Q.
What does it mean to serve a drink neat, dirty, straight-up, or dry?
A.
In addition to avoiding shooters like Woo Woos and Buttery Nipples, knowing the proper lingo for serving or ordering a fine cocktail is lesson one in Drinking Like a Grown-up.
Neat means pouring liquor straight from the bottle into a glass, sans ice, mixer, or garnish.
Up/Straight up is a drink shaken or stirred with ice, strained, and served in a chilled glass.
On the rocks means the spirit or cocktail is poured over ice.
Dirty cocktails are mixed with the briny juice from bar olives.
Dry cocktails, typically gin or vodka martinis, are mixed with little (or no) vermouth.
-- Colleen Rush
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