You’ve seen the lists on waiterrant and elsewhere: What Your Drink Says About You. Vodka martini drinkers are classy and old-school. Cosmo drinkers are prissy or passé. Pinot noir drinkers are on the Sideways bandwagon. On less cynical lists, beer drinkers are characterized as creative, tequila drinkers as extroverts, and red wine drinkers as mature and discerning.

But what does it say when your bartender questions your choice of drink? In an article in yesterday’s New York Times, Alex Witchel — who routinely orders bourbon and soda — attributes her gender to the frequency with which she is served an exceptionally weak drink. That’s to say, she contends that bartenders will pour a higher ratio of bourbon to soda for a man than they will for a woman, who presumably prefers pink, sweet drinks to the hard stuff.

D.C. restaurants and bars haven’t earned a reputation for denying women of age the right to a strong drink, provided there’s no misbehavin’. From Todd Thrasher at the new PX to the drink masters at Rasika, D.C. bartenders have been praised far and wide for going beyond what their patrons expect.

Unless we’re missing something. Is it a common occurrence for women to get stiffed when ordering a stiff drink? Or is Washington an equal opportunity drinking town? Let us know in the comments below.