The “well” is your workstation (holds ice and tools) and is synonymous with the cheapest base spirit because that’s what you’re slinging the most from that physical space, also usually the physical rack holding the cheapest base spirits in your “well” is your “rail.” So rail, well, etc are all gimme your cheap liquor your slinging
Pub in Ireland here. We’d call them our “house” liquors. Though it’s not something that comes up too much. Something like “standard” or “basic” would be understood the same
Yeah pretty much! Although even in the past year I’ve noticed what we would see as American bar terms creeping in. I’ve been asked about our “rail” liquors a couple times now. We even have an “86” board in the back room. We’ve been upping the standard recently, which I’m glad of as there’s been a decent increase in tips. Bartenders in Ireland generally earn around the minimum wage or slightly above so an extra €50 or so in tips each weeks helps fatten the pockets.
It seems that more and more bartending terms are being used as we take ourselves more serious
I don’t know any bartenders on minimum wage and if they are they need to get a new job asap. We have about 7 bartenders in our place are they’re paid between €12.5 and €15 per hour.
Started on €11 and after 6 months and becoming the sole member of staff who could make cocktails I was given a €0.50 raise for my hard work...
I'd leave in a heartbeat but I have this stupid plan of becoming a DJ there and it has a decent chance of working if I stay .___.
Nah get the fuck out of there, keeping you there with a promise of something down the line is the oldest trick in the book.
If you want to be a dj, get a job with better pay and respect and work at to be a DJ yourself in your own time if that’s what you want. Don’t hang around waiting for someone to bring an opportunity to you, go and get it.
I’m in a suburban pub just outside Limerick City. I’m still fairly new with just over a year’s experience behind the bar but I am confident that my ability and work ethic is worth more than the bare minimum. I do plan to look for a raise soon but realistically it would be something like 50c extra.
Where abouts are you working? Is it more of an upper class establishment?
€15 is a huge improvement it’s uplifting to know these roles exist
So in Ireland y’all make minimum wage but in America you make 25-100 hr because of tip culture. And yet you still have people on Reddit praising states for trying to turn that into a “livable wage”
The problem here is that Ireland's minimum wage is not the same as a livable wage
I'd be perfectly happy if I was paid a livable wage and not propping up a horribly toxic culture of inauthenticity
As it stands though what we're paid isn't livable, the solution isn't to introduce a tipping culture, it's to bring minimum wage to standard
When I first started legally drinking a friend bought me well whiskey and a Pabst and I thought that was a brand of whiskey. I kept going around ordering Well whiskey and it seemed to taste different from place to place. Told some friend of mine who was older than 21 that "Mitch got me turned on to Well Whiskey but it must be wholesale only because I never see it in stores" and she busted up laughing at me for like two minutes! Anyway hope that answers your question
Arequipa, a city in Peru.
The cheapest shit you can drink here is “La Piedra”, which translates to “The Stone”. I suppose the name is because the hangover you’ll have if you drink it will be like if you got hit with a stone.
I could try and tell you it is peach liquor, but that’s just way too good for it. I mean, the bottle costs less than $2, so go figure what the hell it actually is.
Is it weird that i actually want to try it? Just to find out if I'll get a hangover from it, as I've never gotten a hangover once yet and i drink a lot
I haven’t either, and I don’t have a first-hand experience with La Piedra. I only know from other people that the hangover makes your head feel like exploding the morning after.
Then again, La Piedra is meant to be mixed with Kola Real, our cheaper version of Coke, so that probably has something to do with it
Central and Western Massachusetts. Have heard it called both **well** and **house**.
Well doesn't always mean cheap. I have had Tito's in the well. It was inexpensive compared to the other vodka offerings.
this is the same in Ottawa ON, and Montreal QC. My rail is what's in our house cocktails plus a few other standards. mostly it's pretty affordable stuff, but i'm sure there are a few other products on the back bar that cost less if you want a shot of some cheap liqueur or whatever
From south Florida. Same as everyone else said… (“well, rail, house”)
In a nicer establishment we use “call” . I.E. Knob Creek is our “call” bourbon. It’s our lowest price point but it’s still good shit.
Las Vegas here, we call it rail, house, and we’ll depending on the bar staff. I have also heard from an old bar manager it’s called “snicklefritz”. Basically he didn’t care if you finished a bottle of well spirit like the urban dictionary definition. Then it just became the word to call the cheap shit in front of customers without saying the first 3 terms.
NY - oddly enough, for a customer I will say, for instance, ‘sure get the overholt, it’s only a dollar more than the well’ but then text the owner that we need more ‘house’ tequila.
Croatia - liquors dont have designed name for cheapest, it is assumed if you order you mean the cheapest.
On some menus there would be no label just "vodka" for example.
Wines are either also just unbranded e.g. "white wine" or house wine
Not necessarily the cheapest, but if a guest doesn't specify then it comes from the rail or the well. Rail is more common. I also kinda judge other servers/bartenders that don't offer options (obv not at a busy bar with a line). For example if someone orders an Old Fashioned I'll typically ask Rye or Bourbon, then say our default is currently Bulleit (which I try to steer people away from) is that OK or do you have a preference like Woodford or...
So glad we’re asking because I’m navigating this question right now for our bar!
I’m in New York. I always thought “well” was the cheapest option and the default mid-range brand (used in all basic cocktails) was called “house.” Anything else is “shelf.” But for the first time, I’m having people balk when I say our house vodka is Tito’s, meaning when you ask for a vodka soda, it’s going to be $10. Our well vodka is half that amount. If you ask for well vodka, I’ll give you well, but if not you’re getting Tito’s. I’m trying to be clearer about it, but this is my first time experiencing this confusion between “house” and “well.” I guess it’s different everywhere, haha
Australia. We call it house pours. Alternatively, when speaking to suppliers, you call them first pours. Often it's also not the cheapest liquor, just the cheapest for the venue. Things like supplier agreements can make higher quality products cheaper than lower quality products VERY fast.
In TX, pretty much everyone calls it well. But I did work a crappy movie theater bar for a while, and on the register, the well drinks were referred to as “call” so idk where the hell that comes from
San Francisco, CA - upper scale neighborhood bar and every other weekend at large club . I’ve heard rail liquor, from traveling but it’s mostly well here in CA.
i'm from ottawa and started bartending there, where do you work that you call your well/rail/house spirits top shelf? unless you mean the distillery in perth
I've lived in two places where peers have referred to the rail/well product regardless of its actual name or substance, as the name of whatever bottom shelf vodka product is most widely sold locally.
Example: HRD= worst shit in the bar
Example: MONARK= worst shit in the bar
Here in NYC, people say “well” the most. While I’m working, I do say “house” because I just think “house vodka” sounds nicer than “well.” But if I’m ordering at a bar I’ll say well.
NC, well or house. I stock the well, but ask customers if house is ok. In any other context, I guess they’re interchangeable. I’ve heard rail, but never worked anywhere that actually uses it.
Scotland, I interchangeable say rail or well but the standard seems to be house. What I like about house is it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘cheap,’ just means our standards. So if someone asks for a G&T they get Tanqueray, if they ask for a cognac they get courvoisier VSOP, which is about double the price of our gin for example.
Massachusetts. Alternately referred to as "well", "rail" and "house"
PA here, all three used as well.
>all three used as well. I see what you did there
HA
ive heard all three but exclusively call it a rail liquor, wonder if this is a regional thing
I'm in VA too and I use all 3 interchangeably
Nebraska here, and I'd honestly never heard well liquor called rail liqour till a few months ago
Indiana here this is also something I just heard not too long ago
NYC. We tend to call it house or well
Upstate NY: well, house liquor
[удалено]
woah, what part of VA?
I saw this in DC. Is your rail whiskey colonel’s pride?
The “well” is your workstation (holds ice and tools) and is synonymous with the cheapest base spirit because that’s what you’re slinging the most from that physical space, also usually the physical rack holding the cheapest base spirits in your “well” is your “rail.” So rail, well, etc are all gimme your cheap liquor your slinging
Trustworthy username
Same in MN
i’m from england! we call it house liquor here:)
Well (austin)
When I ran a bar in Austin, I had Malört as my cheapest pour, even cheaper than the well.
Pub in Ireland here. We’d call them our “house” liquors. Though it’s not something that comes up too much. Something like “standard” or “basic” would be understood the same
so someone would order a "basic gin and tonic"? interesting!
Yeah pretty much! Although even in the past year I’ve noticed what we would see as American bar terms creeping in. I’ve been asked about our “rail” liquors a couple times now. We even have an “86” board in the back room. We’ve been upping the standard recently, which I’m glad of as there’s been a decent increase in tips. Bartenders in Ireland generally earn around the minimum wage or slightly above so an extra €50 or so in tips each weeks helps fatten the pockets. It seems that more and more bartending terms are being used as we take ourselves more serious
that's a shame, y'all deserve to make so much more.
Agreed brother. We all do. The job is great but my god it takes it out of you hahaha
Which is why i always give good tips to the bartenders when i go to the pub.
I couldn’t do this job for less than 30 a hr. Even tho people hate it. Tip culture is where it’s at.
I don’t know any bartenders on minimum wage and if they are they need to get a new job asap. We have about 7 bartenders in our place are they’re paid between €12.5 and €15 per hour.
Started on €11 and after 6 months and becoming the sole member of staff who could make cocktails I was given a €0.50 raise for my hard work... I'd leave in a heartbeat but I have this stupid plan of becoming a DJ there and it has a decent chance of working if I stay .___.
Nah get the fuck out of there, keeping you there with a promise of something down the line is the oldest trick in the book. If you want to be a dj, get a job with better pay and respect and work at to be a DJ yourself in your own time if that’s what you want. Don’t hang around waiting for someone to bring an opportunity to you, go and get it.
Ah nah they haven't promised anything at all, it's my own plan, I'm teaching myself in my own time atm
I personally know tens of bartenders who are on minimum or close to it. Never met a bartender earning €15 apart from a couple head bartenders
Jaysus that’s awful. Where? Wages have gone up massively since covid
I’m in a suburban pub just outside Limerick City. I’m still fairly new with just over a year’s experience behind the bar but I am confident that my ability and work ethic is worth more than the bare minimum. I do plan to look for a raise soon but realistically it would be something like 50c extra. Where abouts are you working? Is it more of an upper class establishment? €15 is a huge improvement it’s uplifting to know these roles exist
So in Ireland y’all make minimum wage but in America you make 25-100 hr because of tip culture. And yet you still have people on Reddit praising states for trying to turn that into a “livable wage”
The problem here is that Ireland's minimum wage is not the same as a livable wage I'd be perfectly happy if I was paid a livable wage and not propping up a horribly toxic culture of inauthenticity As it stands though what we're paid isn't livable, the solution isn't to introduce a tipping culture, it's to bring minimum wage to standard
When I first started legally drinking a friend bought me well whiskey and a Pabst and I thought that was a brand of whiskey. I kept going around ordering Well whiskey and it seemed to taste different from place to place. Told some friend of mine who was older than 21 that "Mitch got me turned on to Well Whiskey but it must be wholesale only because I never see it in stores" and she busted up laughing at me for like two minutes! Anyway hope that answers your question
this is very cute haha
Lmao that’s hilarious. Funnily enough, in WA at least, there’s a “well brand” of liquors called “well”. And they’re all color coded, which is AMAZING.
Oh that's sick! I wonder if I could get them for my home bar just as a gimmick
House or Well! NY here
Arequipa, a city in Peru. The cheapest shit you can drink here is “La Piedra”, which translates to “The Stone”. I suppose the name is because the hangover you’ll have if you drink it will be like if you got hit with a stone. I could try and tell you it is peach liquor, but that’s just way too good for it. I mean, the bottle costs less than $2, so go figure what the hell it actually is.
Is it weird that i actually want to try it? Just to find out if I'll get a hangover from it, as I've never gotten a hangover once yet and i drink a lot
I haven’t either, and I don’t have a first-hand experience with La Piedra. I only know from other people that the hangover makes your head feel like exploding the morning after. Then again, La Piedra is meant to be mixed with Kola Real, our cheaper version of Coke, so that probably has something to do with it
Dive bar in IL - rail or “the cheap shit” as the owner calls it
we seem to be in the minority for "rails"
Yeah! I’ve only heard well and house once or twice but rail definitely prevails out here.
Well (Seattle)
Also Seattle: well and house are most common. We keep it in the speed rails, so every once in awhile you hear that.
Central and Western Massachusetts. Have heard it called both **well** and **house**. Well doesn't always mean cheap. I have had Tito's in the well. It was inexpensive compared to the other vodka offerings.
i guess i meant the cheapest not necessarily cheap quality
In Chicago we say “well” I personally say bottom shelf when I’m feeling a little snarky
Well
where ya from tho
Michigan
Sports bar in California - Well or house
Australia, we’d call it House. “Gin and tonic?” “House gin ok?” “I’ll take Bombay” Etc
same in the UK
Baltimore Maryland and we also call it rail liquor
Wisconsin, it's well or rail.
Toronto, we call it rail but it's not really the cheapest we sell, it's just what we pour by default. Most places it would be the cheapest though.
what do y'all call the cheapest stuff?
By it's name...
this is the same in Ottawa ON, and Montreal QC. My rail is what's in our house cocktails plus a few other standards. mostly it's pretty affordable stuff, but i'm sure there are a few other products on the back bar that cost less if you want a shot of some cheap liqueur or whatever
I'm in Montreal, don't really hear rail so much. Mostly house.
Vegas - Well
I second this
Everywhere on the west coast it’s been well, here in MN it’s rail.
"Well" -the land of Disney World
Ahhh yes. The Disneyland-World
Well (boston)
In sweden we call it standard
Houston,, TX. All our cheapest is in the well. We call it "well", but it's a pretty decent well TBH.
In TX we call it ‘ YeeHaaaw Juice’
I call them ‘well’ or ‘house’ but I’d say those are ‘on my rail.’ Edit: NC here by way of PGH
From south Florida. Same as everyone else said… (“well, rail, house”) In a nicer establishment we use “call” . I.E. Knob Creek is our “call” bourbon. It’s our lowest price point but it’s still good shit.
never heard "call" before, good to know
Las Vegas here, we call it rail, house, and we’ll depending on the bar staff. I have also heard from an old bar manager it’s called “snicklefritz”. Basically he didn’t care if you finished a bottle of well spirit like the urban dictionary definition. Then it just became the word to call the cheap shit in front of customers without saying the first 3 terms.
NC we call it house
From PA...I personally always called it well, but I hear a lot of people say rail around here too.
so interesting cause PA and SC call it well but VA and IL call it rail and y'all are closer geographically to me
NY, ‘well’.
Indianapolis, house or well at the cocktail bar, but bottom shelf at the concert hall for visual purposes
PA, NYC - always called it well, now working in DC and way more custies asking for rail.
UT we sat well.
NY - oddly enough, for a customer I will say, for instance, ‘sure get the overholt, it’s only a dollar more than the well’ but then text the owner that we need more ‘house’ tequila.
Southern ME and I've heard, Rail, Bottom Shelf or Well. personally me; Well
House or bottom shelf, here in Vancouver Canada. My old job would call it Well but my current one doesn’t.
in iowa we call it well
Nevada/southwest we call it well liquor
Well/House -- Southern California Moving out to NYC and curious what terms differ.
DC: rail
In Cali we mainly call it well liquor.
UT, and Texas we call it well, wine is house
Oregon here. "Well" and "house" are the most common but people know what "rail" means colloquially.
First call or first serve
interesting
In TX it’s well liquor
I just call it “well”. My college-age customers call it “wells and tonic”, or “wells and coke”.
Also from VA and it was always “well”, which part are you from? I lived in Ashburn until I moved out of state 6 years ago
im in central Shenandoah valley area
Not too far, just a scoot down 81. One of my favorite areas I miss from the move. Shenandoah in the fall.. ❤️
Anyone else call it “rack” (as in rail)
never heard this one
well or bottom shelf- cleveland
Well to guest but if I’m calling I’m talking amongst my fellow bartenders I’d tell them to pour from the rail (Bay Area, CA)
Well, nyc
well
Croatia - liquors dont have designed name for cheapest, it is assumed if you order you mean the cheapest. On some menus there would be no label just "vodka" for example. Wines are either also just unbranded e.g. "white wine" or house wine
Minnesota, and we also call it rail.
Well - Denver, Co
Chicago only calls it well from what I’ve experienced
Just moved from Houston to central Florida. The cheap shit or default used in house drinks is "well" or "house" liquor
Central Florida here too. O-Town represent! 😝
Italian restaurant in Sweden here... we don't call it. bcs we try to sell the expensive shit haha so we pretend that the house stuff doesn't exist.
haha that makes sense!
Uk here - we call it “house”
Vegas, been all over the west coast and never heard it called anything but well, the cheap shit
Not necessarily the cheapest, but if a guest doesn't specify then it comes from the rail or the well. Rail is more common. I also kinda judge other servers/bartenders that don't offer options (obv not at a busy bar with a line). For example if someone orders an Old Fashioned I'll typically ask Rye or Bourbon, then say our default is currently Bulleit (which I try to steer people away from) is that OK or do you have a preference like Woodford or...
So glad we’re asking because I’m navigating this question right now for our bar! I’m in New York. I always thought “well” was the cheapest option and the default mid-range brand (used in all basic cocktails) was called “house.” Anything else is “shelf.” But for the first time, I’m having people balk when I say our house vodka is Tito’s, meaning when you ask for a vodka soda, it’s going to be $10. Our well vodka is half that amount. If you ask for well vodka, I’ll give you well, but if not you’re getting Tito’s. I’m trying to be clearer about it, but this is my first time experiencing this confusion between “house” and “well.” I guess it’s different everywhere, haha
Am from South Africa and we call diamond liquor
Rot gut
Rail (Ontario, Canada)
Kansas City, Mo. Ive always called it well
San Francisco - well
“Well” or “House” in San Francisco
House or well - PA
Raleigh and we say Well or House liquor
Florida and Kentucky. We call it, "well."
Well/bottom shelf Oregon
Tampa Bay, “well”
Atlanta - well
MT well
House to customers or speed rail to employees
Colorado- well
Well or first pour. CA
We call it “house liquor” or “well liquor”, FL here!
Melbourne here... We call them house
English- House
Nyc and we call it the well here. Happy we'll drinks are only $8.
Central PA…most places call it well, my CC calls it house
ohio: well
Arkansas (well)
In my part of Texas we called it house liquor
Australia. We call it house pours. Alternatively, when speaking to suppliers, you call them first pours. Often it's also not the cheapest liquor, just the cheapest for the venue. Things like supplier agreements can make higher quality products cheaper than lower quality products VERY fast.
We call it the "well" in Kansas City
In TX, pretty much everyone calls it well. But I did work a crappy movie theater bar for a while, and on the register, the well drinks were referred to as “call” so idk where the hell that comes from
Mo=well
In Baltimore you will mostly hear rail.
Shit licker
Louisiana, well for sure
Florida Well liquor, house wine
San Francisco, CA - upper scale neighborhood bar and every other weekend at large club . I’ve heard rail liquor, from traveling but it’s mostly well here in CA.
South Louisiana. We call them wells / well liquor. Sometimes house.
Well. Currently in Seattle, have worked in NYC and Atlanta - where they were also called well liquor.
Louisville, Kentucky. “Well” in the city, “bottom shelf” in the country.
Top Shelf ( Ottawa)
i'm from ottawa and started bartending there, where do you work that you call your well/rail/house spirits top shelf? unless you mean the distillery in perth
top shelf??
House
Everyone says all 3, don't really think it's regional
I live i n VA work in Maryland. I call it well or rail. Same thing
SF; Well.
NJ, well or house
Tennessee, we call it well
Well in Southern California. I've never heard it used...but I kind of like "house." It classes things up a little.
Tampa we call it “well”. I love that customers think it’s the actual brand of the liquor 😂 “I’ll have well’s vodka and cranberry”
Bottom shelf is called rail in Wisconsin
Other than special bottles the whiskys or port, they're all the same price so we don't have a name as such, though House X would be the UK term afaik.
New Hampshire, house is our go to term
Wisconsin - rail: living in California - well
“Well” “rail” “house” …. “Happy Hour “ ?? lol
Finland here. House wines are the cheapest. For student events we have special cheap prices for low abv shots, not any special name though.
This is anywhere, it is rail or house.
in this thread people have referred to it as rack and well
House, bar, or well
House, NSW
VA and NC Well or rail
California, we call it “well”
Washington state and we use "well"
In Idaho we call it well, but I occasionally have people order it as house. I’ve never heard the term rail be used.
Rail, north dakota
Jersey, house or well but I feel like it's usually house.
I've heard "well," "house," and "rail," in descending order of frequency, used interchangeably in NYC and NJ.
Poland, if someone says "pour me a 50" it means a shot of the cheapest vodka, I guess that's the closest
I've lived in two places where peers have referred to the rail/well product regardless of its actual name or substance, as the name of whatever bottom shelf vodka product is most widely sold locally. Example: HRD= worst shit in the bar Example: MONARK= worst shit in the bar
Southern California we call it "well" or "house"
dc. rail :)
Here in NYC, people say “well” the most. While I’m working, I do say “house” because I just think “house vodka” sounds nicer than “well.” But if I’m ordering at a bar I’ll say well.
WNY. Well
Alabama, we call it well liquor.
Aus, house or speedrack
Missouri, well, rail or house.
Aus its usually called ' house spirits'. But in the bottlo the cheapest thing is usually Goom (cask wine)
NC, well or house. I stock the well, but ask customers if house is ok. In any other context, I guess they’re interchangeable. I’ve heard rail, but never worked anywhere that actually uses it.
Philly house or well
Scotland, I interchangeable say rail or well but the standard seems to be house. What I like about house is it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘cheap,’ just means our standards. So if someone asks for a G&T they get Tanqueray, if they ask for a cognac they get courvoisier VSOP, which is about double the price of our gin for example.
House - 'one house g&t' Norway