flavor killer!

📌 Special problem:
A bad Mojito either tastes of nothing at all or of sugar water with mint flavor – that has nothing to do with the real drink.

✅ Better to order: A Caipirinha – fewer ingredients but mostly made fresh.

4. Sex on the Beach – the tourist drink without depth

👉 Why avoid?
This cocktail is a classic on every all-inclusive menu – but unfortunately rarely of high quality. Why?

Cheap fruit juices, which are often too sweet or from concentrate.
Peach liquor from the big bottle, which only tastes artificial.
No balance – just sweet and fruity, but without depth.

📌 Why is it still often ordered?
Because it has a well-known name – but that doesn't make it good automatically!

✅ Better order: A Cosmopolitan – fruity, but with a fine balance of cranberry, lime, and high-quality vodka.

5. Blue Lagoon – artificial, sweet, and lacking flavor

👉 Why avoid?
Yes, the blue color looks cool – but that’s about it. In many bars, this drink is made with:

Cheap Blue Curaçao, which only tastes like sugar.
Poor-quality vodka, because the sweetness covers everything up.
Way too much sugar, which makes the drink overly sweet and sticky.

📌 The biggest mistake?
Many bartenders see the Blue Lagoon as a "show drink" – but not as a quality cocktail. Those who order it usually get a simple sweet-water mix without any craftsmanship.

✅ Better to order: An Aviation – also visually impressive, but with delicate aromas of violet and citrus.

Conclusion: Quality over Quantity!

Of course, you can drink whatever you like – but if you value real cocktails, you should be careful. In many bars, especially in clubs or large chains, drinks are prepared quickly and with cheap ingredients.

💡 Tip:

Pay attention to whether fresh ingredients are used.
Check if the bar uses high-quality spirits or just cheap mass-produced ones.
Avoid cocktails that are almost always made from syrup or pre-mixed products.