# Bourbon Drinkers: A Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [December 5, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001 "2010-12-05T04:26:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/21 "2010-12-05T21:48:19Z")
I wasn’t going to drink today, but now I’m thirsty… ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/22 "2010-12-05T22:02:56Z")
Just drink it straight from the bottle, avoids any confusion! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/23 "2010-12-06T02:42:37Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Funny, I’ve noticed that recently in a few bars around here … bourbon neat being served in a shot glass. I thought it was odd, but was content (enough) to sip it out of the shot glass. The glass isn’t forcing me to shoot it or anything. True. But the nice thing about a rocks glass is you can get your nose in there as you’re drinking and get a nice, healthy whiff of the bourbon, and it really does heighten the flavor and experience in general. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/24 "2010-12-06T02:45:40Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > I kinda get this. Local drinkers can conjure up a popular name for a drink that may not be known everywhere. Would it have been a faux pas to order a “vodka & grapefruit”? I’ve often thought that bartenders should have an internet connection behind the bar to be able to make the 9 million different cocktails out there. Yeah, I just call that drink a “gin & grapefruit” cuz I just don’t trust bartenders these days to know what a greyhound or its salt-rimmed cousin, the salty dog, is. ---
**Author:** ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/25 "2010-12-06T05:39:54Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > It is at the bars where I drink 🙂 > > To continue the hijack, try doing a 60/40 or 66/33 mix of the yellow and green versions (it works with the standard offerings, but is better with the VEP, of course). This is sort of a homemade version of the “Chartreuse Episcopal” that they put out a while back for their anniversary. It has a really interesting flavor profile. I’m a young’en (27), but I want to drink where you drink. All my favorite drinks are seriously old school - cider, Manhattans… I want to go out and try a Chartreuse Episcopal, but I have very little faith in the local bars… ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/26 "2010-12-06T06:00:17Z")
I like whiskey served in one of [these](http://www.source-werbeartikel.com/produkt/r/RA00035.jpg). It’s hard to tell the size here, but it’s larger than a shot class and about 1/3 the size of a rocks glass. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/27 "2010-12-06T07:04:31Z")
> [@Sehmket](#): > > I want to go out and try a Chartreuse Episcopal, but I have very little faith in the local bars… I guarantee you that none of your local bars will know what it is. FWIW, “Chartreuse Episcopal” is not the name of a drink; it was the name of a specific blend that the monks put out for their \-hundredth anniversary, and it is no longer available. The boys at the Zig Zag in Seattle got their hands on a bottle and then decided to reverse-engineer it. The proportions they came up with (60/40) really do taste remarkably like the official blend. But you’re best off just buying your own bottles and making it at home. Back to the bourbon thing: I don’t like straight whiskey, but I will admit that the practice of serving bourbon in a rocks glass with a single large spherical ice “cube” does intrigue me. The theory is that you start off with very cold ice and then the spherical shape minimizes the surface area, so it chills the drink and melts slowly, so you get a little water to open up the flavors without over-diluting the drink. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/28 "2010-12-10T11:11:17Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Don’t you have to go to school to be a bartender? Nope. (I’ve been a bartender before.) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/29 "2010-12-10T13:38:12Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > A greyhound is made with gin, you fool! Gin! The vodka intruders shall not win! They’ve corrupted the martini–we must stand & fight! There _are_ some very serious young bartenders in Houston. Here’s the [menu for Anvil](http://www.anvilhouston.com/menu/Anvil_Menu.pdf)–with just a sample of their full drink selection. They also offer The List of 100 Cocktails we all should sample. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/30 "2010-12-10T14:04:56Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > …If this happened to me, I’d have asked her to serve it in a tumbler… So. I saw ‘bourbon’ in the title and I thought, “I could go for some MOL humor right now.” I had no doubt that you would be posting within the first 10 posts. After many years of teetotaling, I decided to start drinking again. I like a double shot of straight tequila, warm. I was in Manhattan when the bartender taught me the proper way to order it (neat). When I’m home in East Bumbafuck Rochester, NY, I still try to order that way, all cool souding and shit. Never works. They chill my drink with ice, or serve it on the rocks or put lemons or limes all around it, they toss salt at me. WTF. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/31 "2010-12-10T14:30:10Z")
Try asking them for a “water back” with your bourbon next time, and see what you get… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/32 "2010-12-10T16:53:27Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > They’ve corrupted the martini–we must stand & fight! You’re the best. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > So. I saw ‘bourbon’ in the title and I thought, “I could go for some MOL humor right now.” I had no doubt that you would be posting within the first 10 posts. 😃 > [@ministryman](#): > > Try asking them for a “water back” with your bourbon next time, and see what you get… Uhh, you’d get a glass of water? Don’t tell me there’s confusion over what a water back is now. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/33 "2010-12-11T03:54:22Z")
Seriously, WTF. Thankfully I already had the glass of water before I ordered the bourbon so it wasn’t an issue for me. It’s not like bartenders are making brain surgeon wages here. How difficult could it be for a bar to have a well-educated bartender? I know there are bartending schools locally. Is there really no call for simple bar service anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/34 "2010-12-11T04:52:44Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > They’ve corrupted the martini–we must stand & fight! > > There _are_ some very serious young bartenders in Houston. Here’s the [menu for Anvil](http://www.anvilhouston.com/menu/Anvil_Menu.pdf)–with just a sample of their full drink selection. They also offer The List of 100 Cocktails we all should sample. I just found a new to-do list! That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to try a sidecar… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/35 "2010-12-11T05:01:27Z")
Well, I’m more of a Scotch drinker, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have to be a genius to know “neat” means “no fucking ice”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/36 "2010-12-11T06:24:43Z")
But you’d be surprised how many bartenders either don’t know it, or forget it when they make your drink. I had a never-to-be-sufficiently-damned bartender in San Antonio serve me 18 year old Macallan _on the rocks_! The waitress was a bit shocked when I flipped the ice cubes out of my glass with a spoon onto the table. Cowboys don’t appreciate good Scotch. ---
**Author:** ![LISAP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9e8a1a/32.png) [@LISAP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LISAP)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/37 "2015-02-01T19:00:44Z")
The norm around my area is this: straight-up means: straight out of bottle,nothing added; but chilled-whatever the method(straining through ice or refrig.) neat means: straight out of bottle @ room temperature ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/38 "2015-02-01T19:50:15Z")
I missed this one back in 2010 but I’d always thought that a neat bourbon was a 2oz pour, not the standard shot of 1.5oz. I just looked around and it seems that this isn’t [at all universal](http://rochesterstopshelf.com/2011/order-a-tall-neat-up-on-the-rocks/). Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/39 "2015-02-01T21:52:19Z")
Not any place I’ve been. To me, neat and up mean the same thing: liquor in a snifter or rocks glass straight from the bottle. No chilling, no diluting. I’ve never encountered any difference in the amount of liquor poured when the terms are used. Since I only patronize places with generous bartenders/owners, I get a healthy amount each serving. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001/40 "2015-02-01T22:21:22Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Few bartenders these days actually know a damn thing about bartending. > Ask for a Manhattan or a Rob Roy and you’ll most likely get a blank stare. > Used to be a bartender was a professional - now most are a pretty face and a c-cup. I agree. I asked for a Jim Beam neat and got a Manhatten. I can’t stand Vermouth and tasted it immediately. When I questioned the dunce who served it to me she gave me the deer in headlights look and said “isn’t that was neat means?” This was in an expensive hotel bar!:mad: A lot of bars, including those in high priced restaurants don’t make [Old Fashioned Cocktails](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBzIZ7cvBDY) correctly either. I had better not see you reach for a god damned bottle of Jero mix!:mad::mad: Some things are just regional though. Around here if I want bourbon with white soda I’ll ask for “Beam and sweet”. In a lot of other places in the U.S. they don’t know what the heck I’m asking for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bourbon-drinkers-a-question/563001.md?page=3)