So you’ve finally realized that those fancy cocktails you get for $12 at the bar can be crafted in the comfort of your own home at a fraction of the cost.
Or maybe you’ve reached a stage in your life when you’d like to be able offer your friends a proper adult beverage when they come over. You’re done with the embarrassment of asking, “do you want gin & tonic or…uh, water?”
Either way, I commend you for taking the step to set up your own home bar. It’s a great decision for a number of reasons.
Unlike wrinkles and mortgages, it’s one of the rare positive side-effects of growing older. It says, “Now that I’m an adult and I’ve gotten rid of my college furniture, I think I need to be able to offer my guests some options when they ask for a drink.”
There’s also something comforting in being able to make yourself a fancy cocktail at home. Economically it’s a great move, since you’re no longer spending hundreds of dollars at a bar. And best of all, you can enjoy that fancy homemade cocktail while you’re sitting on your couch in your underwear on a Wednesday night (check with your roommates on this first, though).
Once you have a proper bar at home, cocktails become more about the journey than the destination. And the journey is AWESOME. When you’re just ordering your usual drink at a bar or even when you “branch out,” you don’t have much room to experiment. When you have a home bar, you can explore and tinker—the control is in your hands.
So without any further ado, here are the essential items you need to set up a basic home bar:
Equipment
As with anything, barware is an area where you could spend tons of dough if you wanted to. And you could continue to spend money acquiring unique or rare items—like a shaker made of antique tortoise shell or something. That’s all fine if you have the money, but before we get fancy let’s get you set up with the essentials.
Jigger
This helps you measure in 1-ounce or 1-½ ounce increments. I know you’re thinking, “but in most bars, bartenders don’t measure when they pour the booze—and it looks so damn cool…” That’s ok if you’re making something simple like a rum and coke. But if you’re making anything more interesting—with more than 2 ingredients—you might want to do some measuring. When you make a Manhattan, adding any more than that “just right” amount of sweet vermouth can ruin the delicate balance. That’s exactly why I never order manhattans at most regular bars.
Shaker
This helps you combine ice with booze and other drink ingredients. For drinks like the Manhattan and martini (which generally should be stirred not shaken, by the way—Bond was an oddball) shakers allow you to mix and chill the ingredients while imparting an ever-so-slight amount of water from the ice to help smooth out the drink. For drinks that combine citrus and other disparate ingredients, some experts say that shaking vigorously helps create a chemical reaction that can help bind the ingredients together for a smoother mouthfeel.
When you’re buying a shaker, you don’t have to go crazy expensive. Key to this is getting a shaker that (1) keeps the liquid in the shaker when you’re shaking it, and (2) helps you strain the ingredients when you’re pouring into the glass. You can go bar-style with a pint glass, stainless steel tumbler and a strainer. But it’s probably easier just to grab a garden-variety shaker with a built-in strainer (also known as a “cobbler”).
Bar spoon
Essentially this is just a long-ass spoon for mixing drinks. The length allows you to stir ingredients in various size glasses, from shallow tumblers to tall highball glasses. It also makes it easier to grab a garnish like an olive or a cherry out of a jar. These often have a twirled metal handle that supposedly assists in mixing.
Muddler
A muddler is a long stick with a flat bottom used to mash fruit and other ingredients in the bottom of drinks. It is essential for drinks like the mojito and the mint julep and is often used to muddle together sugar cubes and bitters for drinks like the old fashioned. Traditionally they’re made out of wood and look like little baseball bats, but newer designs can be made from plastic or stainless steel and have a toothed or textured surface on one end. My grandfather’s muddler (pictured here) was one of the few things I inherited from him and something I continue to treasure. I’m ashamed to say, I think it took me like 3 months to figure out that it was actually a muddler and not just a miniature baseball bat.
Citrus Squeezer
The handheld citrus squeezer is perfect for juicing limes for cocktails like the margarita or lemons for something like a whiskey sour or gimlet. You may think that fresh citrus is more of a “nice to have” rather than a “must have.” But the truth is that fresh citrus is one of the cornerstones of many good cocktails. Once your palate has gotten used to the beauty of fresh lime in your margarita and fresh lemon in your whiskey sours, there is no going back to margarita mix or sweet and sour mix. Bartending guru Shawn Refoua of SF Mixology even goes so far as to say that the quality and freshness of the citrus in a drink is actually more important than the booze you use.
Glassware
Again, don’t go crazy here—you have plenty of time to accumulate fancy specialty glassware—and believe me, you will. For now if you’re just starting out, just get the basics. As one of my favorite cocktail books DIY Cocktails says, “The 2 most important questions to ask when choosing a glass for your cocktail are: 1. How big will my drink be? 2. Will my glass have ice cubes in it?”
For now, here are the essential glasses to start with:
Old fashioned glasses
4-8 ounce glasses, sometimes called “rocks glasses” since they typically used for serving drinks on the rocks
Highball glasses or collins glasses
Both are tall and narrow. Technically the highball glass is about 8-10 ounces and the collins glass is about 10-14 ounces. But you can probably get by with one type of glass that holds about 10-12 ounces.
Martini glasses or cocktail glasses
The classic cone-shaped glass on a stem used for chilled, strained drinks like martinis and manhattans. Technically martini glasses are usually a little bigger whereas cocktail glasses are a little smaller. But either should work fine.
Optional glassware upgrades
Margarita glasses
Snifters, for swilling brandy
Whisky tasting glasses
Champagne flutes
Fancy shot glasses
Liquor in the front, mixers in the rear
So what about the actual bar ingredients? Of course, there’s no end to the number of different mixers and types of liquor you can buy. There’s everything from artichoke liqueur to other oddball stuff like marshmallow-flavored vodka. What’s important is that you have good base of liquor to start with. Here are the essentials:
Booze
Gin
Tequila
Dark or spiced rum
Light rum
Bourbon
Scotch
Irish Whiskey
Vodka
Brandy
With all of the type of alcohol above, what should be obvious is that the quality of the liquor matters more if you plan on drinking it with fewer ingredients—or on its own. I do believe that using great liquor does improve a cocktail, but it’s not essential to use top-shelf stuff if you’re going to be mixing it with other ingredients. On the other hand, if you plan to enjoy scotch on the rocks or “neat”, you may want to invest in single-malt that doesn’t taste like turpentine.
Of course, if you or one of your close friends has a particular knack for one type of liquor you may want to skew your list accordingly. For instance, I like whiskey quite a bit, so I generally have a disproportionate amount of brown liquor—bourbon, rye, scotch, Canadian whiskey, etc.—on hand. But I would still encourage you to make sure you have the basics above.
Mixers to always have on hand
Club soda
Tonic water
Ginger ale
Cola
Cointreau or Triple Sec
Bitters
Garnishes to always have on hand
Good maraschino cherries
Olives
Simple syrup (make your own—just 1 part water, 1 part sugar and shake in a tightly closed jar. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks)
Perishable mixers and garnishes
These mixers are great to have on hand, but since they should ideally be somewhat fresh, buy or prepare them right before you have a party.
Orange juice
Cranberry juice
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Fresh mint and basil
Cucumbers
Once you’ve acquired the essential items above, congratulations, you’ve got a basic home bar! There’s always going to be something you’re missing. But take comfort knowing that your bar is now equipped to handle many standard cocktails and should make your guests feel more than welcome.
Best of all, this is just the beginning of your mixology adventures. Having a home bar is like having a basic tool set. You have a solid foundation once you have the basic array of tools. But as you being to try different things, it gives you an excuse to acquire new and exotic tools and ingredients. I would caution you not to do this too quickly—but I would also be lying if I didn’t admit that I get giddy like a schoolboy when I realize I “need” to go out and buy a Julep strainer or some random liqueur like Drambuie.
Now go forth and have a cocktail!
Guest Post by Kyle Ingham of The Distilled Man
