Setting up a home bar 2007

I put together the following tips for a friend, but thought others might find them interesting too:

Starting (snob-friendly) bar supplies:

good fresh ice (you can store fresh cubes in tupperware in the freezer so they don't pick up flavors from other things)

shaker
I have both a lidded kind and the combined glass/metal kind. I haven't got the hang of shaking with the latter yet, but the big metal base is great for stirred drinks. My lidded one is kind of like this one but a bit more squat

cocktail strainer

measuring cup
I much prefer these little cups to traditional jiggers. As with all your mixing gear, just rinse right after you serve the drink and they stay clean and nice (sticky liquors are a pain to scrub later when they've started to dry).

bar spoon
e.g. something like this

channel knife (for making twists)
e.g. something like this

(And you'll also want to have on hand a cutting board for citrus, a good paring knife, a bar towel to wipe spills, and some means of extracting the juice from fresh fruit).

The booze.
Think about your & your most frequent guests' favorite drinks. You'll want to start your cabinet around these.

Say, for example, the drinks are Manhattan, Martini, Margarita, Lemon Drop, and Cosmopolitan.

The Manhattan is most usually made with bourbon and sweet vermouth with a dash of bitters, but the correct spirit for it is rye which really makes a much better drink (IMNSHO). It is garnished with a cherry.

The Martini can be made with either gin (traditionally) or vodka, a breath of dry vermouth, and garnished with an olive, onion, or lemon twist.

The Margarita calls for tequila, triple sec (preferably Cointreau), and fresh lemon and lime juices. It is garnished with a lime wedge or wheel.

The Lemon Drop calls for citrus-flavored vodka, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. It is garnished with a lemon wheel.

The Cosmopolitan is made of vodka, triple sec (preferably Cointreau), cranberry juice, and fresh lime juice, with a lime wheel garnish.

So here's the shopping list (to be accumulated as funds permit in order of frequency with which you'll want your handful of featured drinks).

1 bottle bourbon - Maker's Mark or Wild Turkey 101 will do, Knob Creek is preferable.
***upgrade: Bulleit
***variant: Old Overholt rye

1 bottle sweet vermouth - Martini & Rossi is good
***upgrade: Carpano Antica

1 bottle bitters: try to get Orange Bitters (preferably Fee's) but settle for good ol' Angostura
***trick: a few dashes of bitters in a pint glass of soda water will settle an upset stomach

1 jar cherries: the best you can afford, ideally getting as far from those alarmingly bright colored ones for Shirley Temple drinks toward the less sugar & red dye #2 end of the spectrum.
***upgrade: Luxardo brandied cherries (We got a jar of these at Dean & Deluca and they are the bee's knees).

1 bottle gin: I favor Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray.
***variant: Hendricks (with which you should garnish martinis with a cucumber slice rather than an olive or onion for best results).

1 bottle dry vermouth: Noilly Prat
***variant: Lillet Blanc

1 jar cocktail olives: quality helps, but you can be less fussy about these than the cherries
***variant: cocktail onions

1 bottle tequila: Herradura Silver

1 bottle triple sec: Cointreau. Yes, it's pricey, but nothing else is as good and you'll use little bits in lots of drinks.

1 bottle vodka: given the Lemon Drop in our hypothetical list, I'd start with the Citron version of your favorite vodka. Absolut is always safe, but if your crowd is label conscious, buy the damn Ketel One.
***variant/upgrade: Grey Goose unflavored, for martinis with a lemon twist.

Small bottle cranberry juice

Simple syrup? Make it in small amounts & store in the fridge, it's comically easy:
(I don't agree with Alberta all the time, but this is a good video to show just how damn simple this syrup is).

Fruit? Buy it fresh, with a good-looking rind for zesting & garnishes.

Where to go after these? Try cocktails from good bartenders and see what else you like. Also note what your guests ask for. Probably some scotch is the next on the list; I recommend the Balvenie Doublewood as a good place to start with single malts.

Glassware
All these drinks look great served in cocktail glasses (or what is commonly called a martini glass), but they taste fine in any glass which is as wide or wider at the top than the bottom and which has about a 6oz capacity. (Yes it's more work for the bartender, but almost all cocktails should be enjoyed while still quite chilly so smaller servers are better. This is also why cocktail glasses - with their long stems keeping the warmth of your hand away from the drink - are ideal).
Joe and I are partial to the Luminarc 5oz which we were able to get in bulk at a restaurant supply place. Here's a picture 
Their 1/3 bowl, 2/3 stem proportion is very elegant and makes for a good (small) drink size and nice presentation.

Putting some spin on it:
Manhattan - make it with rye and orange bitters for a proper one; substitute scotch for a Rob Roy.

Martini - 2oz gin, 1oz vodka and 1/2oz of Lillet Blanc garnished with an orange wheel will give you the delightful Vesper, of Casino Royale fame. Or try out the ancestor of the Martini, the gin-based Martinez.

Margarita - get a bottle of light rum and you can offer Daiquiris instead.

Lemon Drop - this is basically a Daiquiri with vodka, you can also jump off from here to a Delilah by substituting gin for the vodka, adding 3/4oz of Cointreau and leaving out the simple syrup.

Cosmopolitan - described as a "juice box for yuppies", it's not actually as bad as its reputation, provided you do not put simple syrup or Rose's "lime juice" in it. Still, you could try to up the ante by introducing your guest to the Sidecar (which does require a decent cognac in your bar).

Happy hosting!

Comments

Setting up a home bar

I put together the following tips for a friend, but thought others might find them interesting too:

Starting (snob-friendly) bar supplies:

good fresh ice (you can store fresh cubes in tupperware in the freezer so they don't pick up flavors from other things)

shaker
I have both a lidded kind and the combined glass/metal kind. I haven't got the hang of shaking with the latter yet, but the big metal base is great for stirred drinks. My lidded one is kind of like this one but a bit more squat

cocktail strainer

measuring cup
I much prefer these little cups to traditional jiggers. As with all your mixing gear, just rinse right after you serve the drink and they stay clean and nice (sticky liquors are a pain to scrub later when they've started to dry).

bar spoon
e.g. something like this

channel knife (for making twists)
e.g. something like this

(And you'll also want to have on hand a cutting board for citrus, a good paring knife, a bar towel to wipe spills, and some means of extracting the juice from fresh fruit).

The booze.
Think about your & your most frequent guests' favorite drinks. You'll want to start your cabinet around these.

Say, for example, the drinks are Manhattan, Martini, Margarita, Lemon Drop, and Cosmopolitan.

The Manhattan is most usually made with bourbon and sweet vermouth with a dash of bitters, but the correct spirit for it is rye which really makes a much better drink (IMNSHO). It is garnished with a cherry.

The Martini can be made with either gin (traditionally) or vodka, a breath of dry vermouth, and garnished with an olive, onion, or lemon twist.

The Margarita calls for tequila, triple sec (preferably Cointreau), and fresh lemon and lime juices. It is garnished with a lime wedge or wheel.

The Lemon Drop calls for citrus-flavored vodka, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. It is garnished with a lemon wheel.

The Cosmopolitan is made of vodka, triple sec (preferably Cointreau), cranberry juice, and fresh lime juice, with a lime wheel garnish.

So here's the shopping list (to be accumulated as funds permit in order of frequency with which you'll want your handful of featured drinks).

1 bottle bourbon - Maker's Mark or Wild Turkey 101 will do, Knob Creek is preferable.
***upgrade: Bulleit
***variant: Old Overholt rye

1 bottle sweet vermouth - Martini & Rossi is good
***upgrade: Carpano Antica

1 bottle bitters: try to get Orange Bitters (preferably Fee's) but settle for good ol' Angostura
***trick: a few dashes of bitters in a pint glass of soda water will settle an upset stomach

1 jar cherries: the best you can afford, ideally getting as far from those alarmingly bright colored ones for Shirley Temple drinks toward the less sugar & red dye #2 end of the spectrum.
***upgrade: Luxardo brandied cherries (We got a jar of these at Dean & Deluca and they are the bee's knees).

1 bottle gin: I favor Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray.
***variant: Hendricks (with which you should garnish martinis with a cucumber slice rather than an olive or onion for best results).

1 bottle dry vermouth: Noilly Prat
***variant: Lillet Blanc

1 jar cocktail olives: quality helps, but you can be less fussy about these than the cherries
***variant: cocktail onions

1 bottle tequila: Herradura Silver

1 bottle triple sec: Cointreau. Yes, it's pricey, but nothing else is as good and you'll use little bits in lots of drinks.

1 bottle vodka: given the Lemon Drop in our hypothetical list, I'd start with the Citron version of your favorite vodka. Absolut is always safe, but if your crowd is label conscious, buy the damn Ketel One.
***variant/upgrade: Grey Goose unflavored, for martinis with a lemon twist.

Small bottle cranberry juice

Simple syrup? Make it in small amounts & store in the fridge, it's comically easy:
(I don't agree with Alberta all the time, but this is a good video to show just how damn simple this syrup is).

Fruit? Buy it fresh, with a good-looking rind for zesting & garnishes.

Where to go after these? Try cocktails from good bartenders and see what else you like. Also note what your guests ask for. Probably some scotch is the next on the list; I recommend the Balvenie Doublewood as a good place to start with single malts.

Glassware
All these drinks look great served in cocktail glasses (or what is commonly called a martini glass), but they taste fine in any glass which is as wide or wider at the top than the bottom and which has about a 6oz capacity. (Yes it's more work for the bartender, but almost all cocktails should be enjoyed while still quite chilly so smaller servers are better. This is also why cocktail glasses - with their long stems keeping the warmth of your hand away from the drink - are ideal).
Joe and I are partial to the Luminarc 5oz which we were able to get in bulk at a restaurant supply place. Here's a picture 
Their 1/3 bowl, 2/3 stem proportion is very elegant and makes for a good (small) drink size and nice presentation.

Putting some spin on it:
Manhattan - make it with rye and orange bitters for a proper one; substitute scotch for a Rob Roy.

Martini - 2oz gin, 1oz vodka and 1/2oz of Lillet Blanc garnished with an orange wheel will give you the delightful Vesper, of Casino Royale fame. Or try out the ancestor of the Martini, the gin-based Martinez.

Margarita - get a bottle of light rum and you can offer Daiquiris instead.

Lemon Drop - this is basically a Daiquiri with vodka, you can also jump off from here to a Delilah by substituting gin for the vodka, adding 3/4oz of Cointreau and leaving out the simple syrup.

Cosmopolitan - described as a "juice box for yuppies", it's not actually as bad as its reputation, provided you do not put simple syrup or Rose's "lime juice" in it. Still, you could try to up the ante by introducing your guest to the Sidecar (which does require a decent cognac in your bar).

Happy hosting!

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