If you are a beginner entering the bartending world, you might find yourself a little lost because like with everything, there is a lingo. DrinksMixer.com offers a list of the most commonly used terms in bartending. Veteran bartenders, please feel free to add on!
Box
Pour into and out of a shaker, usually only once. Gives the drink a quick mixing without shaking.
Call Drink
A liquor and mixer, of which the liquor is a defined brand. (ie. Tanqueray and Tonic, Bacardi and Coke)
CobblerA tall drink of any liquor served in a collins or highball glass with shaved or crushed ice and garnished with
fresh fruit
and mint sprigs.
Chaser
A mixer that is consumed immediately after a straight shot of liquor to create a different taste.
Cocktail
Any of various alcoholic beverages consisting usually of brandy, whiskey, vodka, or gin combined with fruit juices or other liquors and often served chilled.
CollinsA drink akin to a sour which is served in a tall glass with
soda water or seltzer water.
CoolerA drink consisting of
ginger ale, soda water, and a fresh spiral or twist of citrus fruit rind, served in a collins or highball glass.
CrustaA sour-type drink served in a glass that is completely lined with an orange or
lemon peel cut in a continuous strip.
Cup
A punch-type drink that made up in quantities of cups or glasses in preference to a punch bowl.
Daisy
An oversize drink of the sour type, normally made with rum or gin. It is served over crushed ice with a straw, and sweetened with a fruit syrup.
Lace
Normally applies to the last ingredient in a recipe, meaning to pour onto the top of the drink.
Eggnog
A traditional holiday drink containing a combination of eggs beaten with cream or milk, sugar, and a liquor such as brandy, rum, or bourbon.
Fix
A sour-type drink similar to the daisy, made with crushed ice in a large goblet.
Fizz
An effervescent beverage. (ie. that which is carbonated or which emits small bubbles.)
Flip
A chilled, creamy drink made of eggs, sugar, and a wine or spirit. Brandy and sherry flips are two of the better known kinds.
Frappé
A partially frozen, often fruity drink. It is usually a mixture of ingredients served over a mound of crushed ice.
Grog
A rum-based beverage with water, fruit juice and sugar, commonly served in a large mug.
Highball
Any spirit served with ice and soda water in a medium to tall glass (often a highball glass).
Julep
A drink made of bourbon, mint, sugar and crushed ice.
Lowball
A short drink made of spirits served with ice, water or soda in a small glass.
Mist
A liquor served over a glass filled with crushed ice, often a way of serving liqueur as an after dinner drink.
Mulls
A sweetened and spiced heated liquor, wine or beer, served as a hot punch.
Neat
The consumption of a spirit as a straight, unaccompanied shot.
Negus
A punch-like combination containing a wine, such as port, heated with spices and sweetened.
Nip
A quarter of a bottle.
Nightcap
A wine or liquor taken before bedtime.
On The Rocks
A wine or liquor poured over ice cubes.
Pick-Me-Up
A drink designed to relieve the effects of overindulgence in alcohol.
Posset
An old british drink from which the eggnog was derived. It consists of a mixture of heated ale or wine curdled with milk, eggs, and spices.
Puff
A traditional afternoon drink made of equal parts spirit and milk, topped with club soda and served over ice.
Punch
A party-size beverage consisting of fruit, fruit juices, flavorings and sweeteners, soft drinks, and a wine or liquor base.
RickeyA drink made a liquor, usually gin, a half
lime and soda water. It is sometimes sweetened, and often served with ice in a rickey glass.
SangareeA tall chilled and sweetened wine/liquor garnished with
nutmeg.
Shooter
A straight shot of whiskey or other kind of spirit taken neat.
Shrub
Spirits, fruit juices, and sugar, aged in a sealed container such as a cask or crock, then usually bottled.
SlingA tall drink made with either brandy, whiskey or gin, with
lemon juice, sugar and soda water. It is served both hot and cold.
Smash
A short julep made of liquor, sugar, and mint, served in a small glass.
Sour
A short drink consisting of liquor, lemon/lime juice and sugar.
Supercall
Also known as top shelf or super premium. The high octane, often higher proof alcohols, or super-aged or flavored versions.
Swizzle
A tall, traditionally rum-based cocktail filled with cracked ice. A stirring rod or swizzle stick is quickly rotated between the palm of the hands to form frost on the glass.
Syllabub
A beverage made from a mixture of sweetened milk/cream, wine and spices.
Toddy
A sweetened drink of liquor and hot water, often with spices and served in a tall glass.
Tot
A small amount of liquor.
Virgin
A non-alcoholic drink.
Well Drink
A liquor and mixer, of which neither are defined brands. (ie. Gin and Tonic, Rum and Coke)
