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.

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...

It's necessary for two classic cocktails, the Sazerac and the Corpse Reviver #2. No reason *not* have to a decent absinthe on hand.

The two main choices are highball and rocks glasses. I think most whiskey drinks are better in rocks glasses, but there are whiskey highballs too, like seven and seven.

I just use my usual everyday glasses.

This is really good advice. I think folks get caught up in "having" to have specific glassware. Sure, a nice beer glass or two or cocktail glass is nice, but not a "must have". That's why, in hindsight, I wish I had been more eclectic with my glassware selection and purchased items that were "meaningful" rather than "expected".

I'll offer one. I don't drink either of those cocktails, and, even if someone I know does, I think it's perfectly acceptable to say "sorry, I don't have that liquor." and offer them something else. I put absinthe on the list of "novelty" liquors that I wouldn't expect to find in someone's home bar. It's different if you ask for scotch, bourbon, gin, vodka, or rum and someone says "sorry - don't have it". That would surprise me.

I think a home bar ought to have the core ingredients, and, most importantly, whatever the homeowner drinks. If that's absinthe, good on you. But I would be surprised to find it in most homes.

I have a bottle of green Chartreuse on hand on the off chance that Mr. Gfunk asks for his favorite cocktail, but yeah - otherwise I wouldn't. :)

We do lots of bourbon cocktails at home and have a variety of rocks glasses, some pretty-fied and some that are just solid workhorses. Crate & Barrel has a decent variety of glassware, and at a price point where you won't cringe if a couple get broken.

Rather than try to build out a bar with a broad array of options from scratch I recommend starting out more narrowly. Focus on one or two families of drinks at first. Things made with the same type of liquor. For example, margaritas. Or piña colada. Both have lots of variations. Invest some time-- and money!-- learning how to make each drink really good by choosing the right liquors, the right mixers, and the right technique to combine them. Start with something you enjoy so you bring passion to the effort. As you develop something special with one type of drink, begin adding the next to your repertoire.

The start-narrow approach works for entertaining because most drinkers, in my experience, are willing to try whatever category of "house speciality" I'm offering. Most people respect the effort that goes into making a good drink, not a merely serviceable one, and are curious to try it out. Sure, there are some people with set preferences. Like the guy who "only drinks Scotch, and then only single malts". Or the gal who's like, "Nah, I just want a glass of Chardonnay." You can keep some basic bottles on hand for those folks. But recognize that they're special cases. You don't have to be all things to all people.

The result of the start-narrow approach is that your friends will come to see you as a person with taste and skill in serving drinks. Not just a person with a lot of bottles on the shelf. (Anyone with a shopping list and a credit card can assemble a reasonable collection of bottles.) They'll be more likely to come to your parties in the future. They'll invite you to theirs. They'll talk you up amongst friends. They'll even bring good bottles as gifts because they recognize your passion to pour a fine glass, not merely one that "gets the job done".

I am a huge fan of having something your guests have never had on your bar - it is a conversation starter, and will have people giving something new a try. I pick up little bits and bobs when I travel, and keep an eye out for unusual things in bars here (and then go to the liquor store to get a bottle if it is something I like). What this often means is that my bar contains as many weird and wonderful items as standard, and it makes for some good cocktails! My last 5 purchases were (and of course this will depend on what is 'normal' where you live, some stuff is utterly normal in the UK, but not in Toronto!): Creme Yvette, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Chase Marmalade vodka, Liquor 43, and an Elderflower liqueur from a small batch producer.

I like booze... way too much... I drink a lot of Manhattans/Martinis and whiskey straight... love the Glencarin but my absolute favorite glasses in the house are the ones that my wife got for me: Vintage champagne coupes (*note these are not the exact glasses but very similar)... I had some old martini glasses that held about 6.5 ounces of liquor which was waaaay too much... these are perfect for manhattans and we also use them for champagne as well....

My old fashions go into a regular short glass...

FDW

I also use the old style champagne saucers as cocktail glasses. Unlike most modern cocktail glasses, the old style saucers are an appropriate size (3-5 oz) for cocktails. Modern cocktail/martini glasses are way too big. Who wants a stemmed tub of warm gin? :)

My bar contains:

Gin = Plymouth (navy strength if I can get it, but regular will do)
Vodka = Finlandia
Special vodka = Nemiroff chilli-infused
Vermouth = Dry Martini, Martini Rosso
Triple sec = Cointreau
Liqueurs = Di Saronno Amaretto, Grand Marnier, Chambord, Benedictine
Rum = Skipper (dark), Appleton Estate (light)
Cognac = Remy Martin VSOP (for cocktails), Hennessy XO (for regular drinking)
Bitters = Angostura
Scotch = Oban, Talisker (I don't drink many whisky cocktails so am happy to use these in cocktails if a guest so desires)
Bourbon = Woodford Reserve
Sherry = Sainsbury's extra dry, Sainsbury's PX, which are perfectly fine
Port = Sainsbury's Taste The Difference vintage stuff, which is tasty
Madeira = Sainsbury's own brand, which is tasty
Other = sugar syrup, ginger cordial

There is not quite everything in this photo but it gives the general idea:

Attachment 11154

Here is the stuff that I can make with all of that, plus lemons, limes and oranges:

Attachment 11156