If your dream is to have the perfect home for entertaining your friends and family, then a well-stocked and organized home bar is essential to making the night flow with ease. A well-stocked home bar is imperative for a successful evening of drinking and fun with all your loved ones in the comfort of your own home.
Skipping the frustrating “where shall we go” that inevitably happens every time, having an entertaining home means you're not only saving some serious cash, but you can also control what kind of night you have.
Starting your journey with your home bar can be intimidating with all the choices to make, from spirits and wines to premixed cocktails to what glasses and how many bar stools you can fit. Sometimes some advice and tips are what you need to ensure your vision is translated perfectly.
Where to Start With Your Home Bar:
1. Safe Space
Finding a nice, intimate area that is comfortable for you and your guests is essential for an effective and useful home bar. This could be a section in your kitchen or dining room—a room big enough for entertaining will do.
2.Plan Storage
You will ideally need a section for all the tools you’ll use while entertaining; this could be where you keep all your mixers, wines and tools to mix cocktails.
Evaluate your space, meaning all the shelves, cupboards and draws that you have available, ready for your home bar. Determine how much space you have, and buy everything according to the space.
If you’re lucky enough to have a built-in bar area, all the better. You can begin to play with the idea of what fits best. Keeping more used things are more accessible points and less used more out the way. For example, if you have a love for expensive Scotch or a bottle of wine, it's unlikely you will be drinking it on every occasion, so you'll more likely just have it out on display or on a high shelf out the way until an event deems it necessary. You always want to make sure you reserve some display space for things like your favorite London souvenirs, those champagne corks from special occasions and your extra special glasses.
3. Select Your Spirits
A good spirit is the difference between a good or bad drink, so finding quality drinks that you can afford is essential if you want to enjoy your home bar. When starting out, its best to stick to the basics, and you can accumulate or try new things as time goes on.
Start your collection with these staples:
Vodka
Gin
Rum
Tequila
Whisky
Selection of Wine
There is a taste for everyone, so hopefully no one is left with an empty glass.
4. Proper Glassware
This is when your home bar really starts to take form. When you go out drinking at a fancy bar, you expect your drink to be served in the right glass, so while you’re serving your guests, the same rule should apply.
The importance of the right glass lies in the aromas and flavors it can bring out and truly add to the whole experience. Therefore, to run a successful home bar, you should serve your drinks in the right glasses.
A quick guide to some of the basics you should accumulate before you get started:
Wine Glasses: All are slightly different depending on the type of wine you’re serving.
Rock Glasses: Ideal for cocktails and spirits.
Collins Glasses: Mostly used for iced beverages with a lot of mixer, such as a mojito.
There are multiple sources of information on which glasses are best; figuring out what you and your guests are likely to drink will help you understand which glasses you need. Start simple, and the rest can be added throughout your home bar journey.
