The Home Bar

I’ve been in a lot of watering holes in my day. I’ve loved some, liked some, tolerated some, and hated some. That’s just how it goes. But I’ve loved every home bar I’ve ever seen. From the basic home bar to the mind-bogglingly impressive, dedicating part of your home to crafting good drinks and good times is always a great call.

The first time I saw an impressive home bar I was too young to understand how impressive it truly was. It was at my uncle’s house, and now that I’m old enough to appreciate it, it remains one of the most impressive home bars I’ve ever seen. Countless bottles, from every corner of the globe, encompassing all possible tastes and preferences. He even has bottles he considers part of a “collection” – simply stored and displayed, never to be opened (well, he does call some of them his apocalypse bottles, so presumably he’ll crack them open when the asteroids, mushroom clouds, or tsunamis come rolling in – honestly, not a bad way to spend a final few minutes).

I see him only once or twice a year. It’s always a great time, enhanced of course by unfettered access to a never-ending wall of top-shelf bottles. I have neither the space nor money to build anything even remotely similar, but I do try to keep a solid variety of bottles on hand. I’ve always loved my regular spots – from the dives, to the live music joints, to the hip and upscale. Give me a good seat and a drink and I’ll be just fine. But as I get older I often prefer the comfort of home, and that sometimes means the comfort of a home bar.

My real introduction to cocktails and mixed drinks began where it begins for many Americans – as a teenager at rich friends’ houses. To this day there’s a particular style of mid-90’s middle-class McMansion kitchen and basement that make me immediately think of underage drinking. These kids always had parents who maintained stocked bars. Sometimes it was a bar cabinet, sometimes it was a full wet bar, and sometimes it was just a cupboard stuffed with bottles. It was there that the experiments began.

Of course, we had no idea what we were doing. These were high school parties. The goal wasn’t to enjoy an eclectic array of interesting drinks – the goal was simply to consume a large volume. With unrefined palates we mixed whatever would mask the booze, while a mixtape of west coast hip hop, old street punk, early indie rock, and Bob Dylan blasted from the Aiwa mini-system.

Before we move on, let me say that my intention here is not to support or glorify underage drinking. I have a teenage daughter now, and her generation appears to be much wiser than mine. But the 90s were interesting, somewhat feral and exploratory, and I’m safely assuming that many of you had similar experiences. Here’s a toast for getting out unscathed, and for those wise enough to avoid repeating our mistakes.

Giving Mixology the Old College Try

The good news is that as we grow our tastes grow alongside us. For me, it was now off to college. Generally speaking, cheap beer was my go-to, but this was the time where I began to learn about mixed drinks and cocktails, enjoying the basics while eagerly expanding my tastes and interests. Rum and Coke, Jack and Coke, 7 and 7, scotch and soda, and so on – drinks that certainly have a place in the barroom pantheon, and are also easy to sip for entry-level drinkers.

It was when I started graduate school that many of my friends and classmates began setting up more comprehensive home bars and experimenting with a wider variety of cocktails. More often than not I continued to stick with cheap beer – I was often pulling all-nighters for research and writing and needed to pace myself. But occasionally I had some free time, which I spent working as a bike messenger, helping out at art galleries, and expanding my knowledge of fine spirits and cocktails.

It would still be awhile before I really dialed in the essentials for a great home bar, but by the time I hit my mid-30s I was fully prepared to host, entertain, and bartend. I’m no expert, and I learned primarily through seeing what others did well, and my own trial and error. If this guide serves as nothing else, hopefully it will help you minimize those errors as you turn part of your house into a place to gather, relax, and make memories (and maybe lose a few too).

There’s no one correct way to build your own setup—and you should always build first around your own tastes and interests—but there are some expected staples in any good home bar. Let’s break it down into phases. We’ll start first with the bare-bones home bar.

Maybe you have a pile of money to burn. For everyone else, you don’t need to let a lack of funds keep you from getting a basic (but still respectable) setup as a centerpiece of your house or apartment. A few cornerstone pieces will stock a home bar that’s well-equipped for good times with friends and family.

Bare-Bones Budget Home Bar

So you’ve decided to get a small home bar up and running – good call! A basic setup is affordable while still offering plenty of options for drinks and cocktails. As mentioned earlier, build around your own taste, so use this as a jumping-off point.

Utensils

Shaker and mixing glass

Strainer

Jigger

Spoon

Muddler

An ice bucket or maker is nice, but isn’t necessary as long as you have easy access to ice – if your freezer is on a different floor from your bar an ice bucket will come in quite handy.

Glassware

This is a place where you could easily be overwhelmed by your options. From drink-specific glasses, to pure crystal with gold inlays, the drinking vessel industry is as ready to take your money as any overpriced hotel bar in the land.

Your best bet? A solid set of rocks glasses. Perfect for taking your drink neat or on the rocks, and for almost all cocktails, a set of rocks glasses will be the most versatile and useful addition to your home bar.

Liquor

Whiskey. The water of life. You’ll want at least two bottles – a bourbon and a rye are preferable, but again, build your collection around your own tastes. The good news is that a lot of really good whiskeys can be found in the $30 to $40 range, so you won’t have to dig too deep into your pockets for something smooth and delicious.

Gin. The best thing the juniper berry has ever done. Gin is a base alcohol for a number of cocktails, so go ahead and grab the big bottle.

Vodka. The star of 1980’s cocktails, and a supporting role in James Bond flicks and one notably bad Tom Cruise blockbuster, vodka is a neutral base, and is therefore very easy to build on. Another versatile spirit, so buying the big bottle is worth it.

Rum. Sugar has never been so intoxicating. There are a handful of options, so the best place to start is with a good bottle of light rum. From tropical-themed cocktails to dive bar standards, a few ounces of rum brings a touch of sweetness to your home.

Tequila. A few hundred years ago someone was like “hey man, I bet we can drink that cactus,” and the world is now a much better place. Good tequila has a complex, sweet and smoky flavor, with subtle fruity and earthy undertones. Cheap tequila tastes like kerosene and can be enjoyed at every sweaty frat party in every small college town in America. So you don’t need to grab the top-shelf bottle, but stay away from the bottom shelf too.

Mixers and Garnishes

Tonic water

Club soda

Angostura Bitters

Cranberry juice

Simple syrup

Lemons

Limes

Maraschino cherries

Oranges

Mint

Some of this might be more than what you need, and it’s a bad idea to stock up on perishables well before you need them, so plan however you see fit.

Before you know it you’ll have an excellent little home bar.

Time to Upgrade

At this point your home bar is going strong. Folks look forward to gathering at your place and you’ve grown to love pouring, mixing, and entertaining. You had your boss over one evening and he loved your mixology skills so much that somewhere between a Boulevardier and a Vieux Carré he gave you a promotion and a raise. At this point the only thing left to do is expand your home bar. You’ve got the basics, so now with just a few additions your bar will quickly become the go-to spot in the neighborhood.

Utensils and Tools

Zester

Bartender’s Knife

Juicer

Large ice cube/sphere molds

Glassware

Again, rocks glasses are your bar’s best friend, but if you want a bit of drink-specific traditionalism, stock what you’ll use most.

Martini Glasses

Irish Coffee Glasses

Mule Mugs

Decanter

Liquor/Liqueur

Add two more whiskeys to your bar. If you already have the bourbon and rye, add an Irish and a Scotch. Or consider a Japanese Whisky – some really interesting whiskies have been coming out of Japan in recent years.

Cognac or Brandy

Dark or Jamaican Rum

Dry and Sweet Vermouth

B&B or Benedictine

Cointreau

Bailey’s

Aperol

Drambuie

St. Germain

Campari

Mixers and Garnishes

Peychaud’s Bitters

Orange bitters

Orange juice

Tomato juice

Grenadine

Ginger ale

Ginger beer

Cola

Olives

Cocktail onions

And finish it off with a display of cocktail guides and books – even if you pull all your recipes from YouTube videos, the presence of books will let your guests know that you take your craft seriously.

There you have it. A fully functional basic home bar, or an exhaustively comprehensive one – and I’m willing to bet that you can find your comfort zone somewhere within those options. From the earliest days of alcohol, as humanity began playing with fermentation, the world of drinking has been one of experimentation. This all dances playfully somewhere between art and science, and every drink we enjoy is a toast to this intoxicating magic. Plan out your home bar, stock it well, and then drop me a message – I’ll swing by and share a few drinks with you.

Cheers!