What Is a Well Drink at Happy Hour?

Everyone knows that if you want to drink cheaply, the best time to show up at your favorite bar is during happy hour. Usually timed between the lunch and dinner rushes, happy hour – which may or may not actually be an hour in length – is a period when restaurants and bars offer reduced-price drinks and appetizers to encourage customers to come in when business would otherwise be slow.

There’s a good chance that some of the restaurants and bars in your local community advertise their happy hour specials on the radio – $2.00 draft beers, $4.00 well drinks and so on.

Hearing those ads might leave you with a question: What, exactly, is a well drink at happy hour? That’s what you’re about to learn.

You’ve Probably Ordered Well Drinks Many Times Before

When you order a well drink, it simply means that you’re ordering a cocktail without specifying the brand of liquor used to make it. If you ask the bartender for a vodka and tonic, for instance, you’re ordering a well drink. If you order a Grey Goose and tonic, on the other hand, that’s not a well drink because you’re asking for a specific brand of vodka. When you specify the brand you want, that’s called a “call drink.”

The term “well drink” comes from the fact that the area immediately in front of the bartender has a well that holds several bottles of the most commonly used liquors such as vodka, rum, gin, tequila, whiskey and a few popular mixers like bitters and triple sec. Because the well offers quick access to these bottles, a good bartender can mix well drinks extremely quickly. Between the quick preparation times and the fact that well liquors are usually lower-cost brands, well drinks tend to be very profitable for bars and restaurants. Hence, they can offer those drinks at reduced prices and still earn plenty of money.

What Are Some Common Well Drinks?

Typically, well drinks are simple mixed drinks that are extremely quick to prepare because they require only two or three ingredients plus an optional garnish. Some of the most common well drinks include:

• Cape Cod (vodka and cranberry)
• Gin and tonic
• Rum and Coke
• Scotch and soda
• Sea breeze (vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice)
• Screwdriver (vodka and orange juice)
• Tequila sunrise (tequila, orange juice and grenadine)
• Tom Collins (gin, lemon juice and soda)
• Vodka and tonic
• Whiskey and Coke
• Whiskey sour

To spice things up and stimulate buying, it’s common for bars to stock their wells with fresh ingredients like citrus peels or freshly squeezed fruit juice. If your favorite venue is offering an unusual well drink as a special, you’ll probably see it advertised behind the bar.

What Are Some of the Liquor Brands Used for Well Drinks?

The liquor brands that a bar carries in its well can vary depending on the bar’s prices and what the customers expect. In many cases, a bar will stock liquors in its well with wholesale prices around $6-10 per bottle. In other cases, the prices may be as high as $20. Typically, the cost of the alcohol comprises just 5-10 percent of the price of a well drink outside of happy hour, so a bar’s prices can give you an idea of what kinds of brands to expect. If a well drink has a price of $4-6 outside of happy hour, you can assume that the liquor costs around $10 per bottle or even a little less. You can also just ask the bartender what’s in his or her well.

Here are a few of the liquor brands that you can expect to see in a bar’s well depending on that bar’s price range.

Bottom-Shelf Well Brands

• Vodka: Popov, Karkov, Sobieski, Barton
• Rum: Heaven Hill, Calypso
• Gin: Gordon’s, Beefeater
• Whiskey: Four Roses, Old Overholt
• Tequila: Familia Camarena, Montezuma

Middle-Shelf Well Brands

• Vodka: Absolut, Skyy, Smirnoff, Stolichnaya, Svedka
• Rum: Bacardi, Captain Morgan
• Gin: Tanqueray, New Amsterdam, Seagram’s
• Whiskey: Jack Daniel’s, Jameson, Dewar’s
• Tequila: Don Julio, Patron

What Are Some Good Refreshments to Enjoy with Well Drinks?

The best thing about happy hour is definitely the low-cost drinks, and the second-best thing is the cheap food. In many cases, bars and restaurants will even offer some happy hour food-and-drink combos at appealing prices to increase customer spending. Since well drinks are so profitable, there’s plenty of room for venues to be flexible with their food prices. Here are a few of the best refreshments to enjoy with well drinks – and if you vape, don’t forget that a great e-liquid can also pair perfectly with your favorite potent potable. This site maintains a list of some of the best vape pens on the market today.

• Best refreshments with vodka-based drinks: The best vodka has an extremely clean flavor – so clean, in fact, that it can be a perfect spirit to enjoy as a palate cleanser when you’re eating foods with complex but subtle flavors. Try enjoying some fresh sashimi with a vodka-based cocktail. Vodka can also pair well with a great salad.
• Best refreshments with rum-based drinks: Much of the world’s best rum comes from Jamaica – so if you ever have an opportunity to enjoy a rum-based cocktail with jerk chicken, don’t pass it up. Otherwise, try pairing your rum with a big order of barbecue ribs.
• Best refreshments with gin-based drinks: Gin’s light but slightly botanical flavor pairs well with mild-tasting foods – especially when accents of herbs or citrus are used. If you’re eating at a seafood restaurant, try pairing a gin-based drink with the fresh catch of the day. Crab cakes are also great with gin.
• Best refreshments with whiskey-based drinks: Whiskey pairs well with foods that have strong, savory flavors. A stuffed mushroom pairs wonderfully with whiskey, or you can order a plate of steak frites if you’re eating at a French restaurant. If you’re in the mood for something a little sweeter, pair your whiskey with a dessert that has plenty of chocolate.
• Best refreshments with tequila-based drinks: This one is easy. If you’re going to drink tequila, the best way to enjoy it is with some food from south of the border. Share a plate of nachos if you’re with friends. If you’re flying solo, go for some street tacos. The cilantro perfectly complements the lime juice found in many tequila-based cocktails.