Legend
What the numbers and shorthand on the sheets mean, and the bar terms worth knowing.
1 shot = 4-second pour
The numbers on the sheets are pour counts, not ounces: tip the bottle through a speed pourer and count one number per second.
- 1¼ shot · 1 second
- 2½ shot · 2 seconds
- 3¾ shot · 3 seconds
- 41 shot · a 4-second pour
- 51¼ shots · 5 seconds
- 61½ shots · 6 seconds
- 71¾ shots · 7 seconds
- 82 shots · 8 seconds
A count is timing, not volume: it assumes a speed pourer running free. Check yours against a jigger once and trust the count after that.
Reading a sheet
- No number
- Top it up: fill the glass with that mixer. Coke, soda, juice and sour usually have no count.
- 2 EA
- "2 each": that count of every spirit listed, not split between them. V,G,R,T - 2 EA is four separate 2-counts.
- 8 OZ.
- Ounces, printed on the sheet itself. Only the beer and Red Bull in the bomb shots are measured this way.
- A / B in a spirit column
- Either one, not both: GIN/VOD means the guest's choice of gin or vodka. Elsewhere a slash means both, like LEMON/SUGAR RIM.
- SOUR/7-UP, CRAN & SOUR
- In a mixer column, a slash or & means both mixers go in.
- X
- Marked in the first column: a must-know drink. These make up the Core bar drinks quiz deck.
- Acronym under a shooter
- The first letters of the pours, in order. K.I.C. is Kahlua, Irish cream (Baileys), Crown Royal.
Shorthand on the sheets
- V, G, R, T, B
- Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Bourbon (the spirits in the I.T. drinks)
- I.T.
- Iced Tea: the Long Island family
- EA
- Each
- SOUR
- Sour mix
- BAC 151
- Bacardi 151
- BL. CURACAO
- Blue Curaçao
- BLK. BRANDY
- Blackberry brandy
- CHERRY BRAN.
- Cherry brandy
- CPT. MORGAN
- Captain Morgan
- CR. NOYA
- Crème de Noyaux
- DK. COC.
- Dark crème de cacao
- LT. COC.
- Light (white) crème de cacao
- DRY VER / SWT VER
- Dry vermouth / sweet vermouth
- GOLDSCH.
- Goldschläger
- GR. MARNIER
- Grand Marnier
- GR. MINTHE
- Green crème de menthe
- IRISH WHISK.
- Irish whiskey
- JACK DAN.
- Jack Daniel's
- PEPP. SCH.
- Peppermint schnapps
- SO. COM.
- Southern Comfort
- VAN. VOD. / ORANGE VOD.
- Vanilla vodka / orange vodka
Glasses
- Bucket
- A wide tumbler for highballs and creams. The highball sheet says every drink on it goes in a bucket filled with ice.
- Martini
- Stemmed, V-shaped cocktail glass, served up: chilled, strained, no ice.
- Collins
- Tall, narrow glass, over ice: the Collins drinks, the Sloe Gin Fizz, the Singapore Sling and the Lynchburg Lemonade.
- Rita
- Margarita glass: wide, stemmed bowl.
- Pint
- Pint glass: the I.T. drinks and the Electric Lemonade.
- Rocks
- Short tumbler, over ice. Some shooters are served in one.
- Shot
- Shot glass: layered and straight shooters.
Bar terms
- Build
- Pour straight into the serving glass over ice, no shaking. Most highballs are built.
- Shake
- Shake hard with ice in a tin, then strain. Used for sours, creams and anything with juice or cream.
- Stir
- Stir with ice to chill without clouding. The classic way for spirit-only drinks like a Manhattan.
- Strain
- Pour through a strainer so the ice stays in the tin.
- Up
- Chilled and strained into a stemmed glass, no ice.
- Neat
- Straight from the bottle, room temperature, no ice.
- On the rocks
- Over ice.
- Top / fill
- Finish the glass with the mixer. Same as a cell with no number.
- Float
- Pour a last ingredient gently so it sits on top.
- Layer
- Pour each ingredient gently, often over the back of a spoon, so they stay in separate bands. The layered shooters.
- Rim
- Coat the rim of the glass, like the salted rim on a Salty Dog or the lemon and sugar rim on a Lemon Drop.
- Twist
- A strip of citrus peel, twisted over the drink to release the oil.
- Dry
- Less vermouth. Your Dry Martini is Gin/Vodka 7, Dry Vermouth 1.
- Extra dry
- Very little vermouth, or just a rinse. Your Extra Dry Martini has none: Gin/Vodka 8 and an olive.
- Perfect
- Equal parts dry and sweet vermouth, like the Perfect Manhattan: 1 and 1.
- Dirty
- With olive juice added. The Dirty Martini.
- Well / rail
- The house spirits kept in the speed rail. A well drink uses them.
- Call
- The guest names the brand: a Jack and Coke instead of a whiskey and Coke.
- Top shelf
- The premium bottles.
- Speed rail
- The rack of well bottles in front of the bartender at waist height.
- Double
- Twice the spirit, same mixer.
- Tall
- Served in a taller glass with more mixer, same spirit.
- Back / chaser
- A separate small drink served alongside, like a beer back.
- Splash / dash
- A small amount. A dash is a few drops, a splash a little more.
- Muddle
- Press fruit or herbs in the glass to release juice and oils.
- Bomb
- A shot dropped into a larger drink and drunk at once, like the Jager Bomb dropped into Red Bull.
- 86
- Out of it, or cut off. "86 the limes" means there are none left.