While you’re staying home, are you missing going out for your favorite cocktails? Good news! You can recreate them at home – and for way cheaper, too! Today, my husband Adam is joining us as resident expert on cocktail making. I love him for many reasons, but one of which is that he’s really, really good at mixing drinks. He’ll walk us through how to set up a home bar so you can enjoy your favorite libations without leaving your house. Take it away, Adam!
I believe that drinks are best enjoyed with company in a great atmosphere, but social distancing has more or less closed off that option. While we are all home together, now is the perfect time to start expanding your home bar.
Why Learn How to Set Up a Home Bar?
A well-stocked home bar is a worthy investment even past quarantine. It is a great asset to have for entertaining friends and family. Being able to quickly whip up a balanced daquiri is a great party trick. Moreover, while enjoying a well-mixed drink in a restaurant is delightful, a quality cocktail might cost as much as your entrée at many establishments. In the long run, whether you drink a lot or a little, having a good home bar set-up will certainly save you money.
This guide is designed to set you up with the basic gear and ability to serve six classic cocktails. These six come from David Embury’s 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. (I did swap out his recommended Jack Rose for the margarita because a margarita is far more common these days, and you can use the required tequila in a wider variety of drinks.) I lean towards the traditional, so these are the standby cocktails I was most interested in perfecting. If you follow all of these guidelines, you’ll have everything you need to make all of these classic drinks:
| Spirit Forward (Stirred) | Citrus Forward (Shaken) |
| Old Fashioned | Daiquiri |
| Manhattan | Sidecar |
| Martini | Margarita |
However, if you are not interested in every cocktail on this list or need to stick to a tight budget, pick your favorite and build your home bar out from there.
How to Set Up a Home Bar
This post will walk you through these three essential components of a home bar.
- Barware
- Liquor
- Glassware
The Barware You Need for a Home Bar
While you could use whatever is already in your kitchen, a few basic tools will exponentially enhance your cocktail making experience. These few items will get you started, and you can add more accessories as you need them.
Cocktail shaker
First, you will need a good shaker. These come in two varieties: the cobbler shaker and a Boston shaker.
The cobbler shaker
The cobbler shaker is the “classic” cocktail shaker. Next to the martini glass, it is the most symbolic icon for cocktails. The shaker has a top and bottom half that seal together. Stirred drinks can be mixed in the bottom half, while shaken drinks can be shaken, then poured through the built-in strainer.
These shakers come in a variety of sizes, are self-contained, and remove the need for a separate strainer. They are easy to use and are great for the home bar where you are only making a few drinks at a time. One disadvantage to this shaker is that when it is well chilled, the cap can potentially be difficult to open, but I personally have not had much problem with this. This is the shaker I use, but really any cobbler shaker you find will do.
The Boston shaker
The Boston shaker is what you will typically see a professional bartender using. In its most classic form, it consists of a large metal container and a tempered pint glass. It is increasingly common to substitute the pint glass for a metal container to minimize the risk of a glass shattering.
This shaker requires just a bit more effort, as you mix the cocktail in one half of the shaker, turn the other cup upside down, and slap it on the half with the mixed drink. The chill from the ice contracts the metal and creates a seal to prevent spillage, although it may be a right of passage to have some or all of it spill everywhere at some point. Shake until desired. When finished shaking, smack the side of the shaker to break the seal, and strain into your cocktail glass. Check out this video if you want more guidance.
As you can tell, this is a bit more effort intensive, but it has the advantage of enabling you to make more cocktails more quickly than the classic cocktail shaker. Here is a Boston shaker that I bought and has been going strong for four years. I have not (yet) had it spill everywhere.
Bar spoon
While you could use a regular teaspoon for stirring drinks, you will be spending a lot of time stirring drinks, as a number of spirit-based cocktails require only stirring, not shaking. Therefore, it makes sense to invest in a decent bar spoon that is long enough to mix in tall glasses, has a twist to enable easier stirring, and the classic “bar spoon” scoop that you will frequently see in cocktail recipes as a measurement. This is a great example.
Hawthorne strainer
This is particularly necessary if you have a Boston shaker. The cobbler shaker has a strainer in the pour spout, while a Boston shaker does not. This serves the simple purpose of keeping ice and other large ingredients in your shaker and only the drink your glass. There are alternatives to a Hawthorne strainer, such as the Julep strainer, but I have found the Hawthorne strainer sufficient for the vast majority of drinks. My Hawthorne strainer came with the Boston shaker I linked to above, but here is an example of one sold separately.
Hand juicer
Many cocktails require fruit juice. I would strongly recommend that this is always squeezed fresh for the specific drink. It is very difficult to replicate the taste of a fresh squeezed lime or lemon in a mixed drink, and fresh juice will make nearly any drink stand out. Therefore, a small juicer is absolutely essential. I have used this one for going on four years and have no complaints.
Anna’s edit: in a pinch, you can use Julia Child’s trick of squeezing citrus through a clean tea towel, but I have to admit, I was very glad that Adam owned this juicer when we got married. It’s great for cooking, too!
Jigger
Cocktails recipes are traditionally measured in ounces or parts. While you could use regular measuring spoons if absolutely necessary, it is incredibly helpful to have some type of small measuring glass that measures in ounces. Jiggers are helpful for making cocktails quickly as they have common pre-determined measurements on them. They are often very cheap, and it pays to have a few of them. I recommend staring with a two-way, 1.5 oz and .75 oz jigger.
The Liquor You should stock in a home bar
Now that you have your barware, it’s time to talk about the chief ingredients. Cocktails broadly consist of two components: spirits and mixers.
Spirits
It can be overwhelming to choose which liquor is best for different cocktails, considering the different types, price, and comparative quality. If you do not already have favorite spirits in mind, my general recommendation is to start with “middle shelf” spirits and adjust as you dial in your favorite drinks. To minimize cost as you get started, build around the ingredients for your favorite cocktail. You can continue to add to your bar cart as you branch out. If you’re building out your bar from scratch, these are the spirits you will need to the six cocktails I outlined previously. These also serve as a great base that will enable you to create many other drinks.
- Whiskey (rye and bourbon). Used for Old Fashions and Manhattans. I prefer Rittenhouse Rye 100 and Buffalo Trace Bourbon.
- Gin. Used for martinis. Most of the classics like Beefeater and Bombay Sapphire are great. I prefer Tanqueray.
- Rum (typically white). Used for daquiris. I prefer Plantation 3 Stars.
- Tequila (silver or reposado). Used for margaritas. I prefer 1800 Reposado.
- Brandy. Used for sidecars. Nearly any will do for cocktails. I prefer St. Remy VSOP.
Mixers
Mixers are essentially secondary ingredients that pair with the spirits. Many mixers are used in only a handful of cocktails, have a fairly long shelf-life, and can be viewed as a long-term investment to expand your cocktail repertoire. Here are the essential mixers for the six classic cocktails.
- Sweet Vermouth – used in Manhattans
- Dry Vermouth – used in martinis
- Angostura bitters – used for Old Fashioneds and Manhattans
- Cointreau or other Triple Sec (orange based liqueur) – used in margaritas and sidecars.
- Limes – used in daiquiris and margaritas.
- Lemons – used in sidecars.
Of course, I also encourage you to go the extra mile and add some garnishes, such as Maraschino Cherries and olives, along with oranges to create an orange twist. Twists can also be made from lemon and lime peels.
recommended GLAssware to serve drinks at home
While you may be able to serve your cocktails in ordinary drinking glasses, I would strongly encourage getting proper glassware. Cocktails are all about the aesthetic. Drinking a cocktail is a visual affair. Sipping a martini from a red solo cup is a markedly different experience than drinking from a martini glass; it loses all its James Bond flair.
The following glasses will get you started:
As a precaution, I recommend looking for the smallest glasses you can. Most traditional cocktail recipes require only 1-4 oz of any ingredient, and therefore will only fill the very bottom of most giant glassware you see at common retailers.
In general, I recommend hunting Goodwill and thrift stores (when that becomes possible again) to build a collection of glassware. In the meantime, look for the smallest glasses you can find on Amazon, Etsy, or Crate and Barrel.
Additional Considerations
A good cocktail only requires a handful of ingredients. While your favorite drink at a restaurant might require complicated infused syrups, high-quality home drinks do not have to be overly complicated. When in doubt, master the most basic version of a drink!
If you’d like more instruction and ideas, buy a good initial guidebook. You cannot go wrong with the classic Savoy Cocktail Book. However, you can also find most recipes online. I personally find liquor.com to have the most authentic recipes. You might also check out How to Drink on YouTube, which has a plethora of fun cocktail videos with entertaining commentary.
Thanks for teaching us how to set up a home bar, Adam! Which cocktail will you make first? Tell us in the comments!
P.S. If you loved this, you might also want to check out our favorite warm cocktails for winter!
