January 8, 2008

How to Stock Your Home Bar

Whether you want to throw a great party, or just want to practice your mixology in the comfort of your underwear, there are some distinct advantages to having a well-stocked home bar. Plus, let's face it - bars are great, but sometimes you want to to drink at home. We're always asked about how to go about stocking said home bar, and we usually start off with one piece of advice...figure out your angle.

Do you want a Tiki theme? Are you going to be hitting up the crazy, cutting-edge, fresh ingredient end of things, or are you happy with pre-made mixers and a "well drinks only" kind of environment?

Take some time, figure out what you want your bar to say about you, set a reasonable budget, and get cracking with the tips below.

We found a good article at the Dallas News outlining the things you ought to have, but keep in mind you can always improvise. A chopstick can be a great bar spoon/swizzle stick in a pinch, and we're not above shaking our drinks in a mason jar if we absolutely have to (just be careful since they're made of glass). And - we've said this before, but it bears repeating - there's one tried and true way to stock your bar easily and incredibly cheaply.

Throw a party and invite everyone you know
Ask everyone to bring a bottle or two of their favorite booze as the price of admission. Or, you could assign people types of liquor to bring (a you bring the tequila, I'll have the margarita mix type thing)
After the party's over, you'll be able to put the (admittedly open and half-gone) bottles directly into your cabinet at no cost to you.

More advice at Dallas News