Various unique terms are used in bartending.

Definitions and usage

Straight, up, and straight up

In bartending, the terms "straight up" and "up" ordinarily refer to an alcoholic drink that is shaken or stirred with ice and then strained and served in a stemmed glass without ice. "Straight" ordinarily refers to a single, unmixed

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

served without any water, ice, or other mixer. In this sense, "straight" can sometimes be used as a synonym for ''either'' "straight up" or " neat". Furthermore, "straight" is also a

term of art Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

for a particular type of whiskey produced in the United States. United States federal law defines the term " straight whiskey" as whiskey that has met particular requirements for its ingredients, production process, and aging. For example, the label of a bottle of top-shelf bourbon typically identifies the product as "Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey". While the meaning of "up" and "neat" is ordinarily clear, some clarification may be needed for "straight" and "straight up", to determine whether the spirit is intended to be chilled and strained or served undiluted at room temperature. Unmixed liquors may be served either neat, up, or on the rocks, with differing conventions. High-quality

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

and other aged liquor are most often served neat, while lower-quality whisky is usually served with a mixer or on the rocks.

Vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

can be stored as a liquid well below the freezing point of water because of its high proof and low particulate content, and cocktails made with sub-freezing vodka are sometimes requested to minimize the amount of added water from melted ice during shaking.

Neat

A drink served "neat" is a single, unmixed

served without being chilled and without any water, ice, or other mixer.Up, Neat, Straight Up, or On the Rocks
, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Friday, May 9, 2008 Neat drinks are typically served in a rocks glass,

shot glass A shot glass is a glass originally designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either imbibed straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail ("a drink"). An alcoholic beverage served in a shot glass and typically consu ...

, snifter, Glencairn glass, or copita.

On the rocks

"On the rocks" refers to liquor poured over

ice cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

s, and a "rocks drink" is a drink served on the rocks. Rocks drinks are typically served in a rocks glass, highball glass, or Collins glass, all of which refer to a relatively straight-walled, flat-bottomed glass; the rocks glass is typically the shortest and widest, followed by the highball which is taller and often narrower, then the Collins which is taller and narrower still.

Garnish

"With a twist" signals the bartender to add a " twist" of the peel of a

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruit to the cocktail. Often, the bartender will hang the rind of the citrus on the glass as a garnish.

Cocktails

Cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

s are generally served chilled, although some (e.g.,

margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Some margarita recipes include simple syrup as well and are often served with salt on the rim of the glass. Margaritas can be served either shaken with ice (on the rock ...

s) may be served either with or without ice, and this must be specified. Cocktails can be served "frozen", which is with crushed ice or blended with ice instead of cubes. "Hot Toddy" drinks are cocktails served hot as the name implies.

Chaser

A shot of whisky,

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

, or vodka, when served neat in a shot glass, is often accompanied by a "chaser" (a mild drink consumed after a shot of hard liquor) or a "water back" (a separate glass of water). These terms commingle as well; it is common in many locales to hear a "beer back" ordered as the chaser to a shot. A drink may specifically be ordered "no chaser" as well. In

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, a chaser is simply a smaller version of a shot. In the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, "chasers" are beverages, mostly sweet ones, that are drunk immediately after downing a shot to relieve the bitter taste or strong kick of the alcohol. A relatively new type of chaser is called " pickleback" wherein a shot of liquor is chased by a shot of pickle brine.

Other terms

* Bartender's spoon: A spoon, usually at least long, very often with a spiralled handle, holding between a dash (about .46 ml) and , and used for stirring cocktails and measuring ingredients. The other side often ends with a fork for poking fruit out of a syrupy dessert. *

Dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: th teaspoon (about .46 ml) *Salty rim: A glass with a salty rim is used for cocktails in which it is desired to enhance the drink's taste with saltiness. Examples include the

and the salty dog (which without the salty rim is a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

). The rim of the glass is wetted with, e.g., a lime wedge, and then the glass is rubbed against a surface on which salt has been poured, so the salt will stick to it. *Shaken: Aerated and textured.

Well and top-shelf

Drinks establishments will often have a lower-priced category of drinks, known as " well drinks" or "rail drinks", and a higher-priced category known as " top-shelf" or "call" drinks, and will use upselling by offering the higher-priced category when taking orders. The terms come from the relative positions of the bottles of spirit used for the drinks; the cheapest version of a spirit offered by a bar is typically stored in a long rail or "well" making it readily available to a busy bartender, while the more expensive, better-quality liqueurs and spirits are displayed on shelves behind the bar where they attract patrons to the available selection.

Sizes

Alcoholic beverages are sold in a wide variety of sizes, for example: * A "

pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

" is slang for of spirit, while in the US the standard-size "shot" of alcohol is a "jigger", with a "double" being . * A " middy", commonly known as a "pot" in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, is . * A "

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

" may refer to various glasses for

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

, typically of size in Australia, or in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. * A "

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems, it is one-eighth of a gallon. The British imperial pint ...

" () or half-pint is the universal measure for draft beer in the UK. Rather than use measuring equipment, professional bartenders usually use a pour spout inserted into the mouth of the bottle, which restricts the flow of liquid to a standard rate allowing reasonably accurate time-based pours. For instance, a "6-count" is a common analogue for a 1.5oz jigger, which can be trained to by having the bartender upend the bottle (with pour spout installed) and counting to 6 out loud as quickly as the words can be said clearly. This method breaks down into convenient sub-measures; each count is approximately one-quarter fluid ounce, making a "pony" 4 counts and a "half-jigger" 3 counts. This system is not perfect because liquids of different

viscosities Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...

will pour at different rates through the same spout, but it does allow consistent pours from drink to drink for a consistent result from each bartender, while being much faster than using a thimble measure or similar spirit measure.

References

{{Glassware Bartending