Toddy – Originally a hot drink made with spirits, sugar, spices such as cinnamon, cloves etc., and a lemon peel mixed with hot water and served in a tall glass.  Now Toddy also be served cold with ice with any combination of spices and spirits.

Tot – A small amount of any beverage, a ‘short shot’, ‘a touch’.

Sangaree – A tall drink containing chilled spirits, wine, or beer, sometimes sweetened and given a good dusting with grated nutmeg.

 Shooter – A straight shot of whisky or other kind of spirit taken neat.  Also called Neat.

Shrub – Spirits, fruits juices, and sugar, aged in a sealed container such as a cask or crock, then usually bottled.

 Sling – A tall drink made with lemon juice, sugar, and mint, usually served cold with club soda.  The most famous Sling is the Singapore Gin Sling.

 Smash – A short Julep made spirits, sugar and mint, usually served in an Old Fashioned glass.

 Sour – A short drink made of lemon or lime jiuce, sugar and spirits.  The Whisky Sour is the classic Sour.

 Swizzle – Originally a tall rum cooler filled with cracked ice that was swizzled with a long twig or stirring rod or spoon rotated rapidly between the palms of the hands to produce frost on the glass.  The Swizzle, a Carribean invention, is made with any kind of spirit today and is traditionally served in a tall highball or Collins glass.

 Syllabub – An old English recipe consisting of milk, cream, sugar & spices, blended with sherry, port, or Madeira to produce a very sweet, creamy mixture that is often served in a sherbet glass as a dessert.  In a more liquid form, it may be drunk like a Posset.

A combination of spirits, wine, sweetebers, flavourings, fruit garnishes, and sometimes various carbonated beverages mixed in and served from a large bowl to a number of people.  Individually made punches are called Cups.

On-The-Rock – Any wine or spirit poured over ice cubes, usually in an Old Fashioned glass.  Also called LowBall.

Pick-Me-Up – Any concoction designed to allay the effects of overindulgence in alcoholic beverages.

 Posset – An old English invention consisting of a mixture of hot wine, milk and spices.  Eggs are often used, with or without milk, and ale was sometimes used in combination with wine or used in place of it.

Rickey – A drink made with gin or other spirit, lime jiuce, and club soda, usually served with ice in a small highball or Rickey glass, with or without sweetening.

Puff – A combination of spirits and milk mixed in equal parts and topped with club soda.  Usually served with old fashined glass.

Nightcap – Any drink that is taken immediately before retiring.  Milk punches, toddies, and short drinks such as liqueurs or fortofied wines are favoured.

Neat  – A straight shot of any spirit taken in a single gulpwithout any accompaniment.  Also called a Shooter.

Negus – A hot, sweet wine drink, with or without spices.

Mist – A glass packed with crushed ice to which spirits are added, usually straight.

Mulls – Wine or wine drinks that are heated and served as hot punches.  Also called mulled wine from the time when drinks were heated with red-hot poker, loggerhead, or flip iron.

Julep – An American venerable drink made of Kentucky bourbon, sugar, mint leaves, and plenty of crushed ice.   

Lowball – A short drink consisting of spirits served with ice alone, or with water or soda in a short glass.  Also called On-The-Rocks.

Grog – Originally mixture of rum and water that was issued to sailors in the Royal Navy and later improved with additional of lime juice and sugar.  Now Grog is a kind of drink, usually made with rum base, fruit, and various sweeteners, and served either hot or cold in a large mug or glass.

 Highball – Any spirit served with ice and club soda in a medium to tall glass.

 A combination of spirits (including wines) and flavorings, sweeteners, and garnishes of various kinds intended to be consumed before dining.  Today, the coctails term is used interchangeable with aperitif.  The usual cocktail recipe consists of a base. such as gin, whisky, rum, brandy, vodka or even a wine such as sherry, champagne, or in some cases a table wine; to which is added and accent spirit, e.g., triple sec, or a wine, e.g., Madeira; and often a sweetener (sugar syrup), and flavouring (orange juice) with or without garnishes (marraschino cherry).  The base, accent, sweetener (if required), and flavouring is the basic formula for almost all cocktails.  The exceptions are usually concoctions called cocktails that are no more like a cocktails than champagne is like a can of club soda.

Bang! – A term of our own invention used to identify double or tripple-flavour reinforced drinks such as Cherry Bang! Which is the combination of cherry juice, cherry liqueur and cherry brandy.

Cobbler – A tall drink traditionally served in a highball or Collins glass filled with finely crushed ice and decorated with fresh fruit and mint sprigs.  It may use any type of wine with or without sweetener.

Chaser – A mixer that is tossed down the gullet after one has drunk a straight shot of whisky or other spirit instead of being combined with a spirit in a glass.  Its mean, a shot glass of whisky followed by a beer chaser.

Collins – Basically a sour in a tall glass with club soda or seltzer water.  The famous Tom Collins made with gin has been extended to include everything from applejack (a Jack Collins) to Irish whisky (Mike Collins). 

Cooler – There are many recipes for coolers, which all have these things in common: true coolers are made with ginger ale, club soda, or other types of carbonated beverage, and the rind of a lemon or orrange, cut in a continuous spiral, with one end hooked over the rim of the glass.  All coolers are served in tall glasses such as Collins glass, which is sometimes called a cooler glass.

Crusta – A short drink of the sour type served in a glass that is completely lined with an orange or lemon peel cut in a continuous strip.  Any spirit may used as the base for this drink, but the Brandy Crusta was the prototype.

Cup – A punch-type drink that is made by the cup or glass instead of in a punch bowl.

Daisy – An oversize, sour-type drink sweetened with a fruit syrup such as rasberry and usually served in a large goblet with crushed ice and straws.

 Eggnog – A traditional Christmas holiday bowl containing a delectable combination of eggs, sugar, cream or milk, and brandy, rum or bourbon served cold in individual cupsin all its rich, creamy goodness.  There are many old and famous recipes, including the Tom and Jerry, which is a hot Eggnog.

Originally a reference to an aperitif wine, fortified and aromatized by the addition of various herbs and spices, it was traditionally drunk before the meals as stimulant to the appetite.  The term was also applied to various other wine concoctions of a proprietary nature such as Dubonnet, Byrrh, St Raphael, and bitter-based liqueurs like Camparri, Amer Picon, and even to bitters themselves such as Fernet Branca.  Now teh term emconposses pre-prandial spirits such as ouzo, Calisay, Pernod, Ricard, anesone; all kinds of coctails; and even white table wine, which has become popular as before-dinner drink in the US.  Today, what constitutes an aperitif is of less important than when it is imbibed.  In simple term, an aperitif is anything alcoholic taken prior to dining.

Fix – A sour type drink similar to the Daisy and traditionally made with pineapple syrup and served with crushed ice in a large goblet with straws (if required).

Fizz – There are many fine old recipes for Fizzes, which are, as the name suggests, product of the old siphon bottle that ‘fizzed’ the drink with a stream of bubbles as it was being made.  The Gin Fizz is typical and similar to the Tom Collins.

Flip – A creamy, cold drink made of eggs, sugar, and wine or spirit.  The best known are Brandy Flip and Sherry Flip.

Frappe – Anything served with finely crushed ice.