BARTENDING 101 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2026/2027
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Layer - ✔✔Layering a shot or drink is done the same way as floating. The heavier
alcohol goes on the bottom and the next, lighter alcohol gets floated on top using a
careful pour down the side of the glass or a pour over an inverted spoon.
✔✔Mixer - ✔✔Mixers are the non-alcoholic 'mixes' that accompany alcohol in drinks.
Mixers can be water, soda, juice, energy drinks etc (i.e. in the drink Rum & Coke, the
mixer is Coke).
✔✔Muddle - ✔✔To crush up ingredients with a special tool called a muddler. This is
done for drinks such as the Mojito, or other organic cocktails. - where the muddling
process extracts essential oils and flavors (ie from the mint leaves in case of the Mojito).
✔✔Neat - ✔✔This ones important to know. If someone asks for an alcohol to be served
"neat", they are asking for a shot straight out of the bottle. Neat means no ice.
✔✔Premium - ✔✔Premium refers to premium alcohol or top shelf liquor (E.g. the well or
bar rail gin is Beefeater and the premium is Tanqueray)
✔✔Rim - ✔✔To rim a glass, first wet the rim with a lime, or the lime juice in a rimmer,
then gently press the rim of the glass into a saucer of salt (for margaritas and Bloody
Marys), celery salt (for Bloody Caesars) or sugar (for specialty coffees and cocktails).
✔✔On the Rocks - ✔✔On the rocks simply refers to a drink with ice. Eg. Scotch on the
rocks.
✔✔Sangria - ✔✔A wine-based cocktail that contains wine, triple sec, orange juice and
fruit. Many variations exist and some recipes may call for the addition of a different juice
or may not contain triple sec but the basis of this drink is wine and juice.
✔✔Shaker Tin - ✔✔A shaker tin is usually metal while the mixing glass is made from,
well, glass. Used to mix cocktails, first ice and ingredients are added to the shaker tin,
then the mixing glass placed on top (creating a seal) and shaken.
✔✔Shake - ✔✔Fill a glass with ice, build the ingredients, then pour everything into a
shaker tin and shake. Pour everything back into the original glass. Or, if you are an
experienced bartender then you will be able to fill the shaker with ice and ingredients in
perfect proportions.
✔✔Shake and Strain - ✔✔Put ice and ingredients into a shaker tin, shake and strain
into a glass. Often used for shooters and martinis.
, ✔✔Shooters - ✔✔a shooter or shot is a 1-2 ounce serving of either straight liquor (like
Tequila) or a mixture of alcohol (like a B-52 Shooter - Irish Cream, Kahlua and Grand
Marnier) that is meant to be drank (or shot) in one gulp.
✔✔Sour - ✔✔The term 'sour' refers to the sourness of sour bar mix, bar lime mix, lime
bar mix or margarita mix (all different names for what are essentially the same thing),
which are used in many cocktails (such as a Margarita). If someone orders a Vodka
Sour, they want vodka and bar lime mix.
✔✔Speed Rail - ✔✔This bar terminology typically means the long stainless steel shelf
connected to the front of the sinks and ice well at bartender stations behind the bar. It
holds the most commonly ordered liquor eg. rum, vodka, gin and whiskey, and possibly
other popular liqueurs or mixes.
✔✔Straight Up - ✔✔Refers to a drink, like a martini, which is shaken in a shaker and
strained into a glass. In some areas, straight up is used interchangeably with 'neat'.
✔✔Strained - ✔✔To drain the liquid out of a shaker tin.
✔✔Toddy - ✔✔A sweetened drink of liquor and hot water, often with spices and served
in a tall glass.
✔✔Twist - ✔✔The rind of a lemon which is peeled using a special peeler. The resulting
lemon twist is thin and long.
✔✔Virgin - ✔✔refers to a non-alcoholic drink. Used to order common cocktails minus
the alcohol. Eg. Virgin Bloody Mary, Virgin Pina Colada. (O'doul's in the case of non-
alcoholic beer)
✔✔Well Drink - ✔✔Last but not least for bar terms, Unlike a Call Drink, a well drink is a
drink where neither the brand of the liquor or brand of the mix is mentioned (E.g Gin &
Tonic, Rum & Coke).
✔✔Speed Rack - ✔✔Also called "the well", most speed racks are set up in the same
order,unless the bartender working at the time prefers it in a different order. It is called a
"speed rack" because it is located at your work station,and contains the most commonly
used liquors, the rest of your other liquors will be on the back tier or shelf depending on
how the bar is set up.
✔✔Liquor Row - ✔✔Vodka-Gin-Rum-Tequila-Triple Sec-Amaretto-Southern Comfort
(the point of putting your liquors in order is for speed purposes.)
✔✔Non-Alcoholic Juice Row - ✔✔Cranberry Juice-Orange Juice-Pineapple juice-
Grapefruit Juice-Cream-Lime Juice-Grenadine
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Layer - ✔✔Layering a shot or drink is done the same way as floating. The heavier
alcohol goes on the bottom and the next, lighter alcohol gets floated on top using a
careful pour down the side of the glass or a pour over an inverted spoon.
✔✔Mixer - ✔✔Mixers are the non-alcoholic 'mixes' that accompany alcohol in drinks.
Mixers can be water, soda, juice, energy drinks etc (i.e. in the drink Rum & Coke, the
mixer is Coke).
✔✔Muddle - ✔✔To crush up ingredients with a special tool called a muddler. This is
done for drinks such as the Mojito, or other organic cocktails. - where the muddling
process extracts essential oils and flavors (ie from the mint leaves in case of the Mojito).
✔✔Neat - ✔✔This ones important to know. If someone asks for an alcohol to be served
"neat", they are asking for a shot straight out of the bottle. Neat means no ice.
✔✔Premium - ✔✔Premium refers to premium alcohol or top shelf liquor (E.g. the well or
bar rail gin is Beefeater and the premium is Tanqueray)
✔✔Rim - ✔✔To rim a glass, first wet the rim with a lime, or the lime juice in a rimmer,
then gently press the rim of the glass into a saucer of salt (for margaritas and Bloody
Marys), celery salt (for Bloody Caesars) or sugar (for specialty coffees and cocktails).
✔✔On the Rocks - ✔✔On the rocks simply refers to a drink with ice. Eg. Scotch on the
rocks.
✔✔Sangria - ✔✔A wine-based cocktail that contains wine, triple sec, orange juice and
fruit. Many variations exist and some recipes may call for the addition of a different juice
or may not contain triple sec but the basis of this drink is wine and juice.
✔✔Shaker Tin - ✔✔A shaker tin is usually metal while the mixing glass is made from,
well, glass. Used to mix cocktails, first ice and ingredients are added to the shaker tin,
then the mixing glass placed on top (creating a seal) and shaken.
✔✔Shake - ✔✔Fill a glass with ice, build the ingredients, then pour everything into a
shaker tin and shake. Pour everything back into the original glass. Or, if you are an
experienced bartender then you will be able to fill the shaker with ice and ingredients in
perfect proportions.
✔✔Shake and Strain - ✔✔Put ice and ingredients into a shaker tin, shake and strain
into a glass. Often used for shooters and martinis.
, ✔✔Shooters - ✔✔a shooter or shot is a 1-2 ounce serving of either straight liquor (like
Tequila) or a mixture of alcohol (like a B-52 Shooter - Irish Cream, Kahlua and Grand
Marnier) that is meant to be drank (or shot) in one gulp.
✔✔Sour - ✔✔The term 'sour' refers to the sourness of sour bar mix, bar lime mix, lime
bar mix or margarita mix (all different names for what are essentially the same thing),
which are used in many cocktails (such as a Margarita). If someone orders a Vodka
Sour, they want vodka and bar lime mix.
✔✔Speed Rail - ✔✔This bar terminology typically means the long stainless steel shelf
connected to the front of the sinks and ice well at bartender stations behind the bar. It
holds the most commonly ordered liquor eg. rum, vodka, gin and whiskey, and possibly
other popular liqueurs or mixes.
✔✔Straight Up - ✔✔Refers to a drink, like a martini, which is shaken in a shaker and
strained into a glass. In some areas, straight up is used interchangeably with 'neat'.
✔✔Strained - ✔✔To drain the liquid out of a shaker tin.
✔✔Toddy - ✔✔A sweetened drink of liquor and hot water, often with spices and served
in a tall glass.
✔✔Twist - ✔✔The rind of a lemon which is peeled using a special peeler. The resulting
lemon twist is thin and long.
✔✔Virgin - ✔✔refers to a non-alcoholic drink. Used to order common cocktails minus
the alcohol. Eg. Virgin Bloody Mary, Virgin Pina Colada. (O'doul's in the case of non-
alcoholic beer)
✔✔Well Drink - ✔✔Last but not least for bar terms, Unlike a Call Drink, a well drink is a
drink where neither the brand of the liquor or brand of the mix is mentioned (E.g Gin &
Tonic, Rum & Coke).
✔✔Speed Rack - ✔✔Also called "the well", most speed racks are set up in the same
order,unless the bartender working at the time prefers it in a different order. It is called a
"speed rack" because it is located at your work station,and contains the most commonly
used liquors, the rest of your other liquors will be on the back tier or shelf depending on
how the bar is set up.
✔✔Liquor Row - ✔✔Vodka-Gin-Rum-Tequila-Triple Sec-Amaretto-Southern Comfort
(the point of putting your liquors in order is for speed purposes.)
✔✔Non-Alcoholic Juice Row - ✔✔Cranberry Juice-Orange Juice-Pineapple juice-
Grapefruit Juice-Cream-Lime Juice-Grenadine
