# How are you supposed to serve whiskey?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 2, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270 "2004-06-02T15:57:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/21 "2004-06-02T21:04:33Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#):
>
> But, but, but, what if they ask for coke in the Talisker you just poured them…
Then YOU drink the Talisker and pour THEM a warm Tab and Sambucca. It’s not like they would notice the difference.
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### Author:  [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/22 "2004-06-03T00:11:43Z")
Serve it neat. Then bring them a glass of ice water or soda on the side. Unless they specify with a splash of this or that. You never assume they want anything **in** the tumbler except whiskey.
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/23 "2004-06-03T00:37:53Z")
I missed it before, but the correct answer to the OP title question is
often
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### Author:  [@J\_String](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_String)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/24 "2004-06-03T00:57:12Z")
**(Note: If it does not have Gin and Vermouth, then it is not a martini; it is a cocktail. Got that “Sex in the City” fans and James Bond wannabes?)**
To make that a little clearer to all you young bartenders (the older ones seem to know better), when I ask for a martini, do not reply with “gin or vodka?” If I want a **vodka** martini, I’ll ask for one.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/25 "2004-06-03T00:57:51Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#):
>
> I learned the following from a Scottish first mate I used to drink with when I lived in Spain. Whisky and water at room temperature, about 1/3 water to the whisky. If stronger, it tastes too much of alcohol and the flavours doesn’t all come out. A tulip shaped glass is the best.
>
> Drinking it straight or with a drop of water was only “something sissies do, thinking it’s gonna put hair on their chests,” according to said native from Dundee. He claimed this is the way it’s supposed to be had, and that “everyone at home drinks it the same way.” I’ve stuck to his advice, and thinks it makes a lot of sense.
>
> Anything but single malt isn’t whiskey, and should be avoided - even in mixed drinks. Whisky+Coke or Ginger Ale or Soda is disgusting.
I’ve only heard this to be true with cask strength whiskey. 1/3 water to 2/3 whisky sounds a bit much to me otherwise. But if it works for you, that’s fine. As long as you keep rocks out of the equation, I’m all for it. When I lived briefly in Scotland, I was taught to take whisky with just the smallest splash of water, if not neat.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/26 "2004-06-03T01:23:40Z")
Up, with a water back, of course. 😃
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/27 "2004-06-03T15:22:16Z")
> [@J String](#):
>
> **(Note: If it does not have Gin and Vermouth, then it is not a martini; it is a cocktail. Got that “Sex in the City” fans and James Bond wannabes?)**
>
> To make that a little clearer to all you young bartenders (the older ones seem to know better), when I ask for a martini, do not reply with “gin or vodka?” If I want a **vodka** martini, I’ll ask for one.
I still maintain that there is no such ting as a vodka martini, the whole thing is a sham thought up by the marketing department of Schmirnov.
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### Author:  [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/28 "2004-06-03T17:33:02Z")
I’ll whole-heartedly second the notion that Citadelle is THE gin of choice for a martini.
I have a question about glassware for whiskey though. Why is a brandy snifter not traditionally used for whiskeys? It seems to me that all the reasons that make that glass ideal for brandy/cognac would make it equally suitable for whiskey.
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### Author:  [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/29 "2004-06-03T20:12:49Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#):
>
> I learned the following from a Scottish first mate I used to drink with when I lived in Spain. Whisky and water at room temperature, about 1/3 water to the whisky. If stronger, it tastes too much of alcohol and the flavours doesn’t all come out. A tulip shaped glass is the best.
Just make sure you put the water in the glass first. When you add water to whisky, you are making your whisky taste worse. When you add whisky to water, you are making your water taste better!
😉
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### Author:  [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/30 "2004-06-03T22:32:51Z")
A few drops, at most, in my single malts, thank you.
And I have to agree with the other martini posters: fancy martinis are cocktails, period. Nothing wrong with a vodkatini (I like one now and again), but it ain’t the classic martini. My point of unorthodoxy on martinis is that I don’t like olives; I use an onion pickled in vermouth (much like myself!).
Oh–and stirred gently, not shaken. I know it’s gong well if I get frost appearing on the outside of the martini pitcher.
Has anyone tried that new Scottish gin, Hendrick’s?
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### Author:  [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/31 "2004-06-03T23:32:35Z")
I don’t like Scotch. I don’t like Gin, either.
So, if you are serving that whisky to me, it needs to be either Bushmill’s (preferably single malt) Irish Whisky, as is, in a glass, thank you.
Or, really good bourbon, with pure water, about equal parts, no ice, thank you.
Shape of the glass is less important than the size. About a four or six ounce glass, with about an ounce or two of whisky.
Tris
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### Author:  [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/32 "2004-06-03T23:44:45Z")
A note: “whiskey” is generally used to refer to Irish, American or Canadian liquor, while “whisky” is the spelling prefered for Scotch.
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### Author:  [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/33 "2004-06-03T23:59:33Z")
I guess I’m going to be called a heretic for actually preferring Seagram’s gin to the more expensive Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire. Ah well, I likes what I likes.
And I can’t stand anything more whiskey-like than Southern Comfort. I can’t even drink a weak Jack & Coke without holding my nose.
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### Author:  [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/34 "2004-06-04T05:07:46Z")
About twice a year, I’m in a position to drink while out. I always order the best whisk(e)y available, neat. I always get looked at as if I have three heads. And then the server asks, "What’s ‘neat?’ " Is it just me? Or is this word actually meaningless to the world at large, implying that I’m a relic?
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/35 "2004-06-04T05:22:11Z")
Much dogma here!
I like my whisky neat and straight, as do most true con-a-sewers (heh), but when a malt I’ve bought doesn’t really do it for me, it goes into my Rob Roy bottle in the freezer and meets a bitters and vermouth fate.
Not all malts are great, not all blends deserve only to be mixed. Every try The Baillie Nichol Jarvie? Or Teacher’s Highland Cream, my fave blend of all.
You can drink malt over ice, too. Why not? I don’t prefer it that way, but malt is just another whisky, unless it stands above. But a good malt on ice is going to be better than a crappy malt on ice, so if you like it icy, I say go for it.
Whisky and water, whisky and soda. Not my drinks, but with plenty of tradition behind them.
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### Author:  [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/36 "2004-06-04T05:32:33Z")
> [@hammerbach](#):
>
> About twice a year, I’m in a position to drink while out. I always order the best whisk(e)y available, neat. I always get looked at as if I have three heads. And then the server asks, "What’s ‘neat?’ " Is it just me? Or is this word actually meaningless to the world at large, implying that I’m a relic?
I sometimes order “neat” as well. It depends on the bar whether I get the weird look or not.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2004, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/37 "2004-06-05T12:26:18Z")
I usually just say “no ice, no water.” It’s clear and no mistake is possible!
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/38 "2004-06-05T12:44:28Z")
> [@hammerbach](#):
>
> And then the server asks, "What’s ‘neat?’ " Is it just me? Or is this word actually meaningless to the world at large, implying that I’m a relic?
I always use the term “neat” (because it’s the correct term to use), and I’ve never had a bartender ask what it means. It’s pretty standard jargon, if the bartender has never heard it before there are probably a lot of other things he’s doing wrong. I’ll have to keep this in mind if ever I’m drinking in your neck of the woods.
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### Author:  [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-you-supposed-to-serve-whiskey/248270/39 "2004-06-05T12:53:06Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#):
>
> The kid on queer eye poured him a tumbler of whiskey. Full of ice, to the top. Like one would pour a soda.
I actually have had whiskey served to me in that manner 🙂
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