Autograt Group Tips: Tips are calculated on the check and are usually included in the group purchase
Back: A lighter drink consumed after a shot of hard liquor or straight liquor, for example, a shot of whiskey and pickle juice would involve drinking the whiskey first and then the pickle juice.
Bartender's handshake: A gift from one bartender to another, usually free of charge.
Bev nap: Abbreviation for beverage napkin, a small paper towel placed under the drink instead of a coaster.
Bitters: A concentrated herbal alcohol mixture often added to cocktails to enhance flavor. You can even learn to make your own bitters.
Blend: Combine ingredients and ice in an electric blender; may also be called a frozen drink or mixed drink.
Boomerang Bartender's Pass: Usually refers to a drink being passed from a bartender at one bar to a bartender at another bar through a trusted customer.
Broken bottle: Apparently used to describe a physically broken bottle, but also used to refer to a bottle that has been emptied.
Build: Make your drink starting with ice, then systematically add other ingredients to create your cocktail.
Burn the ice: Pour hot water into the ice bucket to melt the ice
Burnt: Refers to a burnt martini, a martini with a small amount of scotch added; some recipes call for a 1:2 ratio of scotch to gin, while others call for just A few drops of scotch.
Call drink: Order a drink that contains both a specific alcohol name and a specific mixer name, such as Jack and Coke, Tanqueray and tonic.
Chaser Immediate consumption: Anything or pure beverage consumed immediately after drinking alcohol
Chill: Add ice to the glass or place the glass briefly in the refrigerator or cooler to serve the cocktail into a cold glass
Copening closing time: for example, closed all night
Cocktail: An alcoholic mixed drink that may be a mixture of spirits or one or more spirits with other ingredients such as water, soda, juice, or flavored syrups
Comp Delete: An item removed from a customer's bill
Cooler: An alcohol-based, pre-mixed bottled drink available in a variety of alcohols: vodka, rum, wine in a variety of flavors such as Smirnoff Ice, Wildberry cooler, Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Corner Corner: A phrase that bartenders or servers will say when turning a blind corner to prevent collisions with unseen employees
Dash: a few drops of an ingredient (usually a cocktail ingredient)
Dirty: Add olive juice to your martini
Double: A drink with twice the alcohol content required by the standard recipe
Double Shift: A work schedule that requires both day and evening shifts
Dry: The reduction of vermouth in a martini
Deep waiting: For example, 2deep, 3deep, etc., refers to the number of people waiting in line at the bar to get drinks.
Finger: A unit of measurement equal to the width of a person's finger
Flame: To ignite a drink; sambuca is often lit and heated before drinking. Another common flaming liquor is 151 rum, which is very flammable. Do not light a drink unless you are a trained professional.
Float: A liquor, mixture, or syrup that is slowly poured over a drink to create a layered effect
Free pour: Pour wine directly into a glass without using a measurer or shot glass; usually done by experienced bartenders who can rely on intuition to pour accurately
Frost Glass: Soak glass in water, drain, then place in refrigerator; often used with beer glasses
Garnish Garnish: Added to a drink to add flavor or aroma or enhance the appearance of the drink, such as orange peel, cherry, etc.
High top: A higher table near a bar for cocktail waiters or cocktail mixologists.
Highball: Liquor mixed with soda water, served in a highball (tall, thin) glass
In the weeds: A state when someone is so busy, often overwhelmed, that they cannot keep up and quality of service suffers
Jigger: A small, hourglass-shaped measuring device used by bartenders to accurately pour drinks.
Last call: Let customers know their last drink order before closing
Layering: A spirit or drink with a heavier alcohol at the bottom and a lighter alcohol floating on top; done by carefully pouring over the side of the glass or using a bar spoon
Long: A mixed drink served in a tall glass of considerable capacity, usually 6-9 ounces
Mise en Place requires beret: roughly translated as "everything in place," used to describe the bartender's working environment, with garnishes, cocktail straws, and napkins at the ready.
Mixer: A non-alcoholic substance that accompanies alcohol in a beverage; can be water, soda, juice, energy drink, etc.
Mixology: The Art of Making and Mixing Cocktails
Muddle : Muddle ingredients with a whisk, a special tool used to grind and crush ingredients into the bottom and sides of a glass
Neat: A drink straight from the bottle, usually served in a rocks glass; no ice, nothing
on the fly: When a drink is required immediately, usually because the original order was incorrect, unsatisfactory, or spilled, request "on the fly"
On the rocks: on the rocks, usually served in a glass on the rocks
Point: The part of a bar closest to the entrance; usually the most visited part of the bar and staffed by the best bartenders
Pony Shot Cup: 1 oz bullet cup instead of the standard 1.5 oz bullet cup
Premium premium liquor: premium alcohol or top-notch spirits (for example, the gin commonly used in bars is Beefeater, and premium liquor is Tanqueray)
Rim a glass: Moisten the rim of the glass and press in salt, celery salt, or sugar
Rocks glass: Also called an old-fashioned glass or lowball, it is the standard glassware for serving wine on the rocks.
Service bartender: A bartender who works at a service station and prepares drinks for customers who are not at the bar, i.e. restaurants, patios, cocktail areas, etc. They still have beverage server certification.
Shake: Shake drink ingredients in a shaker
Shooter: A small mixed drink, usually about 2-3 ounces
Shot Cup: Single-use 1.5 oz pure liquor
Sour: Equal parts lemon or lime juice and simple syrup to make whiskey sours, vodka sours, margaritas, etc.
Speed rail wine rack: A rack located behind the bar but facing the bartender that holds all of the most commonly ordered liquors
Spill: When a drink is not served to the guest because it was not prepared properly or was actually spilled
Stir: Use a bar spoon to stir drink ingredients
Straight up pour: A drink that is shaken or stirred then strained and served in a tall glass without ice
Strain: The act of pouring a drink into a glass after shaking or stirring, usually through a filter but also through the side of a shaker
Toddy: A liqueur brewed with hot water, often flavored with warm spices such as cinnamon, black pepper, and nutmeg
Top shelf: The highest quality and most expensive wine bottles are usually placed on the top shelf because they are not used frequently
Turn: When one guest gets up from a table and another guest sits down, it is called turning the table.
Twist: A thin, curly slice of citrus peel added to a drink for flavor or garnish, either directly in the drink or hung over the side of the glass
Virgin: a non-alcoholic drink
Well drinks: usually the lowest-cost drinks available in bars
Wet: A drink with less alcohol than a standard recipe