What do I need to stock a home bar?

Home bars grow by accumulating bottles for single recipes, most of which are then never used again. Buying by what the bottle unlocks rather than by what one drink requires produces far more capability for far less money.

What you'll need

• A shaker (optional)
• A jigger or measure (optional)
• Fresh citrus (optional)

Step by step

1. Buy a jigger or measure first.Cocktails are ratios. Pouring by eye is the single largest reason home drinks are inconsistent, and a measure costs very little.
2. Add a shaker and a strainer.A two-piece shaker plus a fine sieve for double straining. That plus a bar spoon covers essentially every technique.
3. Choose one base spirit to start.Gin or whisky opens the most classic drinks. Buy something decent but not precious — it is going into mixed drinks.
4. Add sweet vermouth and a bitter liqueur.Those two plus gin make a Negroni; with whisky they make a Manhattan and a Boulevardier. Enormous range from two bottles.
5. Add bitters.One bottle of aromatic bitters lasts years and transforms a large number of drinks. It is the best value item in any home bar.
6. Make sugar syrup rather than buying it.Equal sugar and hot water, stirred until dissolved, kept in the fridge. Granulated sugar will not dissolve in a cold drink.
7. Keep fresh citrus in constantly.Lemons and limes. Fresh juice is the most noticeable difference between a good home cocktail and a poor one, and bottled juice is unmistakable.
8. Expand deliberately, not by recipe.Add a second base spirit before a third liqueur. Each new base spirit opens a whole family; a niche liqueur usually opens one drink.

Tips

• Refrigerate vermouth once opened. It is a fortified wine and oxidises within weeks — stale vermouth ruins more home cocktails than anything else.
• Buy small bottles of anything you are unsure about. A large bottle of something you use once is worse value than a small one you finish.
• Good ice matters more than an expensive spirit. Large cubes and plenty of them improve every drink you make.

Common mistakes

• Buying a bottle for a single recipe — It is used once and occupies a shelf for years. Buy bottles that unlock families of drinks instead.
• Storing vermouth on a shelf — It is wine, not spirit. Unrefrigerated it oxidises within weeks and is the most common cause of a disappointing home Negroni or Martini.
• Pouring by eye — Cocktails are ratios and small errors are obvious. A measure is inexpensive and the single biggest improvement to consistency.

Questions people ask