# Top soda? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [August 26, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017 "2016-08-26T15:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/1 "2016-08-26T15:46:01Z")
I saw an ad for Hickey-Freeman clothing, which offered a recipe for a cocktail they call “The Hickey.” Yep, seriously. “A refreshing blend of gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, dill, cucumber and top soda.” I can’t find another hit for “top soda” in that context. I suppose it could mean “topped with soda water” for a bit of carbonation, but why not say that? Is there a bartending meaning that I’m missing or is it really that simple? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/2 "2016-08-26T15:47:19Z")
I think it’s that simple, a fairly meaningless adjective glossing up the list. Like “branch water” == plain, still, tasteless water, but I ain’t goin’ there. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/3 "2016-08-26T15:50:17Z")
Must be top up with soda. There’s a lot of drink recipes that end with that. “Shake up the gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, sugar and egg white (if using) in a cocktail shaker with a little ice and strain into a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes. Top up with soda water.” Must have slipped by all those editors who carefully check every detail of everything posted on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/4 "2016-08-26T16:03:06Z")
[Here’s the ad.](https://www.hickeyfreeman.com/) I’d guess they mean to top with soda water. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/5 "2016-08-26T16:18:27Z")
That’s might be what they meant, but it sure sounds like ‘top soda’ is an ingredient, not a direction or command. It’s a list of ingredients, not a way to make a drink. If it said ‘tumbler, half ice, add gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, cucumber then top with soda’ that would make (kinda) sense. (And I still can’t get ‘top soda’ to sit in there nicely) Maybe someone was trying too hard to be classy and end up with crappy unintelligible grammar. Wait, got it. Some googling revealed other drink recipes that also say ‘top soda’. As it turns out, it looks much better when it’s a list, not a sentence. For example **The Hickey** -Gin -Lemon Juice -Simple Syrup -Cucumber -Top Soda _Fill a tumbler with ice, add the din, lemon juice, and simple syrup, top with soda, garnish with cucumber_ That makes sense, that’s how I’m seeing it in some recipes, in others it seems to be understood, but it’s still part of a list, not a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/6 "2016-08-26T16:33:53Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/7 "2016-08-26T17:07:05Z")
We have top soda working on it right now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/8 "2016-08-26T18:21:14Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s might be what they meant, but it sure sounds like ‘top soda’ is an ingredient, not a direction or command. It’s a list of ingredients, not a way to make a drink. I’ll say this… I have some 8-10 cocktail books, and not a one lists “top soda” as an ingredient to any of their recipes, whether they’re standard, classic, old-school or tiki cocktails. They often say “top with soda” or something similar though. My guess is that someone had a sort of shorthand/pidgin cocktail recipe like you or \*\*TriPolar \*\*describe, and someone unfamiliar with cocktails translated that into an ingredient list, not realizing that the term “top soda” meant “top with soda water”, and not a specific ingredient called “top soda”. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/9 "2016-08-26T18:22:53Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > We have top soda working on it right now. WHAT soda? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/10 "2016-08-26T18:50:32Z")
> [@amateur barbarian](#): > > what soda? Top. Soda. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/11 "2016-08-26T20:02:12Z")
Once again, bottom soda gets overlooked. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/12 "2016-08-27T00:11:42Z")
That’s not a hickey, THIS is a hickey: > **[Greenlee - Hickey-Bending 1" Rigid (516), Bending (516) - Rebar Cutters And...](https://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-516-Hickey-1-Inch-Conduit/dp/B002JB000I)** > > Greenlee - Hickey-Bending 1" Rigid (516), Bending (516) - Rebar Cutters And Benders - Amazon.com ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/13 "2016-08-27T02:27:09Z")
Of COURSE it’s bloody “top off the glass with soda water.” I can’t imagine thinking it was anything else. Sounds like a lousy drink, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/14 "2016-08-27T02:31:31Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Of COURSE it’s bloody “top off the glass with soda water.” I can’t imagine thinking it was anything else. When I put “top soda” in Google I got hits for Coke. I can see people doing that. I really can. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/15 "2016-08-27T03:28:34Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > “The Hickey.” Yep, seriously. Looks like a variation of a [Rickey](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/57025/gin-rickey/), an absolutely classic cocktail. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > is it really that simple? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/16 "2016-08-27T04:06:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > When I put “top soda” in Google I got hits for Coke. > > I can see people doing that. I really can. But not schmott pipple, like you and me. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/17 "2016-08-27T04:19:11Z")
The thought of mixing gin and coke is not a pleasant one. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/18 "2016-08-27T07:08:56Z")
I just came in to say that Cock 'n Bull is my current top soda, goes great with cucumber vodka. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-soda/764017/19 "2016-08-27T07:42:00Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Looks like a variation of a [Rickey](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/57025/gin-rickey/), an absolutely classic cocktail. I was gonna say it sounded like a lime rickey with dill added. And _why_ dill, of all things?