> > 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 "straightup" and "neat" the same thing or does straightup mean
> > they want it "up."
>
> This is a trickier question than it should be. I was taught that
> "straightup" is the same as "neat". Sometimes people interpret
> "straightup" 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
> "straightup" 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