Same. Only reason I have a bottle of vodka right now is b/c I was going past a Costco that sells the KS brand liquor so I stocked up (they don't sell the KS liquors in Texas). It made a delicious bloody mary last week while I was watching flood water creep up my driveway :p

The only bottle of vodka I've ever had at home I stole. :D

I used to work out of a coworking center in San Antonio where I shared a private office with some friends. Adjacent to our office was a common area where, one night, a reception was held for some cause or another. One of the Castro brothers was the guest of honor (Julian or Joaquin, I don't remember).

Tito's Vodka sponsored the event and provided 10 or so cases, all of which were conveniently stored in the empty office next to ours.

The dirty little secret of this facility was that every office used the exact same key, so after nobody collected them for a week we liberated a few. ;)

I'll second (or third?) recommendations for Noilly Prat vermouths. I will try others from time-to-time but generally keep bottles of Noilly around as a staple. In addition, I like that it can be picked up in 375ml bottles since I can't go often through a 750ml bottle in the time it takes for vermouth - even if vacuum sealed and refrigerated - to start going stale.

For (gin) Martinis, I use orange bitters and Regan's is my current favorite.

You've raised two important points: buy vermouth in the smallest size you can get and keep it in the fridge!

I just priced out my home bar (plus a bottle of Pernod Absinthe, which I should pick up), and it comes to $399 plus tax at Hazel's in Boulder. Not too bad.

And a good excuse to throw a cocktail party. ;)

I will admit to sometimes downgrading bottles for large groups, especially the Leopold's.

Fellow IAH guy here. We only had 11 inches of rain in my area lol.

Are you a goodygoody or a Specs guy? I went to goodygoody my first time last week and liked it much better.

Fernet Branca

Good quality glassware is nice to have as well.

which reminds me:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...-stemware.html

Malbec and Beer.

From a liquor standpoint, this is probably too much, unless one really likes all these things. I have a couple of decent articles on setting up a home bar that I'll try to find online. Two were from the Washington Post (one for winter, one for summer) and one was more recently in GQ.

Basically you should start with the things YOU like, unless you really entertain a lot. And another tip I did not know is that since vermouth is wine, it goes bad. Keep it in your fridge for 3 months and then replenish with a fresh bottle. Now, if you are using it all the time, you won't have an issue. I'm not a martini guy, so I would have the same bottle sitting on my shelf forever.

Edited to add: so here is the GQ article, I think. I couldn't find my hard copy, but this all rings a bell, so I think it's correct.

http://www.gq.com/story/home-bar-guide

Here's the original WaPo article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112700638.html

Here's the summer bar update from WaPo:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...007/chart.html

At the end of the day, it's your bar, so have fun with it. The articles are just guidelines. The one recommendation I really like is to have fun with the glassware. Don't feel like you have to get a "matched set". If you see a glass you like, buy it.

Specs is my default. How much better is goody goody? I just looked and they only have a handful of locations but I'd stop in to check it out next time I'm around one.

To me the "feel" of goodygoody is better. The layout is great, store is super clean, and every single bottle is facing outward making it easy to navigate. I hit the one on 6N and the folks are super nice.

So what I've bought so far:

- Bulleit Bourbon
- Hendricks Gin
- Jameson
- Capt. Morgan Private Stock (never had it but it goods good reviews)
- Disaronno for the mrs.
- Angostura bitters
- Exclusiv Vodka (Vodka is usually a mixed drink for me and I find this to be a good deal)


Do you guys feel the Jack Rudy small batch tonics are worth the price?

I'll have to check it out then. The average Specs has a kind of dingy feel to it.

Curious what glassware people would recommend for mixed drinks with a heavy focus on bourbon / whiskey drinks. I have a Glencairn for drinking straight but can never decide what to buy for cocktails

Agree. As for Absinthe, just say no...