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 Message 9247 of 22774 in Behind the Bar
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Subject: Re: Newbie seeking knowledge
From: IffyB
Posted: Sun Nov 6. 2005, 02:52 UTC
Followup to: "Re: Newbie seeking knowledge"  by Natrone  (Fri Nov 4. 2005, 04:22 UTC)
> > Last question... it's really bugging me... and instead of just 
> > looking it up i'll post it up here and see if someone responds... 
> > Is "straight up" and "neat" the same thing or does straight up mean 
> > they want it "up."
> 
> This is a trickier question than it should be.  I was taught that 
> "straight up" is the same as "neat".  Sometimes people interpret 
> "straight up" as chilled with ice (normally stirred or shaken) and 
> strained but then that is what should happen when you ask for "over 
> and up" which is short for "over ice and served up".  I don't know 
> why both expressions would mean the same thing so I lean towards 
> "straight up" as being served neat.

So the other night I am at a posh restaurant wine bar in San Francisco for a 
release party for a project I've been working on. In the lobby bar, I decide 
I'd like a Daiquiri, my favorite basic drink, so I ask for one - the bartender 
looks at a loss for a moment and then says "We don't do those here." Fine, no 
problem, I ordered a Maker's Manhattan instead, which he made without question 
- little on the sweet side, pretty sure he used cherry juice. Anyway, later on 
in the evening, the server brings a Mojito to this girl I'm sitting next to... 
Which seems awfully similar to a Daiquiri but with more work involved. So, I'm 
guessing he thought I meant a blended Daiquiri...

SO, I realized my ordering method was insufficient, since he didn't ask for 
clarification or give me what my options were. My instinct was that I should 
have ordered a "Daiquiri straight-up", since blended Daiquiris are normally 
served up as well, I couldn't just say "served up." But I also thought that 
straight-up meant neat, so if I had, I would have sounded like the boorish 
ignorant philistine that I actually am. It appears like I should have asked 
for a "Daiquiri over-and-up"...  But I've personally never heard that before, 
so I'm wondering how many bartenders would know what I'm talking about if I 
ask for that...

-- 
-If


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