Must-haves for your home bar.
 

Let's hear it. Putting one together in our new place and want to be able to cover all bases.

One bottle each of:
-good whiskey (bourbon or scotch or both)
-good vodka
-good gin
-good rum (one white, one brown)
-good tequila (anejo or reposado, unless you mainly intend to make margaritas)
-Campari or another amaro
-good dry vermouth
-good sweet vermouth
-cocktail shaker and strainer
-bar spoon
-Rose's lime juice
-good grenadine (not Rose's)
-Mixers
-ice cube tray to make actual cubes of ice, not the sad half moon crescents your freezer makes

Great list! Would add rye if you prefer drier whisky for Manhattans/Old Fashioneds/etc... as I do.

Though you may want to just start simply by working backwards from the cocktails you like to drink. I bought a bunch of bottles that a bar is "supposed" to have a while back, and many of them still sit unopened at the bottom of my bar cart. For example, the rum simply wouldn't get drank (drunk?) in our house, while my gin collection has steadily grown.

At my house, a few other musts:

- A couple of digestifs (e.g., Amaro Montenegro and something herbal like Unicum or Fernet)
- Some crowd-pleaser wines
- Maraschino cherries (don't skimp on these...Luxardo are $$, but worth it, and will last you for a long time)

Absinthe. It's a good conversation bottle, and you never know when a party will break out.

If absinthe is involved, a party is sure to break out! :)

Good point above on it depending what you like to drink. I was approaching it from the "let's have a general bar for a variety of occasions". ALso I mainly had cocktails in mind. Beer and wine are other discussions entirely...

Do y'all have particular bitters and vermouth you like?

Peychaud's for Sazeracs, Angostura for Manhattans :)

Here's a good breakdown.

For vermouth, I typically just go with Martini for sweet, and Dolin for dry.

Awesome link. Thanks! Adding to my "grocery" spreadsheet.

Dolin and Noilly Prat are both nice for sweet or dry. Martini is gross and swill, says I.

You might also try Lillet Blanc as an alternative to standard sweet vermouth.

For those whose tastes run toward lower proofs, a good Belgian tripel or blonde on tap, perhaps an English oatmeal stout or porter too. For after dinner, a selection of ports or other fortified wines.

This reminds me of this ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9tk7h5Tjk

Heh, fun.

Ya, I have the Absinthe spoon and a few sugar cubes sitting around. Sometimes it's fun to pour the liquor over the sugar and light the sugar on fire. I haven't done it in a while but it's cheap enough to have sitting around.

Also, I'll add to OP that Remy VSOP is a bar must for Cognac. Not good enough that you can't mix it, but not bad enough that you wouldn't drink it straight.

* Rittenhouse Rye
* Gran Torres orange liqueur
* Talisker 10yr
* Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
* Dolin Dry Vermouth
* Angostura
* Regen's Orange Bitters
* Leopold's Gin
* Remy Martin VSOP
* Lillet Blanc
* Campari

And a good Shiraz for New York Sours.

I generally don't keep rum or vodka around.

edit: Forgot about tequila. Milagro Silver.