What's a Full Bar? A Premium Bar?

A full or standard bar is stocked with the house varieties of bar staples: bottles of vodka, rum, whiskey, scotch, tequila, and gin, and possibly bourbon and brandy. Additionally, a full bar will include wine and beer as well as popular mixers, juices, sodas, bottled water, and condiments, like lemon and lime.

A premium bar is filled with more expensive brands of the same spirits, beers, and wines carried in a full bar. For example, a full bar will offer a good house scotch like Lauder’s, but a premium bar will carry a higher branded scotch like Dewar’s White Label. A premium bar will also carry an assortment of sodas, juices, mixers, waters, and condiments.

A super-premium bar offers the most exclusive brands, or top-shelf labels, of each liquor -- like Chivas Regal Scotch. In addition, a top selection of wine, beer, and cordials, like Drambuie, Frangelico, and Amaretto, might be found behind a super-premium bar. Of course, this type of bar is also stocked with a good selection of condiments, mixers, and other nonalcoholic beverages.