Just like every profession in the world, bartending has bar terms and bar terminology that every good bartender needs to know in order to perform their job well. If you're not 'up' on the bar lingo, you'll have trouble taking orders from customers who are 'in the know'. Customers who have been around the bar circuit for a while and have their favourite drinks, tend to order them in a specific manner.
If someone orders a "dirty martini, rocks" they are not asking for a martini in a dirty glass with some pebbles in it - they want a martini with some olive juice, served on ice. And if a customer orders a "scotch neat", he is not saying that he thinks it's cool that your bar carries scotch - he's asking for a shot of scotch without any ice.
Learning the bar lingo is not too difficult - especially if your bar terminology gets put to the test behind the bar every once in a while. For the purposes of this article, we're just going to list the most popular and widely used bar terms - things you really need to know but might not be able to figure out on your own.
Back - a 'back' is when a drink is accompanied by a small glass of mix (like coke or water). E.g. "Vodka rocks, water back"
Build - when you 'build' a drink, you make the drink - starting with the ice and then continuing to 'build' by adding the alcohol, mixes, garnishes etc
Call Drink - a call drink is when the customer calls the specific name of the alcohol and the mix. E.g. "Tanqueray Tonic" or "Bacardi Coke"
Chaser - a chaser, in bar terms, is anything that is used to 'chase' down another alcohol - usually used to mask the taste or ease the strength of whatever's being chased.
Dirty - dirty is simply the adding of olive juice to a drink - usually a martini.
Float - to float something is to layer a lighter alcohol on top of a heavier alcohol.
Free Pour - pouring drinks without using any type of measuring device such as a shot glass, jigger or measured pour spout.
Frost - some pubs use frosted beer mugs - these are mugs that are dipped in water, drained and then kept in the freezer or fridge to create a frosting on the outside of the glass.
Garnish - anything added to a drink to enhance the presentation - commonly includes cherries, lime wedges, lemon slices, olives etc.
Jigger - a measuring device that is shaped like an hourglass that has two different measurements on each side. Used to measure the amount of alcohol going into drinks.
Neat - neat simply means no ice - sometimes called Straight Up
Premium - a premium is a higher priced brand of liquor - also called top shelf
Rim - to rim a glass means to create a rim around the lip of the glass using anything from salt to sugar to candy. A commonly rimmed cocktail is a Bloody Mary or Margarita.
Rocks - anything on the rocks means on ice.
Twist - adding a twist refers to zesting the peel of a lemon into a twist and inserting it in the drink.
Well Drink - unlike the call drink mentioned earlier, a well drink is any drink that uses the bar's 'house' brand of liquor. The 'regular' liquor used when no brand is mentioned by the customer.
Although we've listed a fair amount of bar lingo here, this list is not exhaustive by any means. There are a lot more bar terms that you may hear as a bartender, they are just not heard as often as the ones listed above. Hope this bar terminology helps on your path to bartending greatness!
Cheers!
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