Bar & Cocktail Lingo
Behind, Burn It, 86 It & Other Things Bartenders Yell
Bars have their own language. Some words tell you how a drink should be made, some describe the mysterious equipment behind the bar, and others are shouted because someone carrying twelve wineglasses is about to come around a corner. Learn these terms and you'll understand what bartenders are talking about—and possibly why they're talking so fast.
Also check my Bar & Cocktail Lingo page.
ORDERING & SERVING LINGO
Back
A small glass of a nonalcoholic beverage served alongside a drink. A typical order might be, “Maker's Mark neat with a water back.”
Not to be confused with a chaser, which usually gets drunk immediately after a shot.
Bracer
Old-school term for a stiff, quick drink taken to steady the nerves or cure a hangover.
Call / Call Drink
A call brand is generally a step above the bar's least-expensive well or house brand. To call a drink means the guest specifically names the brand: “Aviation Gin Negroni,” “Tito's and soda,” or “Tanqueray and tonic.”
If you don't call a brand, you're generally getting the well.
Chaser
A drink consumed immediately after a strong alcoholic drink, usually a shot. Someone might take a shot of tequila, then follow it with a little Sprite, juice, beer, or water to “chase” it down.
Dirty
Usually refers to a Martini made with olive brine. The more brine, the dirtier the Martini.
Instead of guessing, I like to ask guests, “How dirty do you want it—PG, R, or X-rated?”
Another solution is serving chilled olive brine on the side. The guest controls the dirtiness, and the bartender avoids remaking a Martini because apparently one person's dirty is another person's swamp water.
Double
Approximately twice the establishment's standard amount of spirit. Exact amounts depend on house policy and local alcohol regulations.
Dry
When referring to a Martini, dry means less dry vermouth. The drier the Martini, the less vermouth.
Extra dry
In Martini language, very little vermouth—or, at some bars, simply a vermouth rinse.
Long
A drink containing more nonalcoholic mixer and generally served in a taller glass. See Tall.
Mocktail
Also called a nonalcoholic cocktail, virgin cocktail or Zero-Proof cocktail.
Zero-Proof began around the 2010s.
Neat
Spirit poured directly from the bottle into the glass at room temperature. No ice and no chilling.
On the Rocks
Served over ice.
Perfect
In classic cocktail terminology, perfect usually means using equal amounts of sweet and dry vermouth. A Perfect Manhattan, for example, contains both.
It does not mean the bartender is guaranteeing perfection.
Pony
An old bar measurement generally meaning one ounce. A pony glass is a small glass traditionally holding about an ounce.
POS
Point-of-sale system used to ring orders, process payment, and track sales.
Round
One drink for each person in a group. “Another round?”
Short
A drink served with less mixer, usually in a smaller glass. The opposite of long.
Sidecar
Not to be confused with the Sidecar cocktail. In bar slang, a sidecar can be a small glass containing extra cocktail that wouldn't fit into the serving glass.
It's basically a cocktail with a bonus baby cocktail.
Snit
An older term for a small beer served alongside a spirit, particularly in Midwestern U.S. tavern culture.
Straight Up / Up
A drink chilled by shaking or stirring with ice and then strained into a glass without ice.
An easy way to remember the difference:
Neat: Ice never touched it.
Up: Ice chilled it, but the ice stayed behind.
Tall
A drink served in a taller glass with more mixer but normally the same amount of alcohol as the standard drink.
Ordering a tall Vodka Soda does not automatically make it a double.
Ticket
Printed or digital record of a drink or food order.
top shelf
The most expensive, highest-quality premium alcohol.
Training wheels
A lighthearted term for taking a tequila shot with the traditional training wheels of salt and lime.
Virgin
A cocktail made without alcohol. Also called a mocktail, nonalcoholic, or zero-proof cocktail.
Quenchers
Old-school universal term for cold, refreshing drinks, usually beers.
Wet
When referring to a Martini, wet means more vermouth than normal. The opposite of dry.
zero-proof
Trend beginning around the 2010s. Also called a nonalcoholic cocktail, virgin cocktail or mocktail.
BAR TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
Bar Spoon
A long-handled spoon used to stir cocktails, layer drinks, measure small amounts, spoon ingredients, and perform numerous other little jobs behind the bar.
To stir properly, place the spoon against the inside wall of the mixing glass and rotate it smoothly around the ice rather than beating the ice around. About twenty revolutions is a good starting point, although chilling and dilution—not an exact number—are the goal.
Channel Knife
A small tool that cuts narrow channels or long, thin spirals from citrus peel.
I prefer using a vertical channel knife directly over the drink. As you cut, the citrus oils spray onto the drink and rim—and you've eliminated several unnecessary steps.
Behind a busy bar, five saved seconds eventually become five hundred.
Churchkey
An old-fashioned name for a bottle or can opener. Today bartenders use all kinds of openers, including flat bar blades, retractable openers, and ones attached to belts.
Citrus Press
A tool used to squeeze juice from lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, and other citrus. They come in handheld, manual countertop, and electric versions.
Grater / Microplane
A fine grater used behind the bar for fresh nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, citrus zest, and other ingredients.
Freshly grated nutmeg is especially common over Milk Punches, Eggnogs, and Brandy Alexanders.
Jigger
A measuring tool used to portion spirits and other cocktail ingredients. Most are double-sided and available in several combinations.
If you only own a couple, useful sizes include 1- and 2-ounce and ½- and 1½-ounce jiggers.
nutmeg grater
Grates nutmeg and cinnamon for a drink garnish. My favorite one also has a compartment to store whole nutmeg or cinnamon sticks. 🛒 SHOP
Shaker Tin
A metal container used to shake cocktails.
A Cobbler shaker normally has three pieces: tin, built-in strainer, and cap.
A Boston shaker uses two vessels fitted together—traditionally a metal tin with a mixing glass, although today's professional bartenders commonly use two metal tins.
Speed Pourer / Pour Spout
A spout inserted into a liquor bottle to allow faster, more controlled pouring. Essential for bartenders who free pour.
Strainer
A tool used to keep ice and other solids from entering the serving glass.
The three you'll commonly see are:
Hawthorne Strainer: Has a metal coil and is commonly used with a shaker tin.
Julep Strainer: Perforated spoon-shaped strainer traditionally used with a mixing glass.
Fine/Mesh Strainer: Used for double straining to catch tiny ice chips, seeds, pulp, herbs, and other particles.
Waiter's Tool / Wine Key
A folding corkscrew containing a screw, lever, bottle opener, and small foil-cutting knife. Professionals generally prefer a double-hinged or double-lever model.
And yes, eventually that tiny knife gets used for everything except what the manufacturer intended.
Wide Peeler
A vegetable-style peeler used to remove broad pieces of citrus peel for garnishes.
As an old-school bartender, I'm still amused by some of today's enormous citrus peels. You need enough peel to express the oils—not enough to make the lemon feel naked.
BEHIND-THE-BAR LINGO
86
One of the most famous pieces of restaurant slang. It generally means one of two things:
We're out of it: “86 the salmon.”
Get rid of someone: “That guy's 86'd.”
If you're 86'd from a bar, they're not temporarily out of you.
Bartender’s Handshake
A complimentary shot given from one industry worker to another, often Fernet-Branca.
Behind / Behind You / Corner
Called out when walking closely behind another employee.
It translates roughly to: Do not suddenly back up unless you want both of us wearing these Martinis.
Behind the stick
Actively working behind the bar.
Blotto
Old-school term for being completely blackout drunk.
Burn
To discard something. Burn the ice means empty or melt all the ice in an ice well, especially if it may have been contaminated by broken glass.
Buyback
A complimentary drink given to a valued or regular guest. Once common in many bars, buybacks are less prevalent where establishments have strict inventory and comp policies.
Clopen
Working the closing shift and then returning to work the opening shift the next morning. Also known as sleeping in your work clothes with your shoes pointed toward the door. 😂
Corner
Called out before walking around a blind corner so anyone approaching from the opposite direction knows you're coming.
It becomes considerably more important when both people are carrying trays.
Cut Off
To stop serving alcohol to a guest because they have had enough. Recognizing intoxication and knowing how to cut someone off professionally are essential bartending skills.
Dead soldier
An empty beer bottle or glass sitting on the bar.
Full Hands In/Full Hands Out
Staff should never walk through a service door or back room empty-handed. When heading toward the kitchen or back bar, you carry dirty glassware or trash; when returning to the floor, you carry fresh stock, ice, or supplies.
Icing
A universal drinking bartender game and slang prank where a person (usually another fellow bartender) is unexpectedly handed a bottle of Smirnoff Ice and must kneel down and chug it on the spot.
Industry night
Specials for locals who work in the bar and restaurant industry.
In the Weeds
To be overwhelmed with more orders or tasks than you can reasonably handle at that moment.
Every bartender eventually finds themselves in the weeds.
The good ones learn how to smile while standing in them.
Heard
Understood.
Last Call
The announcement that alcohol service will soon end and guests have one final opportunity to order.
This is traditionally when the person who has been staring at the menu for three hours suddenly needs more time to decide.
On the Fly
An order or item needs to shoot to the top of the priority list.
Regular
A repeat guest who visits often enough that the staff knows them—and frequently knows what they're going to order before they do.
Shift Drink
A drink traditionally offered to an employee after finishing a shift, where permitted by house policy and local law.
Side Work
Cleaning, stocking, and preparation duties that bartenders and barbacks perform outside of actively serving customers, typically handled before opening, during slow periods, or after closing.
Two-Deep / Three-Deep
Describes how many rows of guests are standing at the bar waiting to order.
At two-deep, you're busy.
At three-deep, your bartender has forgotten what month it is.
Upsell
Recommend a premium spirit, larger pour, or enhanced serve. It should be transparent, not misleading.
Walkout
A guest who leaves without paying their bill.
Bartenders have several other names for these people, but this is the one we can print.
BAR AREAS & WORKSTATIONS
Back Bar
The shelves and display area behind the bartender where bottles, glassware, and other products are stored.
It's also prime real estate for liquor brands hoping you'll notice them.
Barback
A barback is a bartender’s assistant. Their main job is to keep the bar clean and stocked with ice, liquor, beer, and glasses so the bartender can focus on making drinks and serving customers.
Batch
Mixing a large amount of a cocktail recipe ahead of time. Instead of measuring single bottles for each order, the bartender pours from a pre-mixed container.
Dump Sink
A sink used for emptying leftover liquids and ice from dirty glassware.
Front Bar
The guest-facing portion of the bar.
Hand Sink
A sink specifically designated for employees to wash their hands.
Ice Well
An insulated bin built into a bartender's workstation that holds the ice used for drinks.
Rail / Speed Rail / Speed Rack
The rack attached to the bartender's workstation that holds frequently used liquor bottles within immediate reach.
Reach. Pour. Replace. Repeat approximately ten thousand times.
Rail liquor can also mean the bar's inexpensive house/well brands.
Service Bar / Service Well
The workstation where bartenders prepare drinks ordered by servers for guests seated in dining rooms, lounges, patios, or other areas. Some service bars don't serve guests directly.
Soda Gun
A handheld dispenser used for soda water, cola, tonic, lemon-lime soda, and other beverages.
Three-Compartment Sink
The classic commercial sink arrangement for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing barware and equipment.
Well
The bartender's primary workstation containing the ice and equipment needed to make drinks quickly.
Well liquor has another meaning: the house spirits kept within easy reach, generally the bar's least-expensive brands. If someone orders “a Gin & Tonic” without naming a gin, the bartender will normally reach for the well gin.
TABS, CHECKS & MONEY LINGO
Cash Out
To settle a guest's check. It can also mean reconciling a bartender's sales, cash, credit-card transactions, and paperwork at the end of a shift.
Close Out
To pay an open tab and complete the transaction.
Comp
Short for complimentary—something provided to a guest without charge.
Depending on house policy, it could be a drink, appetizer, dessert, or even an entire check.
It does not mean the bartender gets to give away inventory because you're funny.
House / On the House
The house means the establishment. Something on the house is complimentary and paid for by the business.
Open / Keep It Open
An instruction not to close the guest's check because they intend to continue ordering.
Open Tab
A running bill that remains open while a guest continues ordering food and drinks.
Rail
Another term for well liquor, referring to bottles kept in the speed rail within easy reach of the bartender.
Run a Card
To process a guest's credit or debit card.
Spill
Product lost because it was accidentally spilled, made incorrectly, returned, contaminated, or otherwise couldn't be sold. Many establishments record these losses on a spill sheet.
Tab
A running bill for a guest's purchases. “Start me a tab” means I'm not finished spending money yet.
Tip Out
A portion of tips distributed to other employees—such as barbacks, bussers, food runners, or service bartenders—according to the establishment's tip system.
Drink Styles and Categories
Aperitif
A typically dry, bitter, herbal, or lower-proof drink served before a meal to stimulate appetite—such as vermouth, Campari, sherry, or a spritz.
After-dinner drink/digestif
A drink served after a meal, traditionally believed to aid digestion; examples include amaro, brandy, sweet liqueurs, and certain fortified wines.
Buck
A spirit, citrus, and ginger ale or ginger beer drink. A Moscow Mule is a vodka buck.
Cobbler
A 19th-century style of spirit or fortified wine, sugar, and abundant fruit, shaken or built over crushed ice.
Collins
A tall drink of spirit, lemon juice, sugar, and soda water, classically served over ice.
Cooler
A refreshing long drink, usually spirit or wine with citrus and a carbonated mixer. During the 1980s, bottled wine coolers exploded in popularity, with Bartles & Jaymes becoming one of America's best-known brands. Today the term is also loosely associated with many ready-to-drink flavored alcoholic beverages.
Daisy
A classic sour-like drink with spirit, citrus, sweetener, and often a liqueur or soda.
Fizz
A sour-style cocktail with citrus, sugar, and soda water; may include egg white.
Flip
A rich historical drink combining a spirit or fortified wine, sugar, and whole egg, often finished with grated nutmeg.
Frozen
Blended with ice until slushy, rather than simply shaken and poured over ice.
Gimlet
Traditionally gin and lime; modern versions may use fresh lime juice and simple syrup instead of sweetened lime cordial.
Highball
A spirit plus a larger portion of nonalcoholic mixer, served over ice in a tall glass—e.g., Scotch and soda or gin and tonic.
Julep
A spirit, sugar, and mint drink served over crushed ice; the Mint Julep is the best-known version.
Lowball
A short drink served in a rocks glass; it may be a spirit-forward cocktail or a spirit over ice. It is not simply a “short highball.”
Martini
Traditionally gin and dry vermouth, stirred and served up; in contemporary ordering, it may refer to vodka Martinis or even unrelated “-tini” drinks. Name the base spirit and modifiers.
Mule
A buck associated with ginger beer, lime, and a base spirit; traditionally served in a copper mug, though glassware is not essential.
Nightcap
A final drink of the evening, often rich or spirit-forward.
Old Fashioned
In its classic form: whiskey, sugar, bitters, and water, stirred over ice and expressed with citrus. The name became a way of requesting the older cocktail formula when more elaborate “improved” cocktails became fashionable.
Press
An old-school term. A cocktail made with a 50/50 split of club soda (sparkling water) and lemon-lime soda (like Sprite or 7 Up, and sometimes ginger ale) added to a chosen liquor. It's short for Presbyterian.
Punch
A shared-format drink class built on a balance of strong, weak, sour, sweet, and spice; it can be alcoholic or nonalcoholic.
Rickey
Spirit, lime, and carbonated water, typically unsweetened. The Gin Rickey is the classic example.
Sangaree
Traditionally a specific sweetened, spiced wine or fortified-wine drink served over ice with grated nutmeg
Sazerac
Rye/cognac, sugar, Peychaud's bitters, and an absinthe rinse.
Shrub
Either a drinking vinegar/fruit syrup or a cocktail made with it, typically providing sweet-tart acidity.
Sling
A broad historic category of spirit, sugar, water, and sometimes citrus, spice, or bitters; the Singapore Sling is a complex later descendant.
Smash
A julep-like drink with spirit, citrus, sugar, herbs, and crushed ice.
Sour
A balance of base spirit, citrus juice, and sweetener. Egg white is optional, not universal.
Spritz
A light, sparkling aperitivo drink, commonly a bitter aperitif plus sparkling wine and soda water.
Swizzle
A crushed-ice drink rapidly mixed with a swizzle stick until the outside of the glass frosts.
Toddy
Traditionally spirit, sugar, and hot water; lemon and spices are common additions. A cold toddy also exists historically.
Tiki
A modern category of tropical-inspired cocktails, often rum-based and built around citrus, spice, syrups, liqueurs, crushed ice, and elaborate garnish.
Two-ingredient cocktail
A drink of one spirit plus one mixer, such as rum and Coke, vodka soda, or gin and tonic.
Zero-proof / NA
Contains no alcohol, or is marketed as nonalcoholic. “Mocktail” is common, but some programs prefer zero-proof cocktail or spirit-free cocktail.
86
Two-Deep
DRY
FAT-WASH
Patron Archetypes
⬇
Anchor
A lone customer who sits right in the middle of the bar and refuses to move, sometimes blocking new groups from sitting down.
Bar fly
Someone who spends a great deal of time at bars, often a familiar fixture.
Camper
Occupies a prime seat at the bar for hours while ordering very little.
Customers we remember
People who steal the tiki mugs, copper cups, absinthe glasses & spoons, etc. from bars.
Those people are known professionally as customers we remember.
There are actually two categories:
Customers we remember fondly.
And customers whose face we could pick out of a police lineup.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The patron who is polite and quiet when sober, but combative or loud after a few drinks.
Early Bird
The first person at the bar when it opens, every single day, same seat, same order.
Ghost
A customer who runs up a tab, then leaves without settling it — related to a Walkout, but specifically the type who does it quietly rather than storming out.
Ghostwriter
Texts on their phone the entire time, barely looks up, somehow still remembers to tip well.
Lecturer
Will explain your own cocktail menu back to you, incorrectly, with complete confidence.
Negotiator
Tries to get a "regular discount" despite this being their first visit.
Nurser
Orders one drink and makes it last the entire shift. Related to Camper, but less about the seat and more about the glass.
Photo Finish
Arrives seven minutes before last call and orders like they have all night.
Regulars
Loyal customers who sit in the same spot, know the staff, and tip well.
Rounder
Always buys a round for the whole bar, whether the bar asked for one or not.
Sommelier-in-Training
Swirls, sniffs, and holds every drink up to the light before tasting — including the well tequila shot.
Splitter
The customer who wants their $47 tab divided six different ways across four different cards, three of which decline.
Sponge
A customer who mostly drinks on other people's tabs or looks for free pours and comps.
Storyteller
Has one incredible story, and you will hear it in full detail regardless of how many times you've heard it before, or how busy the bar is.
Squatter
Someone who takes seats that belong to another party or sits at a reserved table without asking.
Table Hopper
Belongs to no group in particular and has ordered a drink from three different servers tonight.
Weekend warrior
Someone who drinks or parties heavily mainly on weekends.
WhaleA high-spending customer who orders top-shelf liquor, runs up a massive tab, and leaves an oversized tip.
Wing-Woman/Wing-Man
Isn't drinking much themselves, but is very invested in everyone else's night going well.
MEASUREMENTS, INGREDIENTS & DRINK TERMS
ABV
Alcohol by Volume. The percentage of a beverage's total volume that consists of alcohol.
A spirit labeled 40% ABV contains 40% alcohol by volume.
Dash
A very small amount of an ingredient, most commonly associated with cocktail bitters. A dash isn't a perfectly universal measurement because dasher bottles dispense different amounts.
Finger
An old informal measurement based on the depth of liquid in a glass. “Two fingers of whiskey” meant pouring approximately two finger-widths high.
Andre the Giant and I would have received very different drinks.
Mixer
A generally nonalcoholic ingredient combined with spirits to add flavor, balance, dilution, or volume. Soda, tonic, juices, ginger beer, and cola are common mixers.
Part
A proportional measurement rather than a fixed amount.
A recipe calling for two parts rum and one part lime works whether one “part” equals an ounce, cup, or bucket.
Please don't make a bucket unless you're having people over.
Proof
A measurement of alcohol strength. In the United States, proof is twice the alcohol by volume.
80 proof = 40% ABV
100 proof = 50% ABV
Splash
A small, informal amount of an ingredient.
Like dash, it's bartender language—not laboratory science.
Spritzer
Traditionally wine combined with soda water, often served over ice.
Upcharge
The additional price for a premium brand, larger pour, special ingredient, or upgraded modifier.
COCKTAIL-MAKING TECHNIQUES
Blend
To combine ingredients and ice in an electric blender. Depending on where you are, you may hear the resulting drink called blended or frozen.
Build
To make a cocktail directly in the glass in which it will be served instead of using a shaker or mixing glass. Highballs such as Gin & Tonics and Rum & Cokes are generally built in the glass.
Chill
To make a glass cold before serving the drink. Fill it with ice and water while making the cocktail, or keep appropriate glassware in a freezer or glass chiller.
Dirty dump
A modern craft-bar term for pouring the entire shaker contents—including ice, small fragments, herbs, or pulp—into the serving glass rather than straining it.
Double Strain
To pour a cocktail through the regular cocktail strainer and then through a fine-mesh strainer. The second strainer catches tiny pieces of ice, herbs, fruit pulp, seeds, and other little hitchhikers.
dry shake
Shaking cocktail ingredients in a tin without ice. Bartenders use this technique to trap air and build a thick, silky foam using ingredients like egg whites or aquafaba (chickpea water) before adding ice to chill and dilute the drink.
Dump
Pour all contents of a shaker or mixing vessel into the serving glass, with no straining.
Dust
A light topping of a powdered ingredient, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cocoa, salt, or Tajín.
Express
To squeeze or twist a piece of citrus peel over a cocktail, releasing its aromatic oils onto the drink's surface. You can often see the tiny mist of citrus oil spraying from the peel.
Fat-washing
A cocktail technique used by bartenders to infuse a spirit with the rich flavor and smooth texture of oils or fats, such as bacon grease, browned butter, sesame oil, duck fat, peanut butter, etc.
Flame
To ignite an alcoholic ingredient or expressed citrus oils.
Fire behind a bar is one of those occasions when knowing what you're doing is strongly encouraged.
Flash Blend
To run a cocktail through a milkshake-type blender very briefly rather than blending it into a completely frozen drink. Most bars don't have a flash blender behind the bar anymore as they did from the 1950s - 1990s.
Float
Gently pour an ingredient over the top of a finished drink so it stays primarily on the surface.
Free Pour
Pouring liquor without a jigger or other measuring device, usually through a speed pourer. Bartenders are trained to count while pouring and calibrate that count against an actual measurement.
A four-count might represent a particular bar's standard pour, but counts are not universal. Pour spouts, counting rhythm, and house standards differ.
Layer
Carefully stack ingredients by density so they remain visibly separated. Sugar content, alcohol content, and each ingredient's overall density affect where it settles.
A bar spoon is commonly used to slow the pour. Pour the next ingredient gently over the spoon so it settles on top instead of crashing through the layer beneath it.
Basically, you're asking booze to behave itself and stay in assigned seating.
Muddle
To press ingredients with a muddler to release flavor.
Firmly muddle sturdy ingredients such as citrus, pineapple, or ginger. Herbs require a gentler touch—you want to release their aromatic oils, not beat the mint into submission.
Reverse dry shake
First shake egg white or aquafaba (chickpea water) with ice to chill and dilute, strain to remove the ice, then shake again without ice to build a thick, velvety foam.
Rim
To coat the rim of a glass with an ingredient such as salt, sugar, spices, or another garnish.
Rinse
To coat the inside of a glass with a small amount of an ingredient. A Sazerac glass, for example, is traditionally rinsed with absinthe.
You can pour a small amount into the glass and rotate it, or use an atomizer to spray the inside. In 2007, when absinthe became legally available again in America and was expensive, I started putting it into little travel spray bottles to reduce waste. Robert Plotkin later included the technique in a spirits-magazine article.
Sometimes being cheap—I mean cost-conscious—leads to innovation.
Roll
To gently pour a cocktail back and forth between two vessels rather than shaking it. Rolling mixes and chills with less aeration than vigorous shaking.
Shake
To mix and chill cocktail ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
Short shake
A brief shake, sometimes used when ingredients are already cold or when limiting dilution. A French 75 is a good example.
Smoke / Smoked
Add smoke aroma by briefly smoking the glass, spirit, or finished cocktail. This is modern bar language, though smoked drinks have historical precedents.
Strain
To separate the finished cocktail from the ice and other solids as it's poured into the serving glass.
Stir
To mix and chill cocktail ingredients by stirring them with ice, generally in a mixing glass. Spirit-forward drinks such as Martinis and Manhattans are commonly stirred.
Swizzle
Rapidly churn and aerate ingredients with crushed ice using a traditional multi-pronged stick (derived from the Caribbean swizzle tree) or a modern bar tool called a swizzle stick.
Throw
Rolling the liquid back and forth between two mixing tins or glasses in a long, continuous, and dramatic arc from a height.
Top / Top Off
To finish a drink by adding a relatively small amount of another ingredient, such as soda water, sparkling wine, juice, or another mixer.
Twist
A strip of citrus peel, generally lemon or orange, twisted over a cocktail to release its aromatic oils. You may then rub the peel gently around the rim and drop it into the drink or discard it.
Sometimes guests order a “vodka soda with a twist” when they actually mean a lime wedge. Television has much to answer for.
Whip shake
Shaking drink ingredients with one or two small ice cubes, or a small amount of crushed ice, until the ice completely melts.