Do you want to know how to stock your at home bar?
There is no one right way. It really depends on you and your guests as well as what your goals are. Some will be temporary, depending on a party or event, others will be long term and most will probably be determined by what stage your bar and your skill levels are at currently.
This round-up of expert advice, celebrity hostess tips and reader feedback provides a variety of viewpoints and is loaded with helpful recommendations. The list is geared towards entertaining at home and is presented in alphabetical order.
10 Different Ways Of Stocking Up
Art of Manliness: How to Stock a Home Bar - “For the gentleman who enjoys entertaining, a properly stocked bar is a must.” ~ Jeff Trexler. His two basic rules are to pick alcohol you actually enjoy imbibing and to start off small. Includes a run down of some of the basic liquors and thoughts on each along with lists of mixers, garnishes and glasses to consider. Its written in that old timey style characteristic of this site which adds a little humor. Stay clear of the singing Babushkas.
Barina Craft: Get Supplies For The Top 10 Most Popular Cocktails - if your goal is to be able to serve crowd pleasing drinks at your parties with a little something special for everyone, then targeting the ingredients for widely regarded favorites is the way to go. Although this checklist was geared to specific recipes, you’ll actually be able to mix hundreds of different cocktails using the liquors, mixers and garnishes recommended. Stick with just the classics (eliminate strawberry and plan for regular daiquiris only for example) and you can reduce the number of items required. Write in space for beer, wine, etc. is available as well as checkboxes for optional Irish and Scotch whiskys.
Gourmet: How To Stock Your Home Bar - written by the James Beard award winning author of Punch and Imbibe!, David Wondrich. This article focuses purely on stocking, as opposed to setting up and equipping, with a good sense of humor about the whole subject. 13 bottles of liquor that won’t collect dust (with picks for specific brands), mixers and a few cocktail recipes are recommended . It breaks down to gin (4), vodka (1), whiskey (2), rum (2), brandy (2) and tequila (2) plus an oddball along with bitters (2), vermouth (2) and liqueurs (2 out of 3). Much more than a list though. There’s a little history, some taste testing notes and a few laughs mixed in as well.
Kitchn: What 6 Bottles Would You Start From Scratch With - survey asked readers to list what six essential bottles they would choose to stock a new home bar set-up. We compiled the poll results from the responses to date and charted the results in the graph above. A minimum of two individual picks were required to graph separately. Several people chose two or more bottles of bourbon and many included both sweet and dry vermouth in their selections.
Bottle Choices Combined Into Common Group Categories With One Vote Each:
Aperitifs - aquavit, chambord and maraschino liqueur (from an aviation fan).
Disgestifs - amaro, bitters, chartreuse, fernet, frangelico and kahlua.
Others - absinthe, everclear, jagermeister, lime cordial, schnapps, seasonal and a surprise.
Martha Stewart: How To Set Up & Stock A Home Bar - “basic equipment and essential liquors will impress amateurs and have professionals nodding in quiet approval.” So true in many ways. A short but sweet primer on stocking and setting up including storing vermouth in the refrigerator, simple barware and starter tools, glass sets, spirits, mixers and how many drinks per guest to plan for. Kudos on her slideshow presentation which doesn’t jump around the page when you view the next slide.
Oprah Winfrey: How To Set Up & Stock A Bar At Home - turning your living room into a cocktail lounge and party planning on a budget is the theme. An eight foot long folding table acts as the bar and some good pointers are offered on how much alcohol to buy and making sure you don’t run out of ice. Jonathan Pogash is quoted as saying: “all home bars should have vodka, gin, rum (go with a darker, aged variety for holiday cocktails), tequila and whiskey (bourbon or rye).” Included this as an example of stocking for a party with a temporary self serve set-up. Unfortunately, Oprah needs to call Martha for a few tips on slides that shuffle past rather than bounce around so you can read this article easier.
Playboy: How To Keep A Well-Stocked Bar - something must have distracted the staff while writing. This guide is mostly about glasses and the only spirit recommended is vermouth, which they say “no bar should be without.” If you know anyone that says they only buy Playboy for the articles and then talks about this one, you know that’s probably not true. Get a hold of one of their vintage barmate pamphlets instead.
Recipe: Gin It Up! How To Stock The Perfect Home Bar - this one starts off pretty cool. There’s a colorful chart with a smart tip that recommends you start small and take it from there. Followed by a great intro which says you’ll need one bourbon, one scotch and one beer (from the old blues song) and then links to Glee Choir. Wait .. what?
Serious Drinks: Cocktail 101: How to Stock a Home Bar - regular contributor Michael Dietsch authored this piece and advocates planning per drink. Pick a cocktail and buy only what’s needed. You’ll usually end up with leftovers that can be used for other drinks and as you progress from recipe to recipe you’ll populate your shelves. He also includes a nice section with advice on the care and storage of the alcohols, simple syrups and other mixers you’ll be accumulating.
Twelve Bottle Bar: The Bottles - an experiment focused on how to mix drinks at home from the Golden Age of Cocktails era (~ 1850s to 1950s) with a limited amount of ingredients. Liquid bar supplies include absinthe, brandy, gin, genever, orange liqueur, gold rum, rye & irish whiskeys, dry & sweet vermouth and aromatic & orange bitters. This method may be the most unique approach as noticeably absent from the list of alcohol staples are bourbon, tequila, scotch & vodka.
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