There are times when ordering whiskey in a bar can draw all sorts of attention your way,
and not the good kind.
Before your next night out, you should know that there are some whiskey-based drinks you
should never consider ordering in public, unless you want to completely embarrass yourself.
Ordering an Irish Car Bomb in a bar is the perfect way to make yourself look both culturally
insensitive and totally immature at the same time, which was probably not the look you
were going for when you went to the bar.
In case you've never been to a college party where Irish Car Bombs were the drink of choice,
you should know that this drink is more about the show than the taste.
The drink is both a drink and an activity: You're meant to drop a shot glass filled with
Jameson Irish Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream into a Guinness.
Then it's chugged as quickly as possible because once the whiskey, beer, and cream come together,
it turns into a science experiment and the whole thing begins to curdle.
Is your stomach turning yet?
If not, it will be once all that hits your stomach.
But even if that all sounds like fun, you should know that the Irish Car Bomb is not
a thing in Ireland at all.
In fact, you could be perceived as a major jerk if you order one there, because deadly
car bombs were a painful reality of the country's past political and religious conflict.
The drink may not be named after the Bloody Friday attack on Northern Ireland, but Eater
says many Irish people still take offense at the name.
"No, no, no, no Jager bombs."
"Okay. Fine. Irish Car Bomb."
"No!"
"Sake bomb?"
"No! Nothing with bombs in the name, okay?"
The next time you're out at a bar, tell the bartender to hold the ice when you order an
expensive shot of whiskey.
There are lots of ways to enjoy your drink, but as HuffPost points out, whiskey should
be served neat in a snifter in order to get the best experience.
You may not necessarily get laughed out of a bar in the United States for ordering ice
with your whiskey, but the BBC travel section suggests that ordering whisky on the rocks
in Scotland will make you, quote, "the subject of ridicule."
"Scotch on the rocks.
And I mean ice!"
A glass of room temperature alcohol may not be the most refreshing experience on a summer
night out, but while a few cubes of ice will chill your drink, they'll also dilute the
intensity of the flavor as they melt.
If you're going to add anything to your whiskey, try adding a few drops of water, which will
enhance the flavor of your drink without reducing any of the cool factor, according to Town
& Country.
Of course, in the comfort of your own home, you can enjoy whiskey on the rocks without
the "rocks" ruining the flavor of your drink.
Because they can literally be rocks.
Keeping whiskey stones in the freezer will get you the cool liquid and clank of ice without
a watered-down drink.
There are no rules that say your days of downing shots have to end when you move out of the
fraternity house.
But the Three Wise Men is a whiskey shot that may make serious whiskey connoisseurs clutch
their pearls.
The recipe for Three Wise Men calls for equal parts Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam, and Jack Daniel's
to be combined into one seriously strong whiskey shooter, according to Cool Material.
Considering that you're drinking a bourbon, a Tennessee whiskey, and a Scotch whisky all
in one shot, you definitely aren't ordering this drink to experience the flavor of each
distinct distillation.
And, no self-respecting whiskey-drinker would combine these names into one absurd shooter.
Plain and simple, you're ordering this drink to get drunk, and fast.
And you could do that with something that hasn't been aged in a barrel for years.
If you really want to double-down on this drink, Spruce Eats recommends the Three Wise
Men Go Hunting shot, an even stronger variation that adds Wild Turkey to this already ridiculous
concoction.
A whiskey sour, made with bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup, is a perfectly respectable
drink for a person who is just starting out on the bar scene.
It's easy to order, easy for the bartender to make, and fairly easy to handle.
But it's often considered a beginner's drink, and it may lead to some judgmental looks.
As one bartender told the Times Free Press, any person who orders this sweet whiskey cocktail
at the bar is definitely going to be judged as an inexperienced drinker, which could be
pretty embarrassing for someone who is trying to play it cool.
If you love your whiskey sours and just can't bear to switch to a new drink, HuffPost recommends
adding an egg white to this classic cocktail to make it feel a little more mature.
Or maybe save the whiskey sours for when you're at home, and ask your favorite bartender to
help you find something a little more sophisticated.
Jack and Coke is just what it sounds like: It's made by adding the cola of your choice,
not just Coke, to a glass of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey on ice.
The drink, which gives you a nice buzz with a bonus dose of caffeine, was the original
Red Bull and vodka before the energy drink was even invented, as Cool Material notes.
The site also included this cocktail on its list of drinks that a person should never
order after reaching the age of 30.
But there's a reason to reconsider your order other than your age.
While you may not be embarrassed to order a Jack and Coke at the bar, it can have ill
effects on your health.
Researchers at Brown University conducted a study which found that participants who
drank brown liquor were more intoxicated and reported worse hangovers than those who drank
the same amount of vodka.
And all that Coke does, besides shooting the calorie count up dramatically, is make it
easier for you to down a lot more Jack Daniel's than you would if you were drinking it straight.
"Gods, what a stupid name."
If you order an Alaska Duck Fart, expect that just about everyone, including your bartender,
will never take you seriously ever again.
According to the Anchorage Press, the drink was first created at the Anchorage bar Peanut
Farm.
The sound the customer made after drinking the creamy cocktail for the first time is
among the theories of how the drink got its silly name.
Besides its ridiculous name, the Alaska Duck Fart is a dieter's worst enemy.
The drink is made with Crown Royal, Irish cream, coffee liqueur, whole milk, ice cream,
and whipped topping, according to Tipsy Bartender.
It's really more of an adult milkshake than a cocktail.
If you aren't counting calories and you can manage to give the bartender your order with
a straight face, you are in for a tasty boozy treat.
The food blog My Incredible Recipes calls the drink "amazing" and, quote, "probably
the best drink I have ever had."
But maybe stick to making this one at home.
According to Esquire, the traditional Old Fashioned recipe calls for bourbon or rye
whiskey, bitters, a muddled sugar cube, and club soda.
It's a classic drink.
But ordering an Old Fashioned at a bar that doesn't specifically have it on the menu may
put you on seriously bad terms with your bartender.
Making the perfect Old Fashioned can be a lot of work, largely because of that muddled
sugar cube.
It could be seriously stressful for an already overworked bartender during the happy hour
rush.
And as Westword points out, bartenders are likely to give you some serious stink eye
if you ask them to, quote, "make it the right way."
And upsetting the bartender should be enough to embarrass anyone.
"Apple Jack" sounds more like something you would eat with milk while watching your favorite
Saturday morning cartoons than a mixed drink, but, believe it or not, it is a real cocktail.
The recipe, which can be found on the Jack Daniel's website, combines Jack Daniel's Old
No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey with apple juice.
The cocktail is served over ice and is finished with an apple slice for garnish.
No matter how amazing the apple juice flavor pairs with the caramel and spice notes of
the whiskey, this is not a drink you want to order at your company's holiday party.
People are going to judge, regardless of how it might taste.
If you're looking for a grown-up and well-known whiskey cocktail, try a mint julep instead.
Let's get one thing straight: Ordering a drink named after drug paraphernalia is the opposite
of cool.
Which is why you should definitely be embarrassed to go into a bar and ask for a "crack pipe"
shot.
But someone out there is doing it, and they should be embarrassed.
According to Tipsy Bartender, the crack pipe shot is made with equal parts Wild Turkey,
Rumple Minze, and 151-proof rum, and as the name implies, all that is going to hit you
pretty hard.
Some bottles of Wild Turkey bourbon whiskey are 101-proof, Rumple Minze peppermint schnapps
is 100-proof, and 151-proof rum is, well, 151-proof.
So this is not a shot for a novice drinker, or any drinker who wants to remain standing,
really.
It doesn't even bother adding fruit juice or soda to make it go down smoother, probably
because there's not much that can make that happen for this one.
One shot contains enough alcohol to keep you going throughout the night, but of course,
no one doing a crack pipe shot is going to stop at just one, and will likely have to
hear some pretty embarrassing stories the next day.
If the name isn't enough to make you not order it, the probable aftermath should be.
According to Difford's Guide, the drink we know today as the Alabama Slammer was born
on the University of Alabama campus in the late 1960s as a fruity shot before it became
a full-fledged cocktail.
The Alabama Slammer recipe is a marriage of Southern Comfort, amaretto,
sloe gin, and orange juice in a cocktail that resembles a beautiful sunset but tastes
more like a juice box than a stiff drink.
The brightly-colored drink even made it to the big screen in the classic film Cocktail,
which made almost every guy want to be a bartender.
In the movie, Tom Cruise's character, Brian Flanagan, the Last Barman Poet, gave the pretty
and fruity drink a shout out in his famous poem scene in the film.
"The Schnapps made from peach.
The Velvet Hammer.
The Alabama Slammer!"
Sure, the Alabama Slammer has experienced boosts in popularity over the years, and can
still be found on the menu of practically every dive bar and restaurant chain in America,
especially in Alabama, but that doesn't mean you should order it.
As Waiter Rant says, ordering this drink means that,
"[You've] read the 'Have a Cocktail' placemat at the diner once too often."
Either that, or you're a 22-year-old girl on spring break with your besties in South
Beach.
Southern Comfort typically shares shelf space with various whiskeys, leaving lots of people
to think that it's just one of the guys.
But as HuffPost points out, it is technically a whiskey-flavored liqueur with fruit and
spice.
So whiskey snobs are going to hold that against you to begin with.
When it's not served neat or on the rocks, Southern Comfort, or SoCo as it's affectionately
nicknamed, is often paired with fruit mixers like orange and cranberry.
SoCo and lime is one of the most popular combinations, and it's usually meant to be a shooter with
a lime garnish.
Once you leave college, you should probably leave this drink behind.
This is especially true if you were known to make bad decisions after downing a few
of these citrusy shots.
Like Jack and Coke, the SoCo and lime shot made Cool Material's list of drinks you should
never order after age 30.
Leave the sweetened not-even-actual-whiskey shooters to the college kids.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Mashed videos about mixology are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.