Bar Basics - A little help

For a basic functioning wet bar, I'd say you need gin, vodka, tequila, scotch, bourbon, and rum. I wouldn't really set up house anywhere without those, at least.

Vodka, gin, rum, scotch, bourbon, in order of mixability with other flavors.

Bitters.

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Radio / Small TV (for the footy/cricket obvs.)
Stools (at least two in front of it)
Crazy crap on the wall behind
Bar fridge (for beer etc, unless you're going to put in a tap, which I doubt)
Glasses (shot, highballs, tumblers, pots)

At least six bottles of different spirits to start off I should think.

It's also great for sweetening cold drinks like tea, iced coffee, and lemonade.

Although.... hm...

-- Looking through pattern skies (kat...), July 5th, 2006. (papa november) (later) (link)

is there any other way!?

if i had a bar in my house i would have parties all the time. are you ready for what the bar means??
but, yeah, i would start with the cocktail party where friends bring a bottle of more regular stuff and you buy a few of the weirder liquers - it totally works, plus you have leftover booze for future cocktail parties at which no one even has to bring anything! (unless they are all total drunks!) and also: everyone needs to dress in cocktail party wear. you can also turn your bathroom into a grotto (candels, bathtub filled with water dyed blue, etc.)

i like the idea of having all those different glasses too. indulgent.

hmmm, maybe if i revive my old annual crêpe party this summer, i'll make it fancy attire!! (because that's so fitting for bushwick...)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/nerdnavy/HS/u233a1.jpg

Okay then get Galaga. That shit's never gon get old u dig!?

Billy Bass is another thing entirely :)

"Thats goin' straight to the pool room!"

My parents have one, but its an old pub one, it has a coin slot and everythign! But we do use it loads, and when it isnt being used it doubles as a table for food (with a plank over it obv).

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http://static.flickr.com/77/182223845_53fdca25ac_o.jpg

Pretty tired looking.

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Totally! I'm thinking bohemia and decadent, not open neck shirts (which is what it looks like at the moment)

Do I notice horrid little speakers in front of the bar?!?

You do need a tacky eighties stereo to go on a shelf behind the bar.

Best way to stock your bar for starters is find a cocktail book you like the look of, decide which cocktails you like the sound of, and then stock your bar accordingly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/lonsdoggit/37d9583c.jpg

Enlighten me Colin :)

Cut the lime into eighths (halve it, then quarter the halves), put it in the glass and smash it with a muddler (but don't grind, 'cause you want juice, not bitter pith). Put in 2 heaping teaspoons (or a little more) of the sugar and a mess of mint leaves, then rub the mint leaves over the sugar and up the side of the glass with the muddler (don't smash them -- you want to get the mint oil all over the glass, but you don't want mint shreds everywhere). Add a dash of Angostura bitters. Put in cracked ice, then 5 cl of rum (pouring for five seconds with a standard pourer on the bottle with give you 5 cl), top it off with soda, lift it with a bar spoon (don't stir vigorously, just pull the spoon gently from the bottomo the glass), put in a sprig of mint for pretty.

"Abomination" is too harsh a word for Jaq's julep, where sugar syrup is ok, I guess (although still water is usually added to the bourbon, and I like rye juleps); it's his old fashioned that I meant to condemn him to the pit of hell for -- NO SUGAR CUBE, NO OLD FASHIONED. You sprinkle the Angostura directly on the sugar cube and toss it in the tumbler with the bourbon, then a spritz of soda.

but that's a very nice DJ desk set-up he's got, I doubt he'd need to crash your bar.

I love to peruse the road atlas over drinks.

Nope. A spritz of soda (which is optional, but done) = Old Fashioned, fill the glass with ginger ale = highball. Also the lemon twist belongs in the highball; the old fashioned gets a slice of lemon and/or orange.

Apologies for gender confusion, but I'll fight you to the death over mixology.

(In 2 hours, I will be sipping happily on an abomination of a drink and will toast your new bar.)

i am afeared of all the weird drinks that call for an eggwhite. am i justified? i kind of want them.

best cocktail party i ever went to: a bit over a year ago, me + 2 friends making blender cocktails. our attire: old aviator sunglasses we found around the house. ended up at karoake bar doing kinks songs.
WE ALL HAVE THE MAGIC IN US LET THE MAGIC HAPPEN.

seriously, tho, seconded on always having the necessary ingredients for mint juleps on hand at all times

*plus a weird live-action-video-game, where one kid would sit on the couch with a plastic disc-gun and fire at three or four kids that would emerge from behind the bar acting like robots and advance slowly like the aliens in "Space Invaders". On higher levels, the robot-kids would move faster and more erratically, and on really high levels the player with the disc-gun would get to come off the couch to shoot at really fast robots in what would end up a degenerate free-for-all.

Essentials: Vodka, Gin, Cointreau, Blue Curacao, Baileys, Midori, Malibu, Vermouth, Amaretto, lemon juice, cranberry juice, sugar syrup. I also have Grand Marnier, Absinthe and DOM Benedictine :-)

The bartending school I attended wasn't allowed to use raw eggs for some obscure legal reason, but we learned all the drinks anyway.

Anyway, I feel bad for the thread derailment, so here's a good basic bar stock. Always get the best booze you can afford for your own bar (it still ends up cheaper than a night out over the long run):

Base booze:
Whiskey (Canadian & blended Scotch -- add Irish and a single malt if you're a whiskey fan)
Bourbon
Tequila
Gin
Vodka
Rum (white and brown -- add a golden one if you're a rum fan)
Brandy/Cognac

Modifying booze:
Herb liquor (Jägermeister, Ramazotti, that kind of thing)
Triple Sec
Blue curacao (which is basically a slightly sweeter Triple Sec with blue food coloring, but is good for visual effects)
Amaretto
Apricot Brandy
Southern Comfort
coffee liquor
Creme de Cacao (light and dark, if you're into chocolate)
Creme de Menthe
Campari
Vermouth (dry and rosso)

Non-booze flavoring agents:
sugar syrup
coconut syrup (if you like coladas, and if you don't, what's the matter with you?)
grenadine
Rose's lime syrup
other fruit syrups if you're into tropical drinks
fruit juices (lemon and orange for sure, probably also lime, grapefruit, pineapple & tomato)
half & half (NEVER substitute non-dairy creamer!!!!)
salt
pepper
Angostura bitters
Tabasco sauce
nutmeg
tonic
ginger ale
cola
soda (if your tap water is fine, just get a charger)
fruit (cherries, lemons,limes, oranges, pineapples)

Tools:
shakers (at least two)
A tall mixing glass and strainer (for stirred drinks -- if you've got a Boston shaker, you also have a mixing glass)
bar spoon
pourers
muddler
tongs
ice scoop (and tons of ice)
if you're not comfortable pouring free-handed, a jigger

1) - I have a RSA Licence which means the State of South Australia allows me to serve alcoholic refreshments at any time.

2) - I can provide a autographed photo of yours truly in a polo shirt (you can decide between one of the two polo shirts I currently own) but I demand a fee plus postage and handling.

3) - When it's cricket season, watch Channel Nine all day to get special deals like THE TOLIET PAPER THAT RICKY POINTING USED IN INDIA, FRAMED AND AUTOGRAPHED! They're so classy, sheila.

4) - You need to know how to make Fruit Cup Cocktails. I can help, I can make 'em.

http://static.flickr.com/72/202711425_db71546511.jpg

An improvement I think, but needs more booze.

a good all-round phrase.

bar looks good!

Nice typewriter.

also, i'm pretty jealous!

Heh, another weekend warrior there.

It's NOT cordial! The bottom layer is straight cordial but the middle layer is cordial and lemonade, and the top layer is cordial and soda water! And you need a garnish, which can be bloody hard!

Okay, I've been planning on stocking up a bar for the past few months. I still don't have the money to get everything I want, but here's what I picked up today:

Cruzan Aged Rum
Heering Cherry Liquor
Cointreau
Jonathon's Blue Curacao (I realize this is just basically a crappier version of cointreau that is blue, but my gf likes it, so up on the shelf it goes)
Seagram's Extra Dry Gin (will upgrade to blue sapphire once additional paychecks come in)
Grenadine
Sweetened lime juice
Peychaud's Bitters
Maraschino Cherries
Grapefruit juice
Orange juice
Lime juice
Shaker
Glasses

I am ready to drink to forget

Put it all in a bucket, mix, drink til morning...pack all your worries in your old kit bag :)

...and then get your stomach pumped. But still. Sounds like a party to me! Mix me a cosmo?

e-drinks for everyone! on the house!

Thats a pretty good start! I just did this a little over a month ago when I won a couple hundred dollars betting on a horse. Here is what I picked (and which I am sad to say am almost completely gone).

Plymouth Gin (delicious!)
Evan Williams Single Barrel (delightful!)
La Favorite Rhum Agricole Blanc (my gf says it tastes like feet!)
Marie Duffau Hors d'Age Armagnac (pretty good? its my first Armagnac)
Rittenhouse 100 proof Rye Whiskey (Maybe I'm not into Rye? Its my first)
Cointreau (tastes good on the rocks by itself, but too expensive for that kind of drinking)
Laird's Applejack (surprisingly good, but I want to try an aged Apple Brandy)
Cinzano Bianco Vermouth (vermouth.. surprisingly drinkable even on its own)
Noilly Prat French Dry (Yay Martinis!)
Angostura Bitters (Old Fashioneds!)
Luxardo Maraschino (haven't found a good drink to use this one with yet)
Damarak Gin (Plymouth is better in every way)
Beefeater Gin (better than the Damarak but not as good as the Plymouth)

Plus little 3 oz cocktail glasses and a Boston Shaker and a zester so I can make proper lemon twists, and a hand cranked Ice Crusher from the 50s. My gf and I are trying to learn how to make our own classic cocktails from The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury, and its fun! I think we went a bit overboard those first few weeks though so now we're trying to take it a bit easier. Its crazy how much Bourbon you can go through when your drinking Old Fashioneds. Soooo good.

I'm having a hard time finding a good rum, and white label vs. gold label vs. spiced is very confusing to me because the only information I'm working off is 60 years old. Any suggestions?

err... is almost completely gone.

xpost: e-drinks. Damn we really need to put that in the App store. *thirsty*

Cannot advise on rum. We are no longer friends since the great Rum and Coke debacle of 1993 wherein I...well..erm I was very sick. Cough.

Lol at 'drinkable' vermouth. Really? I had friends in college who had like, $10 between them so they split a cheap bottle of Vermouth and brought it to dinner with them. They didn't know what it was, they just knew it was alchol. They made surprised then sad faces while drinking it, and meekly tried to offer it round but no-one would touch it after we saw them try it.

Vermouth however is excellent for cooking. I use it all the time in place of white wine in my risottos.

But otherwise Brontosaur, I approve of your bar and hope that you too will implement Z S's e-drink strategy. You will win friends and influence people.

Dry Vermouth... its better than bad white wine, but worse than good white wine. But sorta like white wine.

Oh and try to make your own Grenadine, apparently there is no pomegranate juice in most grenadines (except Stirrer's I think?). Its just pomegranate juice and sugar, made like simple syrup. I'm not sure what a good ratio is yet. I tried and it ended up too thick, it just sinks to the bottom of all my cocktails.

I approve of your approval, VegemiteGrrl, and I will now have a glass of Vermouth!

oooh, that's a good tip on the Grenadine, I'll try it out next time. All of the good rum tips I have are for Caribbean style drinks. Specifically, two Guyanan rums, Lemon Hart and El Dorado, are supposed to be really great, albeit very difficult to find.

Blech! I just had a bit of the Cinzano Vermouth, and its sweet vermouth and it tasted like a gross dessert wine... I take back what I said about it upthread. I must have had it confused with the Dry Vermouth, which I am now drinking. It is quite drinkable even on its own, but not exactly delicious.

And thanks for the Rum tips, I'll keep an eye out!

wow, I never thought about making my own grenadine!

Haha which I reminds me of this kooky Brit I met at a party (the fact that she was a Brit is largely irrelevant except that she sounded like she'd just walked off the set of the Eastenders, her accent made me LOL)...she's a space cadet sober, but drunk she's something else. At the party, she was hammered when she arrived, got more hammered throughout the night...and then the party ran out of booze. Everyone's been making cocktails and so she finds the bottle of grenadine and pours herself a glass. I'm sure she was so drunk she didn't know what she was drinking...I dunno, maybe it sobered her up. But I'm sure she thought it was alcoholic. Hysterial to see her tottering around sipping her glass of red syrup.

ugh jeez, what's with me and my longwinded stories tonight? sorry.

Mum and Dad used to drink Cinzano's with..umm...I think it was lemonade. (ie sprite). I always thought it was yummy but yeah, it's pretty sweet.

ha! drinking greandine, thats worse than me drinking vermouth! feeling better all the time...

lemonade and vermouth sounds like a pretty cheap way to keep a low-key buzz going throughout a hot summer's day.

precisely! like orange juice and box wine. (another 80's favorite from my parents).

Bought some mirrors at Ikea to help trick visiting fools into thinking I have double the amount of alcohol that I actually do. (bottom right mirror fell an hour ago but will be back in place shortly)

http://i38.tinypic.com/1zqxxy9.jpg

One of my favorite liquor stores here in Austin is going out of business. Sad, but they slashed prices on everything, so my wife and I stocked up on wine and liquor last week.

This lead to me making this great high grade margarita on Friday:

1 1/2 oz. Patron Silver
1/2 oz. Patron Citronge (similar in taste and quality to Cointreau, but 1/2 as expensive)
juice from 1/2 of a lime
juice from 1/2 of a lemon

served on the rocks in salt-rimmed glass

I really liked the simplicity of this, that it didn't have any syrup or nasty mixer, just fresh ingredients and premium liquor.

ZS I love your setup! The plants are what really makes it. Than and the gin.

What's in the Easter Island head bottle?

empty for now, but eventually, Blood of the Forgotten Beast!

and thanks Abbott! :)

i bet u get laid a lot zac

with a bar like that how could u not

my secret tip: in that little glass container by the future container of the Blood of the Forgotten Beast, there are a bunch of plastic drink-stirrers - and some of them are "penis picks". Seriously. I bust them out when I want to send a strong signal to my gf. "Here's your Singapore Gin Sling you ordered. It's the one with the purple penis in it". Works like a charm!

I'm just realizing that I had those out when my parents visited AND when gf's parents visited.

nice bar z s!

thanks! I'm slowly adding to it every paycheck. At this rate in 4 years there will be go go dancers on both sides and a passed out old man underneath

Costs a lot to hire out those old men.

i can do that for cheap

what kind of drunk old man? I want the whimsical kind with decent stories that doesn't shit his pants, and those are hard to find.

well i've yet to shit my pants, at least

Would you settle for someone with whimsical pants and shit stories?

I maintain a hard line. I demand at least 2 out of the 3:

whimsical personality
decent stories
doesn't shit pants

An old buddy of mine since high school only met the top 2 of those demands, and we remain good friends to this day.

i have 1 and 3, can i pass out under your liquor shelf please

http://i37.tinypic.com/2rfbu3o.jpg

"Let me be clear..."

Anyone with 2 of the 3 qualities may pass out under the liquor shelf. But only those with all 3 qualities may play nintendo with me. And those with only 1 of the 3 qualities are in a gray area. Their admission to the bar area will depend on the intensity of the absent or missing qualities. For example, those who have great stories may be granted access if they shit their pants only a little, but denied entry if their lack of bowel control is significant.

One of my favorite liquor stores here in Austin is going out of business. Sad, but they slashed prices on everything, so my wife and I stocked up on wine and liquor last week.

!!! where

zs, did you know: bars generally have mirrors behind the liquor for security purposes? (so the bartender can see behind him/her when turned around) i like your use, though! i was at a house yesterday that was built in 1907 and the dining room had a built in liquor cabinet. oh, to have something like that!!! liquor IN the wall!

Grapevine Market on Anderson

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Looking good, Z S! Got me thinking of uses for my kitschy 60s Hawaiian Beach Party LP now.

I recently cleared one of the kitchen cupboards and declared it a drinks cabinet, which was briefly exciting. Unfortunately the nice stuff gets drunk within a week or two and we're left with some pretty nasty stuff kicking round the back forever.

What can one do with some nasty-assed cheap vermouth, besides pour it down the drain? Mix a tiny bit of it with 7up and it's pretty dull; use more of it or mix it with anything else and it tastes of vinegar.

Cook with it.

yeah um either get some vodka or cook with it.

Kinda meat-heavy, so bad luck if you're a vegetarian, but http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=vermouth&search=vermouth

is it dry vermouth or sweet vermouth?

I think it's dry, as it definitely doesn't taste sweet, but would have to check bottle. Tried it with vodka and various other combinations of spirits and mixers, didn't help it much.

Cooking might be a plan, except I'd be scared of wasting the other ingredients. Would definitely want to experiment w/o making anyone else taste it first, and I haven't had much chance for experimental (read: possibly disgusting and vomit-making) cooking for one lately.

PS this bottle was, uh, really cheap (this is why you shouldn't go booze-shopping when already slightly drunk), so not a tragedy if it ends up down the drain.

i wouldn't worry too much, you can use really cheap booze in cooking most of the time.

Bad-tasting booze makes for bad-tasting food, if it's that bad dump it.

i cook with dry vermouth all the time when i don't have any white wine.

Bought some mirrors at Ikea to help trick visiting fools into thinking I have double the amount of alcohol that I actually do.

― husband of blood - because of the circumcision (Z S), Monday, October 26, 2009 4:40 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

I use this trick in almost all the bars I design for the same reason (not IKEA, but same concept). It works!