5 Types of Way
Neat
Order you drink neat when you are ordering a drink with no ice or mixer. This is a straight pour of liquor that is poured into a glass at room temp.
Straight
Is where things get really confusing because drinkers use it two different ways
- Some use it when they order a straight pour of darker spirits, like bourbon straight, which would technically be ordered neat.
- Other drinkers use it to mean a while spirit chilled and served in a cocktail class, like vodka, which would be ordered up
Up (Straight Up)
Up and Straight up are usually used to describe a drink that is chilled with ice (either shaken or stirred) then strained into a glass.
Shaken or Stirred
Bartenders may be defensive because when it comes down to cocktails shaken vs. stirred is huge. Shaken waters it down and stirring is better.
Stirring is a delicate process that slowly chills the glass. The slower cooling also means slower dilution. A common mistake is stirring too little, resulting in a luke warm drink without sufficient dilution; a good 60 seconds of stirring should be sufficient.
Shaking is much more violent, and the increased surface contact cools the drink much faster. As few as 10-15 seconds of shaking is equivalent to a full minute of stirring, and people often shake too much leaving the drink too dilute.