Tip Jar vs. Tipping the bartender

[JackSpade]

I was checking out the tipping etiquette page (http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php) and I got to the section about tip jars with a heavy emphasis on the fact that they are inappropriate, especially at a coffee shop. For the most part I agree with this but at my local coffee shop they sometimes have live music at night and serve beer and wine as well as coffee.

What is the etiquette here? Tip on the liquor but not the coffee? That in turn seems wrong since it takes them about 2 seconds to pop the top off a beer bottle but that layered espresso drink made extra hot with no foam and a squirt of hazelnut takes easily as long as the more complicated mixed drinks.

I started thinking of this because I was behind a regular the other morning listening to him complaining about tip jars and on his 5 espresso-based drinks he was picking up for office mates he didn't tip anything, yet later that week I saw him at night tipping a dollar on each beer or glass of wine.

Thoughts?

[Noseypoo]

I wouldn't think it matters whether or not you tip ... if you're a tipper you tip no matter what it is, coffee or alcohol. But on the other hand a lot of people don't tip on carryout.
If I would go to a Coffee-Shop and sit down at a table ... I think tipping is appropriate; if it's just carryout ... I don't think I'd tip. That would be like tipping the person in the window or behind the counter at McD's, and I doubt a lot of people do that.

Just my 5 cents {fonzy}

BTW Welcome to Frappydoo! {wavey}

[jamesglewisf]

A bartender is a job where the income is dependent upon tipping. In fact, the bar/restaurant reports to the IRS the gross sales and usually assumes at 12% tip. A coffee shop is a minimum wage job and their is no assumption of tipping. It is the same as Burger King or McDonalds. At a Starbucks, McDonalds, etc., the people selling you the coffee are not considered waitstaff. A bartender is considered waitstaff.

[jamesglewisf]

So, if your coffee is served to you at a table by waitstaff, then you do tip. If it is like a Starbucks where you stand in line and get it all yourself, then you don't. The real issue is whether or not the people are getting paid the minimum wage ($5.15) or the tipped employees minimum wage ($2.13) + tips.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs15.htm