Neat

Serving instruction

Neat means a spirit poured straight from the bottle into a glass, with no ice, no mixer and no chilling.

Also called: straight

Temperature: Room temperature, not chilled
Ice, water or mixer: None
Typical pour: 1.5 to 2 oz (44 to 60 ml)

What Neat means

Order a whiskey neat and you get the spirit at room temperature with nothing added. No ice, no water, no shaking. It is how people taste a good bourbon, rum or brandy the way it left the bottle. A typical pour is 1.5 to 2 oz (44 to 60 ml), served in a Rocks glass or a small tasting glass.

The confusion starts with the words around it. Up means the drink was shaken or stirred with ice and strained, so it arrives cold. On the rocks means poured over ice. Straight up sits in between, and bartenders read it both ways, so a good one will ask which you mean.

People sometimes ask for a Martini neat when they want it cold. That gets them warm gin. Ask for a Martini up instead. A neat pour is also different from a Shot: it is the same unmixed spirit, but you sip it slowly instead of drinking it in one go.

How to order a drink neat

Name the spirit first, then add the word neat. If you like a few drops of water in whisky, ask for it on the side.

Rye, neat.About 1.5 to 2 oz (44 to 60 ml) of rye at room temperature, in a rocks glass, with nothing added.
Glenlivet 12, neat, water on the side.The whisky neat in a rocks or tasting glass, plus a small glass of water so you can add a few drops yourself.
Anejo tequila, neat.A room-temperature pour of aged tequila to sip slowly, usually in a rocks or tasting glass.

Neat compared

UpUp is shaken or stirred with ice, then strained into a stemmed glass, so it arrives cold. Neat is never chilled.
On the rocksOn the rocks is the spirit poured over ice. Neat has no ice in the glass at all.
Straight upStraight up usually means neat, but some bartenders hear it as up. Say neat or up and there is no mix-up.
ShotA shot is drunk in one go, often from a shot glass. Neat is the same unmixed pour, sipped slowly.

Related terms

Put it to use in your next drink

Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.