Solving the Corona Conundrum

BY Nick Fauchald | POSTED NOVEMBER 15, 2007 AT 9:56PM EST

Last week, the New York Times alerted us to a health hazard that could change the fate of the city’s drink-makers (and drink-takers): It’s a severe health code violation for a bartender to touch a fruit garnish—say, a wedge of lime for a Corona, or a lemon twist for a martini—with unprotected hands before adding it to a customer’s drink. What’s a bartender to do, the writer asks. Use gloves? Tongs? A fork? He and his interviewees test-drive these alternate fruit-squeezing approaches, and hilarity ensues.

But seriously, should I be worried? Will my next Old-Fashioned taste oddly of latex? Will my next beer end up in my lap, thanks to a clumsy Edward Tonghands? Of course not. This kind of “violation” is so rarely enforced that, when it is, the Times writes a story. (The same goes for bare-hand-in-the-kitchen violations: When’s the last time you heard of a top-tier chef getting slapped with a fine for plating food with naked fingers?)

But maybe Corona could capitalize on this conundrum by inventing a device that helps a bartender get the lime inside the bottle without endangering his customers. Oh, wait: They already did.

Solving the Corona Conundrum

Topics

Sites We Like