How to Serve Drinks On the Rocks: 5 Tips for Serving Drinks With Ice

“On the rocks” means serving an alcoholic beverage in a cocktail glass with ice. Adding ice to a drink affects a drink primarily by keeping it cold and slightly diluting it over time.

Serving a blended scotch or high-proof malt whiskey on the rocks may seem like a relatively simple process, but in reality, serving a drink on the rocks leaves a lot of discretion to the bartender about how to prepare a drink. Here are a few tips to consider when serving drinks on the rocks:

1. 1. Don’t let drinks sit. If you’re bartending during a crowded happy hour or cocktail party, it’s imperative that you get iced drinks out as quickly as possible. The longer an on-the-rocks cocktail or spirit sits on your bar, the more diluted and watery it will be once it reaches your customer.
2. 2. Choose the right spirit. Cocktail and spirit purists have a lot of opinions when it comes to which drinks should be served on the rocks. Many Scotch whisky aficionados would balk at a fine single malt scotch being served with any ice, but they might ask for a blended scotch or cheaper brand of rye whiskey to be served on the rocks. Some drinkers prefer scotch on the rocks to cut the drink’s taste. Ultimately, the decision comes down to personal preference. As you experiment with various liquors and mixed drinks, you’ll start to develop your own rocks preferences and refine your cocktail palate.
3. 3. Always serve certain drinks on the rocks. Some drinks like a Tom Collins or Old Fashioned are always served on the rocks. It’s important that you serve these drinks with rocks unless you’re specifically asked not to.
4. 4. Use the appropriate type of ice. Though the regular ice you have in your freezer will work in a pinch, many bartenders and cocktail aficionados prefer to use specialty cocktail ice for their mixed drinks. Ice balls and ice mounds are designed to control the speed at which the ice melts. These types of ice melt slowly to keep a drink chilled without over-diluting. Whiskey stones are synthetic cubes that can be chilled in a freezer and placed in drinks, which allows you to cool the drink without diluting it.
5. 5. Serve drinks on the rocks in the right glassware or stemware. It’s important that bartenders choose the appropriate stemmed glass or cocktail glass to serve a spirit or mixed drink. A rocks glass is a tumbler that is often used for spirits served on the rocks and drinks like Old Fashioneds, Margaritas, and Negronis.

In addition to “on the rocks,” you’ll hear bartenders patrons refer to drinks as “neat” or “up.”

• Drinks served “on the rocks” are served with ice.
• “Neat” simply refers to a single spirit served at room temperature in an Old Fashioned glass.
• “Up” refers to a spirit or mixed drink that is mixed with ice (either stirred or shaken), then strained into stemware to keep the ice out of the final product.
• Sometimes you’ll hear patrons order drinks “straight up,” which is usually used interchangeably with the term “neat” to refer to a spirit served at room temperature.

Deciding whether to serve a drink up (chilled) or on the rocks (poured over ice) largely comes down to a matter of preference—with a few exceptions. Stirred and shaken cocktails come across differently when served over ice. Ice is beneficial for keeping your drink cool as you enjoy it, but it will also dilute over time. If you prefer to emphasize the way a spirit warms up over time and thus transforms the character of a cocktail, experiment with serving a drink up. Some drinks, like the Mojito, simply don’t work without being served on ice, but conundrums like those are just another potential avenue to innovate.

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