Speed rails are a key element in every busy bar, up and down the country, and around the world. Speed rails are aptly named, as they aid a bartender in a quicker and more efficient service. Usually housing the ‘house spirits’, these will usually be a brand of vodka, gin, whisky, rum, and brandy. There may be others in there as well such as amaretto or sambuca, generally, the speed rail houses the most frequently requested spirits.
Not the most glamorous of products, one thing is for sure, speed rails are one of the most useful. Bartenders can quickly spot the liquor they need to pour the perfect drink. And no matter what size your bar or bar station, there are large, medium, and small speed rails to choose from.
However, speed rails are by no means full-proof. There can be problems with them, although it could be argued this is more down to the bartender than the product itself. Speed rails are typically positioned on the edge of a bar station, directly in front of a bartender. Typically a bartender will be standing over the speed rail, leaning forward to prepare a drink on the front bar. This makes grabbing bottles easy, so easy in fact that the bartender often doesn’t need to look at what they are doing when returning the glass bottle to the speed rail.
The more energetic and vigorous bartenders amongst us will know, sometimes we can return the bottles with a little more force than is required. The flair bartenders among you may even choose to elegantly toss the bottle into the speed rail. Either way, this can result in broken bottles, and when a bottle breaks on a bar station – during busy service, it is a nightmare.
Broken glass can be a health and safety nightmare, with bar stations often housing ice wells, if one shard of this glass were to end up in the ice tray, this could quite easily end up in someone’s drink. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
The Bar Shelf Tile provides an interlocking, easy-clean, cushion for the base of your bar wells and speed rails. Although it won’t save your bottles from breaking if they clatter into each other, it will give them cushioned entry into the metal speed rail.
The tactile surface provides extra grip for your bottles so they won’t slide around, and the pegs on the underside ensure the bar shelf tile sits half an inch or so off the base of your wells and speed rail – which is useful for spillages, as your bar shelf tiles won’t start floating!
