Bartenders and spirits experts explain how drinking alcohol neat helps you develop a better appreciation for cocktails.
Tiffanie Barriere, a bartender and cocktail historian, believes that “when you know better, you taste better.” And drinking a spirit on its own, without any other ingredients, including ice, or “neat,” gives you a better idea of how it will work in a cocktail.
“Drinking neat has never been about getting tipsy fast,” she reflects. “It’s about taking the time to understand the value of the spirit in front of you, the way you would with wine, learning its layers, its patience, and maybe even a little more about yourself in the process.”
Barrriere co-hosted a lecture titled “Neat to Next Level: A Cocktail Exploration” at this year’s Food & Wine Classic in Charleston with High Wire Distilling creators Ann Marshall and Scott Blackwell, who are also recent Food & Wine Drinks Visionaries. During the event, the three led guests through a spirits tasting and demonstrated how to appreciate them neat and in cocktails.
The spirit selection includes select expressions from High Wire Distilling’s repertoire, including Hat Trick Gin, Jimmy Red Bourbon, the flagship spirit made from revived heirloom corn, Southern Amaro crafted from regional botanicals, and a special Peach Brandy bottling.
“We’ve known Tiffanie for many years, and she’s very familiar with our offerings,” Blackwell states. “We trust her infinitely with our spirits,” Marshall says. “Her passion and enthusiasm for her craft is contagious, and it has been a joy to see our careers evolve alongside each other over the last decade.”
Barriere devised a simple drink to highlight each featured spirit. The goal was to appreciate the spirit first, then try it in a cocktail to grasp its purpose. “Each of these bottles tells a story of Southern craft and curiosity, and that’s what I want the audience to taste,” Barriere adds.
To emphasize the delicate botanicals in Hat Trick Gin, a Bee’s Knees cocktail was made with fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, and the spirit. To highlight the unusual Jimmy Red Bourbon, Barriere produced a basic Old Fashioned with sorghum syrup and Angostura bitters, and he combined High Wire’s Southern Amaro with homemade peach syrup and fresh lemon juice to resemble a (bitter)sweet tea.
“These choices came from wanting to show range — from bright and floral to grounded and soulful — while celebrating the ingenuity happening right here in the South,” Barriere recalls.
Sipping the liquor neat beforehand was critical to predicting how it would behave in each drink.
“Our spirits are all made with a culinary approach, and we love surprising people with neat pours so they can better understand the complexity and build of the base spirit,” according to Marshall.
Quality spirits ought to be enjoyed, whether on their own or combined into a cocktail.
“We love when people are able to understand the nuances of a neat pour and envision ways to modify traditional cocktail recipes to create something interesting and well-suited to the spirit.”
To summarize, there is no incorrect way to enjoy a spirit. It does not have to be either-or. Though Barriere is a cocktail connoisseur, she appreciates the mindfulness of sipping a single alcohol. “Drinking neat means slowing down, not speeding up. It is appreciation, not excess. “Neat is neat — and honestly, it’s cool as hell,” she states.
