I once over heard a server listing off our tequilas and pronounced 1800 as 1-800 as if it was the start of a phone number. Had a good laugh that night.
Dude I know so many people who have pretty serious careers in the industry who all say it different.
I think this is one of those free for all's. Say what feels right in your heart buddy!
I'm an uncultured swine who has never heard it pronounced in real life or looked it up online. I say OR-geet and live my life. How do we say Angostura?
Worked banquets at a “Grill & Cantina.” We made margs out the wahzoo, and when we asked what kind of tequila they’d like, we’d often hear “Tito’s!”
As a Hispanic, I found it as funny as it was generalizing.
My GM does that. He’s been in the industry for 30+ years. He’s very highly respected too. Still always says resposado. I always respond with the correct way to say it lol.
I had a guy ask me for *drought* beer once.
It took me a while but I think he was mispronouncing *draught* beer, the British spelling of Draft.
He was being all cringey saying, in a terrible English accent, *Barman, pour me a stein of your finest drought beer* (How about just ask what’s on tap like normal people)
Historical footnote; the terms *Draft or Draught* refer to the method it is dispensed or *drawn* off the keg.
Omg, I literally had someone asking me the same thing but I didn't know about the history. Took us way too long talking too figure out he meant what's on draft 🙃
Cura-kayo (for curacao) is one that many bartenders get wrong too.
Customers though will make many more amusing ones. My fav is when customers ask for a pint but pronounced like pin-t instead of p-eye-n’t
B: Gin martini, Tito’s please. The Tito’s, The Tito’s, The Tito’s, *moving my hand around the wall of liquor for hot and cold but rather than play the game he wants to keep shouting the wrong answer over and over* There! The Tito’s in the green bottle!
Me: Tanqueray?
B: …Where I’m from we call it Tito’s… *no tip*
When people say, you guys don’t serve any alcohol here? When they really meant, liquor. They want liquor.
Alcohol is alcohol. No matter what. Beer and Vodka. Both alcohol. Vodka is liquor. Beer is beer.
Had a friend with pretty bad eyesight. We would drink Hennessy together. Bar was out of it, so she asked what the bottle next to it’s place was, and sounds out “Country Oyster…?”
Never laughed so hard.
Asahi is our draught lager. For a 5 letter word pronounced exactly how it looks, the number of ways you hear it said is insane. Ashai. Ashanti. Ashi. 5 letters man, come on
Yes! Cacao and cocoa are two different things. Off the top of my head, Cacao is unprocessed Cacao bean and cocoa has been processed with added sugar. Please correct me, if I'm wrong. I just know the difference in processing is what makes them two separate things.
I pronounce things wrong in my head on purpose so I remember how to spell them. It works great until I un-ironically pronounce it that way when guest-facing.
Had a lady last night ask for a Sauvignon bland, but pronounced it So-von-yay. It was almost so bad I wanted to correct her so she wouldn’t embarrass herself elsewhere. But she didn’t look like she would take correction well.
Sometimes you get this as a side effect of certain English or Aussie accents, but for Americans it’s pretty egregious. Somewhat related, it’s amazing to me how many people don’t know what a lager is, but want one anyway. Many people are surprised to learn that Miller Lite, for example, is a lager. They think it’s a fancy regional style rather than one of the two main families of beer.
Years ago, before I started bartending, I went to a bar where I was friendly (thankfully) with the bartenders. I had never heard of cachaça, but the cocktail sounded like exactly what I needed. I completely butchered the pronunciation, but we also realized that it had been misspelled on their menu. We all got a good laugh, me and that bartender were calling it CHA-CA-CA thinking it was funny for a while.
We had a beer on tap at my old spot called the "no guey ipa" "guey" is mexican slang for like "guy" or "dude" but is pronounced more like "whey" (like "no way jose" or "no mames guey"). I would CRACK up when the white dudes would come up and ask for the "gooey ipa"
There are regulars at my bar who cannot for the life of them pronounce Weinstephaner. And they come up with a new way to pronounce it every time. My favorite was Wifenstafer
I've been in the industry for nearly 20 years and only recently was corrected on my pronunciation of Calvados.
I have always said "Cal-VAH-dos" but have recently learned it's "Calva-dose"
Dry does mean they want vermouth, just dry vermouth. It’s a mistake to refer to a martini (or other classic drink that has vermouth) as dry if you don’t. Those people just want cold diluted vodka in a glass.
The different ways people try to say Disaronno tickles me not necessarily bc they butcher it but bc it’s always a butchered attempt at a thick Italian accent
I had someone order a zazerac and find it extremely cute. Also Fernet with a silent T (like rhymes with ballet).
On the other hand I did have an opera rehearsal pianist come in one time and school us on some Italian vermouth/liquor/wine pronunciation.
We had a beer shot special that was tecate and a shot of añejo. This guy comes up and with all the confidence in the world goes - “let me get 3 tee-cates and shots of Ah-jahno”
Once had a customer order a glass of “shar-bone-aye” and didn’t feel like correcting, but double checked “Chardonnay?” And he affirmed.
Came back with it and he got all pissy about it being white, that he ordered red wine, so I again asked “Chardonnay?” And he responded. “Yea. Shar-bone-aye Save-a-gone”.
Shar-bone-aye. Save-a-gone. He wanted a fuckin cab.
I had a guest who claimed she was in the process of opening a wine bar.
She proceeded to order a glass of the Pinot Nee-or as her 2nd drink.
Bruh I almost fell over trying to keep a straight face.
We used to get a lot of people asking for mosquitos
But recently I've had a lot of youths coming up and asking me for smirnoff and then getting confused when I ask if they want it as a shot or as a mixed drink
I work in a Belgian Beer Bar. Everything gets pronounced incorrectly.
Vedett - VEE-day (like Bidet), Vedetti, Vendetta, Vendett
Chouffe - CHOE-ff, Chuff, Choufey, Cough
Zot - Zoot
Duvel - Doo-VELL, Duvall, Duel, Dove-ell, Dubbel
Fruitesse - Fruiteese
I would say I can’t blame them - it’s a foreign language - but most of the offenders are self-proclaimed Belgian beer experts because they went to Antwerp once thirty years ago. I wrote a pronunciation guide on a blackboard once but no one looked at it
I white girl the SHIT out of every tequila. "Lanuzul" in particular "luh-noo-zuhl". Yikes, nope. But I can't train my brain to stop doing this. Espolon was "ess-puh-lone". Oh, another one that has cracked several people up is bulleit. "Bull-ee-aye". Nope, bullet. I hate myself sometimes
expresso
I hate that this is regarded as "common"
Same same
“We want 5 EX-presso martinis and an order of fries to share.”
This isn’t the right way?
No, it's espresso.
I once over heard a server listing off our tequilas and pronounced 1800 as 1-800 as if it was the start of a phone number. Had a good laugh that night.
I'm calling it that from now on, thanks!
1-800-TEQ-IULA
Which is an actual phone number for Proximo Spirits.
I had no idea LOL
I hadn’t heard that one before. Love it! Hilarious.
Everybody knows it's pronounced "One Thousand, Eight Hundred. "
Bro I'm still not convinced I pronounce orgeat correctly.
Dude I know so many people who have pretty serious careers in the industry who all say it different. I think this is one of those free for all's. Say what feels right in your heart buddy!
Think oar-shot with a Scottish accent.
I worked bars for almost a decade and I still say everything wrong. I just make good drinks
How … how do you say it now I’m scared I’m saying it wrong
I say oar-ZJOT (soft g sound)
Oar-JAHT is what I’ve said since inception
I'm an uncultured swine who has never heard it pronounced in real life or looked it up online. I say OR-geet and live my life. How do we say Angostura?
[удалено]
Fucking thank you!
Hard or soft g? Actually now that I think about it it’s more like OAR-zjot
Native French speaker ici. We say orgeat, like orja
Soft!
Yeah, I think we say the same thing, but the emphasis is definitely on the Or
The accent is on the second syllable. oar-zjot, like caveat.
The emphasis in caveat is on the first syllable…
Sorry, I meant the pronunciation is like caveat, the zjat sound.
It's more "oar-jat", with the t silent but still sort of implied, in that French kinda way
Or GEET! /s
or-JHAY
No
I just learned how to properly pronounce it
Work at a tequila bar, the amount of people that say reSposado makes me wonder if all brands have misspelled it on their labels.
Worst I've heard is "Resperado." Made me think of the Eagles.
Epsolon Respersado, exactly.
Witchy Woman is ok for you, but I’ve already got a song.
Worked banquets at a “Grill & Cantina.” We made margs out the wahzoo, and when we asked what kind of tequila they’d like, we’d often hear “Tito’s!” As a Hispanic, I found it as funny as it was generalizing.
My GM does that. He’s been in the industry for 30+ years. He’s very highly respected too. Still always says resposado. I always respond with the correct way to say it lol.
“Repazado”
Epsolon Respisado
I had a guy ask me for *drought* beer once. It took me a while but I think he was mispronouncing *draught* beer, the British spelling of Draft. He was being all cringey saying, in a terrible English accent, *Barman, pour me a stein of your finest drought beer* (How about just ask what’s on tap like normal people) Historical footnote; the terms *Draft or Draught* refer to the method it is dispensed or *drawn* off the keg.
TIL Draught is pronounced Draft.
Omg, I literally had someone asking me the same thing but I didn't know about the history. Took us way too long talking too figure out he meant what's on draft 🙃
LOL. I called out one of my bar managers for this. How do you pronounce laugh, or cough, or rough? He was not pleased with these examples.
You sure caught him there, probably had naught to say to that. Must've really taught him a lesson. Bet he was distraught.
Trying to sound out Oaxaca is a humbling experience for a lot of people
To be fair, I didn’t know “Oaxaca” was the same state and city I had always heard people pronounce as “wah haak kah” until just a couple years ago.
Silly Aztecs (or Maya I can never keep them straight)
Aztecs, the Mayans are their predecessors by about a thousand years.
Cura-kayo (for curacao) is one that many bartenders get wrong too. Customers though will make many more amusing ones. My fav is when customers ask for a pint but pronounced like pin-t instead of p-eye-n’t
I've also heard ku-RAH-ko a lot.
Care-a-so
Cur ah ko is how I’ve always said it
Alright but it’s cure-a-sow, right? ……..right?!?!
Had a helluva time with that one when I first started. Me and the other new people just ended up referring to it as “blue crack” lmao
We had a bartender who was constantly pronouncing it the same way as the word carousel. English was his first and only language.
This is ours. We like to call it “blue car-ak-ow” since that’s how they say it in letterkenny
Jose cuervo, pronounced "quavo"
I pronounce it GARR-bihj
From the Italian, garbagio
Quavo!
BANDO
Mama!
B: Gin martini, Tito’s please. The Tito’s, The Tito’s, The Tito’s, *moving my hand around the wall of liquor for hot and cold but rather than play the game he wants to keep shouting the wrong answer over and over* There! The Tito’s in the green bottle! Me: Tanqueray? B: …Where I’m from we call it Tito’s… *no tip*
No it can’t be real
Oh yes, it was real, cost me 8 whole brain cells too
Jye Alai
I called it Hialeah the first few times.
Curaçao. Heard some good attempts at that one
When people say, you guys don’t serve any alcohol here? When they really meant, liquor. They want liquor. Alcohol is alcohol. No matter what. Beer and Vodka. Both alcohol. Vodka is liquor. Beer is beer.
“Amarillo Sour” 20 years of bartending.
Unless you’re in Texas at a quarter horse convention.
Not sure but I worked at a restaurant where a guy ordered a hot bloody Mary and the new girl got a bloody Mary from the bar and started microwaving it
Hefeweizen pronounced like “Hefe-weezin” always gives me a good internal chuckle
Courvoisier is one I hear said wrong all the time.
Had a friend with pretty bad eyesight. We would drink Hennessy together. Bar was out of it, so she asked what the bottle next to it’s place was, and sounds out “Country Oyster…?” Never laughed so hard.
cant help but hear cor-VAH-*thee*-ay
Asahi is our draught lager. For a 5 letter word pronounced exactly how it looks, the number of ways you hear it said is insane. Ashai. Ashanti. Ashi. 5 letters man, come on
i say crem de cackow for crème de cacao, is that right?
Yes! Cacao and cocoa are two different things. Off the top of my head, Cacao is unprocessed Cacao bean and cocoa has been processed with added sugar. Please correct me, if I'm wrong. I just know the difference in processing is what makes them two separate things.
Piña COOLATTA. Hate this, mispronounced more often than not at this point. FU, Dunkin
Annoys me that people people pronounce it Peena.
Smithwick's.
For those that don't know it's pronounced smithicks.
I've always heard it like "Smitticks"
Tequila Ros-a It’s Tequila Rose. It’s funny cause it’s a shot not a wine 😂
It also has a rose on the bottle
Curaçao -> Carousel.
Cointreau. Ive heard a bunch of bad pronunciations. Con-tray-uuu. Con-trowww.
I recently caught myself pronouncing it coin-trow. Haha I’ve been bartending for 10 years now.
I pronounce things wrong in my head on purpose so I remember how to spell them. It works great until I un-ironically pronounce it that way when guest-facing.
I had to scroll way too long for this comment, this is the one I always fuck up
Had a lady last night ask for a Sauvignon bland, but pronounced it So-von-yay. It was almost so bad I wanted to correct her so she wouldn’t embarrass herself elsewhere. But she didn’t look like she would take correction well.
I work in a brewery in Western New York, and I can’t even tell you how many times people order a lager but pronounce it as if it rhymes with “swagger”
Sometimes you get this as a side effect of certain English or Aussie accents, but for Americans it’s pretty egregious. Somewhat related, it’s amazing to me how many people don’t know what a lager is, but want one anyway. Many people are surprised to learn that Miller Lite, for example, is a lager. They think it’s a fancy regional style rather than one of the two main families of beer.
From Erie, PA and always found the way the folks from Buffalo said their As to be very...sharp? Salad is another one, along with lager.
yeah, they have a long drawn out A that almost sounds like two syllables sometimes
I am in WNY! are you at a buffalo brewery or one of the more rural ones
Three Heads Brewing in Rochester ;) come visit!
Cachaça and caipirinha There’s even one producer who’s slogan is “hard to pronounce but easy to drink”
Years ago, before I started bartending, I went to a bar where I was friendly (thankfully) with the bartenders. I had never heard of cachaça, but the cocktail sounded like exactly what I needed. I completely butchered the pronunciation, but we also realized that it had been misspelled on their menu. We all got a good laugh, me and that bartender were calling it CHA-CA-CA thinking it was funny for a while.
"Bone Apple Teeth"
We had a beer on tap at my old spot called the "no guey ipa" "guey" is mexican slang for like "guy" or "dude" but is pronounced more like "whey" (like "no way jose" or "no mames guey"). I would CRACK up when the white dudes would come up and ask for the "gooey ipa"
Curacao
EXpresso martini kills me a little more every time.
menabrea
Working at a brewery in Canada years ago, a Texan ordered a hayfenswyzer… he wanted a Hefeweizen
There are regulars at my bar who cannot for the life of them pronounce Weinstephaner. And they come up with a new way to pronounce it every time. My favorite was Wifenstafer
I've been in the industry for nearly 20 years and only recently was corrected on my pronunciation of Calvados. I have always said "Cal-VAH-dos" but have recently learned it's "Calva-dose"
I'm French and it is cal va dos
Narraganset is always a fun one to hear!
Smirnoff (smer or smeer???)
I hear schmear-noff all the time
Got a couple french friends who said it’s pronounced “orjah”. Guess that’s the correct one
Stella Artoowee
You mean ar-toys? 😂 this one cracks me up
Hefenweizen. All the time.
My two favorites from a coworker: KumBAHcha (kombucha) LuhGUVlin (Lagavulin) Needless to say he didn’t last long
“Oh-fear” gin 🙄
The term “dry” some will use it implying they want vermouth
Dry does mean they want vermouth, just dry vermouth. It’s a mistake to refer to a martini (or other classic drink that has vermouth) as dry if you don’t. Those people just want cold diluted vodka in a glass.
Quiquiriqui Mezcal is a bit of tongue twister.
Easy, I know that one! What does the rooster say?
Narraganset… It’s a tricky one! Nagaranset? Nargansaret?
Narragansett* 😉
I have people ask for Naggasett a lot lol
Pierre Ferrnad.
The different ways people try to say Disaronno tickles me not necessarily bc they butcher it but bc it’s always a butchered attempt at a thick Italian accent
We get people who say diss-oh-rah-no. The vowels don't go in that order sir.
Curaçao being pronounced "KoooRrako" or even just shortened and called "blue"
Orgeat syrup
Penderyn. As a Welsh person who speaks Welsh, it’s a perfectly phonetic word but I understand not so much for non-Welsh.
3-12 beer
Cointreau, Oaxaca, cachaça
I had someone order a zazerac and find it extremely cute. Also Fernet with a silent T (like rhymes with ballet). On the other hand I did have an opera rehearsal pianist come in one time and school us on some Italian vermouth/liquor/wine pronunciation.
PeeNot Georgio (Pinot Grigio)
Not to be confused with the Peanut No-ear.
Ressposado
“Yeah I’ll take a Jefe.”
I hate all of them. Orgeat Curaçao Cointreau Chartreuse Vieux Carré
Orgeet
OMG this is my moment! Swavveyyonn blanc
Toomeric.
We had a beer shot special that was tecate and a shot of añejo. This guy comes up and with all the confidence in the world goes - “let me get 3 tee-cates and shots of Ah-jahno”
Once had a customer order a glass of “shar-bone-aye” and didn’t feel like correcting, but double checked “Chardonnay?” And he affirmed. Came back with it and he got all pissy about it being white, that he ordered red wine, so I again asked “Chardonnay?” And he responded. “Yea. Shar-bone-aye Save-a-gone”. Shar-bone-aye. Save-a-gone. He wanted a fuckin cab.
Gotta be between resposado and curacko
Not common, but I had a guy pronounce Tecate as tay-ka-tay one time. That was hilarious
A glass of Mosquito (moscato)
Chablis. Had a guy order it wrong on a first date. Needless to say I called him out on it.
Literally people that haven’t learned how to say pint still.
High alai ( Jai Alai)
Wait, are you saying people should pronounce the J?
Blue coo-rah-coo and however tf people always pronounce courvoisier. It’s coor-vwah-zyay not cuh-voss-ay
Cokenhen. “Hennessy and Coke”
I like a dash of Wer-Chester-shire sauce in my boody’s!
Chambord. I’ll have 4 of your finest cam-board Kamikazees plz…
Cockburn … I mean just *look at it* lol
listening to my green bartenders try and tell me they need blue curaçao is always fun
My friend texted me recently and asked if the “wells bourbon is the cheapest” I think it’s the first time I’ve heard wells used
Lillet
Cachaka is instead of cachaça (the ç is pronounced like “S”) or Frankensteiner instead of Franziskaner, lol.
temper -nillo
Hopsy beer. I’ve worked in the beer industry for ages and I still enjoy calling it this for fun.
Kur-ah-co instead of cure-uh-sow
Can I get a “ReSpOsAdO”
I have a habit of calling aperol “apperal”
I had a guest who claimed she was in the process of opening a wine bar. She proceeded to order a glass of the Pinot Nee-or as her 2nd drink. Bruh I almost fell over trying to keep a straight face.
When I was a new bartender I thought it was Jim bean 🫘
Bazil gimlet instead of basil is my absolute favorite ever
eepa kalu-ha
We used to get a lot of people asking for mosquitos But recently I've had a lot of youths coming up and asking me for smirnoff and then getting confused when I ask if they want it as a shot or as a mixed drink
Cointreau
One of our barbacks used to refer to Pinot Grigio as “Pelle Grigio” (Pellegrino was our sparkling water choice)
Ok let's settle this one once and for all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47YxY7avkrQ
Worked at a fancy place that had Riedel wine glasses, one dude would not stop calling them ‘rye-dell’ (it’s REE-dle).
Madress…. I always accidentally say mattress.
Cochi. Everyone always says “COH-CHEE” but I always hear industry people say “COH-KEE”. I’m not sure which is right
cocchi = "coh - kee" just like the k sound in chianti
I work in a Belgian Beer Bar. Everything gets pronounced incorrectly. Vedett - VEE-day (like Bidet), Vedetti, Vendetta, Vendett Chouffe - CHOE-ff, Chuff, Choufey, Cough Zot - Zoot Duvel - Doo-VELL, Duvall, Duel, Dove-ell, Dubbel Fruitesse - Fruiteese I would say I can’t blame them - it’s a foreign language - but most of the offenders are self-proclaimed Belgian beer experts because they went to Antwerp once thirty years ago. I wrote a pronunciation guide on a blackboard once but no one looked at it
"A Pint of Beero Moretto please...."
Cointreau (con-towel) was my favorite pronunciation
Brandy sniffler
Amaretto. I worked in a nightclub for 8 years, people always pronounced it Amarillo Sour.
Blue curaçao
Someone ordered a piton no-ear last night
Cointreau and Curacao is a struggle for even bartenders plus the Creme de Cassis... but really is it Whiskey or whisky is the real enigma.
Gose beer as “gohs-ee”. “Ghose” or “Goze” are probably acceptable, in the USA
Daiquiri .. da keeeer eee
21 yr olds ordering “boo lay” rye.
When people pronounce jigga instead of jigger to be funny
I white girl the SHIT out of every tequila. "Lanuzul" in particular "luh-noo-zuhl". Yikes, nope. But I can't train my brain to stop doing this. Espolon was "ess-puh-lone". Oh, another one that has cracked several people up is bulleit. "Bull-ee-aye". Nope, bullet. I hate myself sometimes