Up

Serving instruction

Up is an order for a drink that was chilled with ice, then strained, so it comes cold with no ice in the glass.

Also called: straight up

Method: Shaken or stirred with ice, then strained
Ice in the glass: None
Glass: Stemmed cocktail glass: coupe, Martini or Nick and Nora

What Up means

A drink served up is shaken or stirred with ice, then strained into a stemmed glass. The ice stays behind in the tin, so none reaches the glass. The method is the whole point.

Up gets mixed up with neat more than any other order, and the two sit at opposite ends on temperature. Neat is poured at room temperature straight from the bottle. Up is chilled, so it tastes colder and a little diluted from the shaking. If you want bourbon cold with no ice, order it up. If you want it at room temperature, order it neat.

Many people assume straight up always means up. In practice it usually means neat, so the phrase is loose. Skip it and say the word you want. Just saying up gets you a chilled drink, and the bartender knows what to pour.

How to order a drink up

Name the drink, then add up after it. Skip the word straight, since it can mean either order.

Manhattan, up.A stirred Manhattan, strained into a stemmed glass with no ice, so it arrives cold.
Margarita, up, with salt.A shaken Margarita, strained into a stemmed glass with a salt rim and no ice in the drink.
Bourbon, up.Bourbon chilled with ice, then strained so it arrives cold in a stemmed glass, with no ice.

Up compared

NeatNeat skips the ice entirely, so nothing gets chilled before the pour.
On the rocksOn the rocks keeps the ice in the glass. Up strains it out before the drink reaches you.
Straight upSome bartenders read straight up as up, so drop straight if you want the drink cold.
ChilledA spirit ordered chilled is stirred with ice and strained like an up drink, often into a rocks or shot glass.

Related terms

Put it to use in your next drink

Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.