This document defines various bar and drink terminology used in the alcohol industry. It provides concise definitions for over 100 common terms including types of alcohol like beer, wine and spirits as well as processes like aging, distillation and fermentation. Descriptions are also given for drink ingredients, glassware, measurements, garnishes and more. The comprehensive list of definitions serves as a useful reference for bartenders and those interested in learning about alcohol and mixology.

1. Bar Terminologies

2. ABV
Stands for “alcohol by volume”
and shows the total percentage
within the drink that is accounted
for by pure ethyl alcohol. All
alcoholic products must, by law,
give this information.

3. Aging
The storage of the distilled
alcohol in wooded casks, most
often oak. Over months or years,
the wood reacts with the alcohol,
imparting to it a distinctive color,
aroma, and flavor.

4. Alcohol content
Refers to the amount of alcohol present in
wine.
It is usually expressed as a numerical
percentage of the volume or can also be
written as proof (for spirits).

5. Ale
Is a malt beverage (beer) made by top
fermentation at lukewarm temperatures.

6. Appelation
Refers to the name or official geographic
origin of wine. It is part of the system of
classification of wines.

7. Appelation Contrôlée
Is a phrase on French wine label which
means that the wine comes from the
controlled area named and meets its
strict legal standards.

8. Appearance
Refers to the visual properties including
size, shape, color, texture, gloss,
transparency, cloudiness, and so on.

9. Aperitif
Drink that are served before
meals.
An alcoholic drink taken before a
meal as an appetizer.

10. Aroma
Refers to smell of fragrance of a
young wine.
The odor of a wine imported by
grapes from which it is made.

11. Balance
Is the combination and relationship of
physical components (fruit, acid, tannin,
alcohol, etc.) and to a lesser extent the
intangible element such as breed,
character and finesse.

12. Bar Back
An assistant or apprentice
bartender, who does the
bartender’s scut work, including
tapping beer kegs, running ice,
replacing glassware, preparing
and stocking garnishes,
restocking shelves and so on.

13. Beer
Is a fermented beverage made from
malted grains (usually barley), water,
hops and yeast.

14. Beer clean
Refers to a glass free of grease, soap,
and lint.

15. Blind tasting
Is a system of evaluating alcoholic
beverages without the knowledge of the
producer, country of origin, and other
pertinent information.

16. Bodega
Is the farm / vineyard where Sherry is
made.

17. Body
Is the term used to describe the scent of
more complex mature wines.

18. Bottom fermentation
Is a process that refers to beers produced
by the use of a type of yeast (lager
yeast), which generally converts sugar to
alcohol and carbon dioxide at lower
temperatures at the tank’s bottom.

19. Bouquet
Refers to the smell of fragrance of
a mature wine.
Complex and interesting odor of a
mature wine.

20. Breathe
Term referring to a red wine’s
interaction with oxygen when it is
first incurred.

21. Brewpub
Bar-restaurant combination in
which beer served is brewed on
the premises.

22. Brown goods
Spirits having dark color and
hearty flavor such as whiskey and
brandies.

23. Bruised beer
Beer that has been warmed and
cooled again.

24. Brut (brute)
On champagne label, dry
(little or no sugar).

25. Caffeine
Is a crystalline, bitter-tasting, but odorless
alkaloid present in coffee, tea, and soft
drinks; a stimulant.

26. Call brand
Brand of liquor specified by
customer ordering drink.
Brands frequently called for by
name.

27. Chaser
Refers to the mixer served either with
the spirit or on the side of the spirit in
a separate glass, bottle or carafe.
A mild drink (as beer) taken after a
hard liquor.

28. Cocktail
Cocktail is a well-iced mixed drink
made up of base liquor, a modifying
ingredient as a modifier, and a
special flavoring or coloring agents.
It is usually an apperitiff taken at
leisure before a meal to wet the
appetite; it is also reputedly aids
digestion.

29. Coffee
Is a dark brown aromatic drink made by
brewing in water the roasted and ground
bean-like seeds of a tall tropical
evergreen shrub (Coffea) of the Madder
family.

30. Cold method
Is the method used to produce liqueurs
when the flavoring ingredients are
sensitive to heat. Examples of this
method are infusion, maceration, and
percolation.

31. Color
Refers to the distinct hue specific to each
type of drink.

32. Congeners
Acids, aldehydes, esters, ketones,
phenols, and tannins that are byproducts
of fermentation, distillation, and aging.
These “impurities” may contribute to the
character and flavor of the spirit, but they
cause undesirable effects in some people,
notably increasing the intensity of
hangover.

33. Continuous still /
Column still / Patent
still
Also called Coffey still, after the
inventor, Aenas Coffey. A type of
still for whiskey distillation that
allows for continuous high-volume
production, as opposed to the pot
still, which must be emptied and
“recharged” one batch at a time.

34. Cordial / Liqueur
Drink served after meals.
A stimulating drink.

35. Cork
Is a spongy natural material used as a
stopper for bottles.

36. Cupping
Refers to the proper procedures of tasting
coffee.

37. Cuveé
Is a blend of wines used to make a
particular house style of sparkling wine.

38. Decant (dee kant)
To pour wine from a bottle to
another bottle or carafe in such a
way that the sediment remains in
the bottle.

39. Dégorgement
Refers to the removal of dead yeast from
second fermentation in bottle; also
disgorgement.

40. Demi-Sac
On a champagne label. “half dry”;
actually the sweetest type on the
market.

41. Distillation
Is the separation of alcohol from the liquid
in the fermented mash.

42. Distinctive
Means marked individuality of style.

43. Double / Single
This refers to the number of jigger
or shots of drinks / spirit poured
and served into the serving glass.

44. Draft beer
Is an un-pasteurized beer.

45. Dry wines
Unsweetened tastes or absence of sugar.
Almost all of the sugar has been
converted into alcohol during
fermentation causing the wine to lack
sweetness.

46. Extra dry
Extremely small amount of dry
vermouth with liquor.

47. Finish
Refers to the sensation left in the mouth
after tasting the wine.
A finish can be short or long, depending on
the quality and age of wine. A very long
finish or “persistence” can be an
indication that a wine has aged well.

48. Flag
Garnish of sliced orange or other
citrus fruit on a pick, usually with
cherry.

49. Flambé
As a verb, flambé means to
drench with liquor and ignite.
The word may also be used as a
noun, synonymously with flaming
drink.

50. Flavor
Refers to a complex group of sensations
comprising olfactory, taste, and other
chemical sensations such as irritation
and chemical heat.

51. Food
accompaniment
Refers to food that usually goes with the
wine when drinking.

52. Fortification
Is the addition of distilled spirits to a wine
either to stop fermentation and leave
some residual sugars or to give some
better keeping properties or to make
wine stronger.

53. Free-pour
To pour liquor for a drink without
using a measure, estimating
amounts by counting or other
method.

54. Garbage
A bit of fruit or vegetable added to
a drink primarily for the sake of
appearance. It does not
significantly enhance the flavor of
the drink.

55. Garnish
Is a bit of fruit or vegetable added
to a drink principally to enhance
its flavor.

56. Generic
Are liqueurs without a protected name,
recipe or bottle shape. They are
produced cheaply and are priced
competitively.

57. Gin
Is a spirit distilled from grains flavored with
botanicals, mainly juniper berries.

58. Go easy
Means to pour less of the mixer in
the drink.

59. Grape over
Liquor poured over crushed or
shaved ice.

60. Happy hour
Limited period of the day during
which drink prices are marked
down.

61. Head
Refers to the thick, rich, creamy collar of
gas bubbles that clings to the top of a
glass of beer; also foam.

62. Hot method
Is the method used to produce liqueurs by
extracting flavors from ingredients such
as seeds and flowers by heat. An
example of this method is distillation.

63. House wine
A specific wine a restaurant sells
by the glass or carafe.

64. Infusion
Is a process by which flavorings are
steeped in water.

65. Jockey box
Underbar cocktail-station unit,
typically containing ice bin, speed
rail, bottle wells, and cold plate for
a postmix system.

66. Keg
Half-barrel of beer, containing 15
½ gallons.

67. Lacing
Refers to the marks left by the head on the
glass as the beer is consumed.

68. Light
This refer to a drink with low
alcohol content.

69. Liqueurs
Are alcoholic beverages made by mixing
or redistilling various spirits with certain
flavoring materials.

70. Long drinks
Drink that are served in tall
glasses.

71. Maceration
Is a process by which flavorings are
steeped in alcohol.

72. Marry
To blend wines or spirits.
To add something to the liquor in
a bottle.

73. Methode
Champenoise
Means a traditional method of making
sparkling wine, particularly Champagne,
wherein fermented wine is bottled with
yeast cells and sugar to induce a
secondary fermentation. When
fermentation is complete, the wine is
aged, and the yeast sediment is
removed.

74. Mixology
The art or skill of mixing drinks
containing alcohol.

75. Mocktail
Familiar cocktail without the
liquor.

76. Muddle
To mash and stir;
One muddles such things as mint
leaves and other solids in order to
make a suspension or a paste with
fluid. A special pestle-like wooden
muddler can be used, but spoon will
do.

77. Mull
To heat and spice a drink.
Traditionally, the heating was
done by inserting a hot poker into
the drink; today, mulled drinks are
usually heated on a stove.

78. Neat
Drink served directly poured from
the bottle into the serving glass.
Served without ice; not chilled.

79. Odor
Means the characteristic smell of a
substance.

80. On the side
Spirit served with the mixer in
separate carafe glass placed next
to the spirit.

81. Palate
In organoleptic evaluation, refers to the
sense of taste.

82. Percolation
Is a process, which involves re-circulating
the beverage spirits through a percolator,
which contains the raw materials.

83. Perfect
Half dry and half sweet as
vermouth.

84. Proof
A measure of alcoholic content of
spirit each degree of the proof
being ½ of the alcohol by volume
of standard strength on quality or
alcoholic content.

85. Proprietary
Are mostly imported, expensive liqueurs
with a distinctive recipe, bottle shape,
and brand name.

86. Pull date
Date a product should be pulled
off shelves, after which it begins
to deteriorate.

87. Quinta
Is the farm / vineyard where Port is made.

88. Rémuage
Refers to the rotation of inverted bottles to
get dead yeast into the bottle neck; also
riddling.

89. Rim
To decorate the rim of a glass
with salt or sugar.

90. Sec
On a champagne label, “dry”
(actually the wine is slightly
sweet).

91. Service bar
Bar pouring drinks for table
service only, often out of public
view.

92. Shutting off (a
drunk)
Professional bartenders call
refusing to serve an intoxicated
patron “shutting him off.” Also
called “cutting off.”

93. Soda
Water containing carbon dioxide.

94. Soda out
A drink topped with soda.

95. Solera System
Is the Spanish system of progressively
blending Sherries in tiers of small casks-
to blend Sherries of the same type but
varying ages (young and old).

96. Specialty
Usually any featured drink of the
house. Refer to the cocktail of the
month.

97. Splash
Pour a little on top of a drink.

98. Straight-up
A spirit poured over ice, chilled or
stirred, then strained into the
serving glass. The drink is chilled
with ice but served without ice.

99. Sweet
Indicated preference for sweet
vermouth.

100. Sweet soda
Sprite, 7-up, or comparable.

101. Sweet-sour mix
Bar substitute for sugar and
lemon or lime in mixed drinks.

102. Tannin
Is the astringent, mouth-puckering
compound that comes from the skin,
seeds and stalks of grapes. It is mostly
present in red wines as these parts of
the grape are largely excluded in white
and rose winemaking.

103. Tap
Means beer faucet.

104. Taste buds
Refer to the collection of modified epithelia
cells, residing in a papilla on the tongue
or soft palate, responsive to taste stimuli
and making synaptic contact with
primary efferent taste nerves.

105. Tequila
Is a spirit distilled from fermented juice of
the base or heart of the blue agave plant.

106. Top fermentation
Is a term that refers to the use of a type of
yeast that generally will convert sugar to
alcohol and carbon dioxide at
temperatures between 15.4 0
C – 20.9 0
C
(60 0
F – 70 0
F).

107. Touch
Refers to a dash or drop of any
beverage ingredient.

108. Twist
Peel of lemon or orange or lime,
cut thinly without the white part of
the fruit and twisted in the center
on top of the drink normally
dropped into the drink.

109. Vintage
Refers to the annual grape harvest and the
wine made from it. The year frequently
appears on wine label. Certain wines,
such as Port and Champagne, are
blends of various years and bear vintage
dates only when the wine comes from a
single outstanding crop.

110. Virgin
A drink prepared without alcohol.

111. Vodka
Is a spirit distilled from various grains and
potatoes and other fermentable
materials.

112. Wheel
Slice of lemon, lime, or orange
used as a garnish.

113. Wine steward
Person who handles customer’s
wine orders and service;
sommelier.

114. Zest
A small thin piece of citrus peel with
pith as possible. The essential oil
is squeezed on top of the drink, the
peel is discarded. Thin outer skin
of a lemon or orange containing
flavorful oils.

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