Do they not use spittoons between tastings? "My God, that would be a waste," says a horrified Declan Byrne, vice president of the Bartenders Association of Ireland. It's cocktail competition time in Bobs of Temple Bar. The contestants are lined up, the judges are seated and the shakers are about to be spun.
Cocktail master James Murphy, bar manager at Bowe's Lounge on Fleet Street and BAI president, won the world cocktail championships in 1993 in Budapest. His own favourite is a White Lady: "a very nice pre-dinner drink", he says.
Brian O'Toole, barman in Fireworks on Pearse Street, is preparing to compete. His girlfriend, Sarah Marsh, a music student at UCD, is lending moral support. His creation is called Rum Aggravation - with orange and chocolate flavours to the fore.
Members of the public have been drafted in to judge. Psychology graduates Phillip Rodgers and Anthony Brady, along with Jillian Bolger and Dorothy McCartan, both from Food and Wine magazine, all do trojan work in the interests of science, ticking appearance, aroma and taste on their ballot papers. Their mission is to choose the best Havana Club Cocktail. It's thirsty work, but someone's got to do it. Some of us just can't help being overly conscientious.