Cocktail glossary
Bar terms, techniques and glassware explained, with recipes to put them into practice.
B
C
- CobblerA cobbler is a wine or sherry drink shaken with sugar, poured over crushed ice and piled with fresh fruit.Style
- CocktailA cocktail is a spirit mixed with sugar, water and bitters, as the first printed definition described it in 1806.Style
- CollinsA collins is a sour lengthened with soda water and served long over ice in a tall glass.Style
- CordialA cordial is a sweet ingredient whose meaning depends on the country: a liqueur in the US, a non-alcoholic syrup in the UK.Category
D
F
- FizzA fizz is a cocktail of shaken spirit, lemon and sugar, topped with soda water and served with no ice.Style
- FlipA flip is a spirit or fortified wine shaken with sugar and a whole egg, then topped with grated nutmeg.Style
- Fortified wineA fortified wine is a wine with distilled spirit added, which raises its strength to about 15 to 22% ABV.Category
- Frozen cocktailA frozen cocktail is a drink blended with ice until it is thick and slushy, usually built from a spirit, citrus and syrup.Style
H
J
L
- LiqueurA liqueur is a spirit with added sugar and flavor, usually between 15 and 30% ABV, sweeter and lower in strength than most spirits.Category
- Long drinkA long drink is a drink style with a spirit and a bigger share of mixer over ice, and a short drink is the stronger opposite.Style
- Low-ABV cocktailA low-ABV cocktail is a mixed drink built on vermouth, sherry or a bitter aperitivo, so it has less alcohol than a spirit drink.Style
M
- Milk punchMilk punch is a punch clarified with milk, so the curds strain out and leave a clear, silky drink.Style
- MixerA mixer is the non-alcoholic part of a drink, such as soda, juice, dairy or syrup, added to a spirit.Category
- MocktailA mocktail is a cocktail-style drink with no alcohol, built on a base, citrus, syrup and soda.Style
O
P
R
S
- ShooterA shooter is a small mixed drink of two or more spirits, liqueurs or juices, meant to be drunk in one or two gulps.Style
- ShrubA shrub drink is a syrup of fruit, sugar and vinegar, usually mixed with soda water over ice.Style
- SlingA sling is an old cocktail of spirit, sugar and water, usually served over ice with grated nutmeg.Style
- SmashA smash is a short drink of spirit, muddled mint or fruit, and sugar, shaken and strained over ice.Style
- SourA sour is a spirit shaken with citrus and sugar, and sometimes with egg white for a foamy top.Style
- Sour mixSour mix, also called sweet and sour mix, is a mixer of citrus juice and sugar used to make sour-style drinks.Category
- SpiritA spirit is a strong alcoholic drink made by distilling a fermented base of grain, fruit, vegetables or sugar.Category
- SpritzA spritz is a light drink of sparkling wine, a bitter aperitivo such as Aperol, and soda water over ice.Style