proost

Proost is the Dutch toast — "cheers" — but it comes with rules. You MUST make eye contact with each person as you clink glasses. Skipping this earns you (according to Dutch superstition) seven years of bad luck, or more commonly, seven years of bad sex.

The ritual: raise your glass, look each person in the eyes, say "proost," clink, take a sip, then set the glass down before eating. In a group, you go around to everyone. It takes time. That's the point.

The word comes from the Latin "prosit" (may it benefit), which also gave German its "Prost." The Dutch beer tradition runs deep — Amsterdam was home to hundreds of breweries in the Golden Age, and the bruincafé (brown café, named for tobacco-stained walls) remains the heart of Dutch social life.

The standard Dutch beer is a pilsner served in a small glass (a "fluitje" or a "vaasje") with two fingers of foam. Asking for a pint marks you as a tourist immediately.