Basic Drink Terminology

BASIC DRINK TERMINOLOGY

The following terms are used by guests and bartenders in a restaurant to describe how they would like their drink prepared.

 

Building
Building a drink refers to pouring the various ingredients into the glass, generally done in the order that they are listed.

 

Muddling
When herbs and or fruit are mashed in the bottom of a glass for drinks such as a Mojito.  A lighter style of muddling is known as Bruising.

 

Chilled
Strained through ice.

 

Neat
When a spirit is served straight neither chilled nor with any ice added. Take from the bottle and pour.

 

On rocks
A term for pouring and serving a liquid over ice.

 

Shaken
For drinks with mixers that are not soda based, and never Gin unless requested, shake the drink with ice in a large shaker.  A drink should be shaken approximately twenty times.

 

Stirred
Mixing and chilling a cocktail in a shaker not by shaking, as above, but by stirring the ice/cocktail mixture with a bar spoon.  As a rule, stirring should continue until the outside of the mixing vessel feels cold to the touch. This usually takes about 25 stirs.

 

Straight up
Shaken or stirred cocktail that is chilled, generally speaking, and then served without any ice.  Different than neat.

 

Back
When a soft drink or water is served along with an alcoholic drink as a chaser of sorts.

 

Flag
An orange and cherry garnish.

 

Dry Martini
A Martini prepared with little to no vermouth.  Vodka Martini’s never have vermouth unless requested.

 

Dirty
When olive juice is added to a Martini.

 

Wet
This term is used to describe a Martini prepared with a healthy amount of vermouth.

 

Perfect
A style of Martini/Manhattan where equal parts dry and sweet vermouth are added.