Welcome to the bottom, traveler.

The Bottom of the Barrel is an Ishgardian dual-function bar and brewery focused on serving lore-accurate, realistically produced drinks at prices that enable as many users to RP as possible. Our staff will ensure that you have an enjoyable experience with yourselves, us, and your fellow patrons.
Click the buttons above to read more about our establishment and its goals, view our menu and pricing, and learn about our three dedicated co-owners. Happy drinking!EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE THE "LOOKING TO MELD MATERIA" SYMBOL ON, FEEL FREE TO ASK US ANYTHING!

HOURS
Tuesdays and Sundays
11 PM EST - 2 AM EST
RULES

1. All patrons must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
2. No public ERP.
3. No harassment of staff or any patron.
If you are found to be in violation of any of the above rules, we will mass report you.

ABOUT US

At the Bottom of the Barrel, we aspire to push the limits of Ishgard’s alcoholism, and in doing so, enrich our customers’ lives. Founded by a trio of immigrants from three different corners of the world, we have combined our talents and put our heads together to create a menu unlike anything seen before in the land. Themed around the rich lands that our debatably fair city lays claim to, all twenty-four of the drinks on our menu are brewed in-house in small batches. Traditional ales, whiskies, ciders, and rum can be found on our menu, alongside bold new inventions of ours and ancient recipes retrieved from ruined nations of ages past.

(MOSTLY) LOCALLY-SOURCED

In keeping with our admiration of our new home, we are proud to announce that nearly all of our ingredients are sourced from Coerthas, its aerial outposts in the Sea of Clouds, and brave expeditions to the lands of Dravania and the Churning Mists beyond. Outside of palm syrup imported from Thavnair, honey from the Shroud, and barley from the western shores of Vylbrand, every single item on our menu is comprised of 100% traditional Coerthan flavors and crops, from the grains and fruits down to the barrels we use. Our three co-owners personally gather the materials and brew the drinks together, helping us keep costs low enough that even the Brume’s most miserable sops could visit us and leave with a second round in their belly.

INNOVATION WITH HOPS

In order to keep operating costs down for our tiny establishment, we decided to experiment with the ingredients within our reach, seeking to create substitutes for the ingredients we needed most. While we found little success widely substituting La Noscean barley for Coerthan rye and other cereal grains, a lucky find to the south of Anyx Trine has become central to our identity as a brewery. The disk florets of coneflowers contain enormous quantities of the same Alpha Acids inside hop cones’ lupulin glands, allowing us to use less material to create more hops. Our coneflower disk florets, or “cone hops,” have allowed us to create a series of five beers with a taste no one else can replicate.

((OUT OF CHARACTER)) REAL-WORLD KNOWLEDGE

Our employees have extensive knowledge of real-world brewing processes, and our menu is designed so that each drink, barring a couple of more fanciful inventions, could be made by an individual in the world of Eitherys, provided they had the knowledge and materials to do so. All of our drinks are modeled after real-world alcoholic beverages, and their brewing processes and ingredient slates were modeled directly off of each drink. We love to talk about the brewing process and how drinks are made, so feel free to ask in-character (or send a tell out of character)! Our new alcohol flights are a great way of learning about multiple drinks, and we will convey the knowledge in a way that is applicable to the game and the real world!

STAFF

Felix Autumnsense

Felix simply was. She didn’t remember anything of her childhood or her origins, and she didn’t really care to. Her earliest memories go back to Gridania, where she was informally adopted by the Botanist’s Guild after they had found her foraging in the Shroud. She quickly developed an affinity for plants and nature, and rightfully so, since she spent so much of her time in the woods. The young Miqo’te found solace and safety amongst the trees; steadfast beings that she could trust to never hurt her. As she grew older she learned more skills. Hunting, carpentry, leatherworking, it all came easily to her. She became a jack of all trades and was able to turn a pretty penny off her talents. Hearing of the discovery of the Diadem, and by extension, all the new species of flora, Felix traveled to Ishagard.Ishgard, with its freezing weather and colder hearts, proved to be quite the change of pace from the quaintness of Gridania. The woods she trusted so much were no longer there, having been replaced by stone walls and machinery. Despite this, she kept her head down and focused on her goals; after all, those new species wouldn’t catalog themselves. As her works grew, so too did her reputation as a botanist. This would eventually lead her to meeting her now good friend, Gog Magog.The Felix that you’d run into at Bottom of the Barrel is a friendly and energetic tradeswoman. She offers any sorts of services that you could ask for, ranging from the mundane to the more illicit. She is fiercely loyal to her two friends, Sypha Mol and Gog Magog, the only two people she can truly trust. She believes herself to be right in all things she does and will cheerfully do things with no concern for how they’ll affect other people. She cares for her plants more than she could ever care for another. If you can somehow get close enough to her, maybe someday she will show you all the secrets she has hid.

Gog Magog

Born upon the tide, this sharply dressed Roegadyn man’s stern visage and towering figure help lend an air of cold intimidation to an otherwise warm individual. Spending his youth aboard a ship as a medic and cook, Gogmagog (written today in two words, as he was not given a last name but needed to adopt one for customs purposes) developed a love for alcohol at a dangerously low age. This was a necessary adaptation to cope with guilt, as the men he kept healthy committed countless acts of piracy across the world, from the Northern Empty to the Bounty and everywhere in between. His casual study of the grog he drank every day turned into a lifelong passion and a unique skillset, paving the way for him to leave his relatives on good terms to pursue the art of the bottle. Using his skills as a healer to amass a small fortune and splitting his name in twain, he disembarked at Limsa Lominsa, threw his crew’s name about in order to curry some small favors, and wandered across Aldenard, eager to live and learn about the rich, intoxicating world of brewing.Traveling to Vylbrand, he studied ales and wines, learning about their rich histories and production processes. Then, to the Shroud, where he learned of mead and stingbrew, and how to create alcohol from unexpected sources. Onwards to Thanalan, where he was met with the high standards and lavish descriptions that well-paying conoisseurs would judge drinks with. Onto Coerthas, where he learned of the art of brandewines; Doma and Hingashi, where he learned of sake and its unique brewing styles; Gyr Abania, where he studied the barely living art of arak; Thavnair, where he took heart in his knowledge of rums; and even to Garlemald and Sharlayan, where he learned of as many alcoholic beverages as he could from an empire that could acquire whatever it pleased and a city of scholars with their noses too far in their books to provide anything more than the history of liquors.Incorporating knowledge of master craftsman, rich collector, and unapologetic drunkard alike, he helped in the development of a new branch of beer brewing during his first foray to Ishgard. The Lager, as it is known to the world today, used Coerthas’ ready supply of ice crystals to ferment a yeast that required lower temperatures than typical ale yeasts. Gog fell in love with the city and the Brume’s adoration of his experiments, and resolved to start his own brewery there once he returned; over various nights spent lugging his drinks over to the Forgotten Knight to sell through Bamponcet and Gibrillont, he managed to meet his two most trusted companions, Sypha and Felix. Now that they have managed to purchase a home in Empyreum together, the only thing powerful enough to restrain Gog’s alcoholic ambitions is his ever-bleeding coinpurse.He enjoys talking about all things alcohol and its creation, serving others, and looming threateningly over people with his sunglasses on. If at all possible, steer clear of piratical topics with him, unless they are related to rum and grog. In his spare time, he enjoys relaxing at the Dragon’s Stream Bathhouse, where he sips cups of their quite well-done flavored sake and idly listens to the conversations of the other patrons.

Sypha Mol

Sypha Mol was once a member of the nomadic Mol tribe of the Azim Steppe; in her youth, she experienced much strife due to the constant relocation of her tribe’s encampment. She became weary of the constant movement around the Steppe, and decided her efforts would be better spent exploring the larger world. On her fifteenth nameday, she set out from her home, resolved to tackle the vaunted life of an adventurer head-on. Her journey first took her across the seas to the lands of Eorzea, where she set out for Ul’dah. It was here that she would take up the art of Thaumaturgy as a symbol of her admiration for the practiced mages of the Steppe’s famed and feared Dotharl warriors. Eventually, she chanced upon a samurai who was looking for a pupil in the bustling streets of Ul’dah and took it as a sign from the Gods that she was destined to wield arts from the Far East.Taking up the mantle of a samurai herself, she began to wander around Eorzea in search of odd jobs to take for the sake of helping the locals. On one such foray, she wound up at an establishment known as Buscarron’s Druthers, a small tavern located under the bows of the South Black Shroud. While originally only intending to stop to gather information, she was convinced to share a drink with a young-looking midlander whose long black hair, cheerful attitude, and penchant for delightful conversation touched her heart. Up until then, she had little experience with alcohol; the Steppe’s beverage of choice, kumis, would send her stomach tumbling down an unending hill of nausea. Noticing her inexperience, the midlander ordered her a drink only known to a select few locals: Maple Mead. This sweet drink made from the sap of the Shroud’s very own maple trees and honey was enough to completely undo any misgivings Sypha held about alcohol. In fact, it was this very experience which drove her to seek out new varieties of drink in whichever locale she visited from that day forth.Her travels took her far and wide, even to other worlds. However, her favorite city of all that she visited was none other than the snow-capped vigil of Ishgard. Following the conclusion of the Dragonsong War, she would pay regular visits to The Forgotten Knight to share a drink with the tavern-keep and strike up conversation with any passersby. On one such visit, she met two of her soon-to-be long time friends; Gog Magog, a large male roegadyn with a taste for various ales and liquors, and Felix Autumnsense, a mi’qote woman with an eye for botany. Eventually, she even joined him on his venture to run a Brewery out of his house in Empyreum.In present day, Sypha is a cheerful and laid back girl with a passion for speaking to those who chance to wander down to the Bottom of the Barrel and learn their life stories. She can often be seen in the basement, enjoying a drink with the establishment’s patrons.

Taji Burwani

Born and raised in Central Thanalan, Taji spent her early life absorbing every lesson Ul'dah had to teach her. The Keeper quickly learned that the city would devour the unsuspecting, and how easy it was to fall through the cracks. She developed a fascination for the exotic foods and drinks passing through the markets well before she had the coin to pay for them, and began looking for an honest way to make her living. It wasn't long before she found a tutor in the magical arts, and left the city as his apprentice.Taji speaks very little of her time with her tutor, though the bits and pieces shared over drinks hint at extensive travel, debilitating training, and a ruthless instructor with no regard for the safety of his charge. The Miqo'te who emerged had gained phenomenal control of her magic and sufficient skill with a blade to earn her keep as a mercenary, but lost the softness and peace that marked her younger years. She would spend years trying to reclaim both, to mixed success.Taji naturally gravitated back to Ul'dah and began working solo jobs ranging from escorting caravans to bounty hunting. During a break between jobs, she encountered a dark haired Seeker on his first trip into the city and looking in danger of falling through familiar cracks. Uncharacteristically, she stepped in and helped the Miqo'te establish himself in the city. Hod, having come to the city to become a mercenary, would become a trusted hunting partner and a beacon in Taji's life, her 'Sun and Moon', though both Miqo'te took shifts fighting the inevitable and denying their feelings.In recent years, Taji's settled down. She spends time every day keeping up her training, with a focus on maintaining balance of all types -- be that aetheric, mental, or physical. She traded camping for innkeeping and bounties for bathouses, but still picks up interesting jobs alongside Hod, now her husband. With a specific focus on aetheric irregularities, Taji carefully selects her clients and often works cases that can't be routed through the guilds or Grand Companies for one reason or another.Taji's passion for learning about new cultures and customs through food has grown alongside her recipe collection. When she heard of an Ishgardian brewery working with local ingredients, experimenting with aether, and serving nobles and commoners alike, the siren call was impossible to ignore. After trying the place for herself, Taji signed on as staff at the first opportunity.Behind the bar, Taji presents a sympathetic ear with an easy smile and only a minor inclination to tease her favorite patrons. In casual conversation, she's delighted to discuss bathhouses, coffee, and all things food and booze, or even to trade a few terrible jokes and puns. When caught with a bit of free time, she loves to dive deep on all things aether, culinary techniques, and any troubles her patrons might be facing.