A well drink or rail drink is an alcoholic beverage served using the lower-cost liquors stored within easy reach of the bartender in the counter "speed rail", "speed rack", or "well". In any given establishment, the rail/well liquors available may also be known as the "house pours", "house brands", "house spirits", "pour brands", or "proprietary spirits". Well drinks differ from "call" drinks in that the former are offered when a customer does not specify a particular brand of liquor when ordering a

mixed drink A mixed drink is a beverage in which two or more ingredients are mixed. Types * List of non-alcoholic mixed drinks -- A non-alcoholic mixed drink (also known as virgin cocktail, boneless cocktail, temperance drink, or mocktail) is a cocktail- ...

. The actual liquors used by a drinking establishment will vary. A bartender's well may include at least one variety each of gin,

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

, bourbon,

tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

triple sec Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20–40% alcohol by volume. Triple sec is rarely consumed neat, but is used in preparing many mixed drinks such as margaritas, cosmopolitans, sidecars, L ...

, and

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...

. Some establishments that cater to higher-end clientele or wish to project an aura of luxury choose premium brands to be their well liquors (thus offering a "premium well").

Call and top-shelf

A rail or well drink is usually served when a customer does not specify that a particular brand of liquor be used. For example, a customer order for a "Scotch and soda" would lead the bartender to use a rail/well

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial disti ...

and would be priced as a well drink, whereas ordering "

Glenfiddich Glenfiddich () is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gleann Fhiodhaich'' meaning "valley of the deer", which is ...

and soda" would be a call drink. Another example would be a "Jack and Coke" rather than a "Whiskey and Coke." Call liquors are known as such because the customer "calls" or requests a particular brand of liquor. Certain expensive brand-name liquors are not considered or priced as call, but are instead known as "top-shelf" liquors, both from their placement on the shelves and from their price relative to the other liquors available.

References

{{Bartending Cocktails Lists of cocktails Bartending