Don’t forget your home bar when stocking up your kitchen for the holidays! Whether your home boasts a full bar with custom cabinetry or you’ve set up a portable bar cart in a cozy corner, here is what you’ll need to prepare your home bar for fall and winter entertaining.
Back To Basics: Start With The Right Tools
Imagine baking cookies without a sheet pan or boiling pasta without a colander. Just like a chef needs the right tools in their kitchen, a bartender needs the right tools in their bar cabinets. Without the proper bar tools, entertaining your guests this holidays season will be a real struggle.
Start with the basics and worry about the high-speed blender come summer. You’ll want a bottle opener, corkscrew, cocktail shaker, strainer, and spoon. If you’re totally bare in the bar tools department, look for a barware set and get all of the essential tools together. You’ll save a few bucks by bundling, and you won’t have to worry about mixing and matching your tools.
Hit The Liquor Store For Your Must-Have Libation
Everyone has individual tastes, making it difficult to accommodate all of your guests’ preferences at once. Whenever you’re entertaining a larger group, focus on a few classic cocktails that everyone can enjoy. Aunt Ethel might be upset that spicy pineapple margaritas aren’t on the menu — but with these spirits in your bar cabinets, you should be able to whip up the next best thing.
Stock your home bar with these must-haves:
- Bourbon
- Gin
- Rum
- Scotch
- Tequila
- Vodka
- Whiskey
When It Comes To Mixers, Less Is More
You really only need a few ingredients to make a long list of classic cocktails. A splash of vermouth, a little lemon zest and some olives, and you can make at least three different martinis. In addition to the spirits above, vermouth, Cointreau, and bitters are other good ingredients to have on hand.
For mixers, keep it simple. Stock up on club soda, tonic water, ginger ale and cola. You’ll also want bottles of cranberry and orange juice. Anything with carbonation should be bought small, so opt for the mini cans or bottles that make one to two servings. There are so many benefits in doing this. They are much easier to fit in a bar room refrigerator, but most importantly, they won’t go flat like the two-liter bottle that is sure to be left open on the countertop all night long.
Presentation Is Everything — Or Is It?
When is the right time to serve drinks in glassware and when do plastic cups pass? For some, it comes down to size. If your guest list is in the dozens, serving drinks in wine glasses and tumblers may not be practical.
Location also comes into play. If you’re hosting your guests outdoors, glassware may not only be impractical but dangerous. All it takes is one broken champagne flute to shut down your dance floor.
And lastly, what’s on the menu? While glassware might be appropriate for a sit-down meal, it becomes less essential with passed appetizers or a buffet-style set up.
If you do decide to keep things classy, you’ll want to invest in wine glasses, pints, tumblers, martini glasses, and champagne flutes for a well assorted glassware selection.
At The RTA Store, we help make your dream home a reality with RTA (ready to assemble) and pre-assembled cabinets and accessories. Whether it’s your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, home office, home bar, or TV room, we offer the same (if not better) quality you would find at any retail store, but for a fraction of the price. Stop by our website or give us a call, and let us make your dreams come true with the help of our free room design service.
