Top shelf

Bar order

Top shelf is the bar's most expensive liquor, and asking for it means a pricier brand.

Also called: premium pour

What Top shelf means

The name comes from where bars put their most expensive bottles, high on the back bar where guests can see them. Top shelf sits above the house pour, so the bottles cost the bar more and the price on your check goes up too.

You can order by tier or by name. Ask for a top-shelf Margarita and the bartender picks the bottle. For sipping, look at single malt Scotch or small-batch bourbon, or cognac if you like brandy. Those are usually sipped neat or on the rocks.

A common belief is that top shelf means a bigger pour, but the difference is the brand. The pour stays the same as any other drink on the menu. One bar's top shelf can be another bar's call drink, so check the price before you order.

How to order a top-shelf drink

Name a brand for one specific bottle, or ask for the tier and let the bartender pick.

Clase Azul, neat.A pour of that tequila at the same size as any other spirit on the menu, served neat.
Angel's Envy Old Fashioned.An Old Fashioned built on that bourbon, stirred over ice so the spirit's flavor leads.
Top-shelf Margarita.A Margarita made with a top-shelf tequila that the bartender chooses, at the same pour size as the house version.

Top shelf compared

Well drinkA well drink uses the cheapest house bottles kept below the bar. Top shelf uses the most expensive ones on the back bar.
Call drinkA call drink is any drink where you name the brand, and that brand can be mid-range or top shelf.
PremiumPremium is often another name for top shelf, though not every bar uses the word the same way.

Examples

Related terms

Ingredients

Put it to use in your next drink

Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.