Your Home Bar: The Bar Essentials

Alright, so you have found the area you want to call your home bar space, but you have nothing there yet. You’re asking yourself; “What do I need to have to have a nicely stocked bar?” First thing you need to realize is, to do this right, you need to take your time and do your homework. What liquors are more consumed than others? How much of my space do I want to really use for my bar? How many gatherings of friends do I expect to have to justify a full bar? There are many more questions you’ll be asking yourself when you decide to put this all together. The first thing you need to do for your home bar is to look at what your preferences are. Don’t worry about satisfying your friends first. You should be stocking the bar with your preferred essentials first, or at least should be. Before we get to the next paragraph, keep this is mind: You have your own lists of wants. When you are putting this together, get what’s on your list first before looking what I have to say about anything. This is my list, as you know. I am only throwing out my opinion and what I see out there.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s what I feel are what I like to call the well essentials. When I say “well” I’m not talking about the end of the barrel that gets filtered into the bottles we end up only paying less than ten dollars a liter for. I’m talking about the types of liquor you would find in the speed well behind the bar. These are there for a reason; they sell more than the other types of liquor and liqueur that sell at the bar and the bartenders want these at their fingertips at all time. Here is a list of bar essentials I feel is a good start to building yourself a nice bar. One that will give you tens of thousands of drink options when making cocktails:

THE BAR ESSENTIALS

Vodka - This liquor is a must if you are planning on having parties at your home. This, by far, is number one in regards to consumption. Twenty percent of all liquor consumed in the United States is this type of liquor. It’s hard to believe considering that this was not very well known until the 1950s here in this country. There are more brands of vodka than any other form of liquor as well and now they throw in the flavored or infused vodkas just to add to the confusion. I say start with the original first, then start experimenting with what flavors you want. Heck, if you want to really get into it, think about infusing your own flavors, so you don’t have to worry about getting the store-bought stuff. It will definitely keep some room on the shelf for the other essentials.

Rum - In all the bars I’ve worked at, this is the number two liquor consumed at the bar. This is the base ingredient for many tropical drinks, so if you like the frozen and/or fruity drinks, you want to make sure you keep this is stock. There are many types of rum. The four basic types are white, amber, dark, and spiced. If you go with a dark or amber, I suggest you getting something that is on the premium side. There’s nothing like a nicely aged amber rum, on the rocks, with a squeeze of lime.

Gin - The most common and a must for a bar is the London Dry variety. There’s also Plymouth, Old Tom (hard to find), and the original Holland or Dutch gin better known as genever (different spelling variations, but the most common). Start with the most common first. But, if you really want to try something different, I highly recommend trying the others.

Tequila - You have some common brands out there and it typically comes in white or gold types. When you get tequila or agave, make sure it states on the bottle that it is 100% agave.

Triple Sec - You will find triple sec used as a second ingredient in some of the most common drinks out there, so this is a necessity for any bar. The lower end version is fine, but if you want to enhance the citrus edge to a cocktail and don’t mind spending a lot more, you can get Cointreau. Some people are also known to even use Grand Marnier, which is also a premium priced liqueur.

Whiskey or Whisky - There is such a wide range of whiskeys out there, you may want to start with your preference first, then slowly build up your stock. You’ve got America’s own: Bourbon. Then you have Canadian, Irish, and Scotch. You also have the different ages, the blends and the single malts, the single barrel, and the list goes on.

Amaretto - This almond liqueur is a must have for amaretto sours. Plus, it goes well with other drinks as well.

Peach Schnapps - Many would disagree, but I notice many who like this stuff. It gives people the sweet option and belongs here as much as amaretto. If not peach, try another flavor that people with a sweet tooth can enjoy.

As you can see, with the essentials alone you can end up with a good collection of bottles for your bar. Take your time and build it up. Make it fun and be sure to test the waters before making up your mind on what you want to add to your selection. Most important, be safe!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or comment here. That’s what I’m here for.

Cheers!

 

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