How-To: Build Your Own Homebar
- Rachel Davidson
- Feb 10, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 16, 2020
Build Your Own Homebar
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How-To's with INFUSE | a cocktail blog
Rachel Davidson | February 10th, 2020 IG:@rachelpaiige
How-To Build Your Own Homebar
So today we're going to talk about how to start your own home bar!! Exciting!
It will take some time to finish this, so go at your own page (and budget!).
If you can't or don't want to buy everything at once, subscribing to The Bitters Box is a great way to start collecting.
The monthly subscription includes all you need to make a few cocktails, including instructions and recipe cards, bitters, garnishes, along with a bar tool and some discounts for online retailers for purchasing anything and everything you could need for your homebar!
I’ve made a list of the basic ingredients and tools you’ll need to be successful. You can do a few things ahead of time before you get to buying all of these ingredients but more than likely you have most of this already at home.
Ingredients:
◦ aromatic bitters
◦ orange bitters
◦ bar sugar/sugar cubes
◦ eggs
◦ hot sauce
◦ lemon whole and juice
◦ limes whole and juice
◦ other citrus
◦ olives
◦ cherries
◦ orange liqueur
◦ dry and sweet vermouth
◦ salt and pepper*
◦ simple syrup**
◦ other syrups
◦ various warming spices*
◦ heavy cream
◦ coco lopez
◦ water
◦ club soda
◦ mixers/juices
*nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, pink and black peppercorns, etc.
**learn how to make your own here - very easy!
The tools you need are
◦ shaker tins (small/large)
◦ bar spoons
◦ strainers (hawthorne & julep)
◦ mixing glasses
◦ jiggers
◦ muddler
◦ cutting board
◦ knife
◦ a juicer
◦ peeler
◦ glassware
◦ tongs*
◦ bar tweezers*
If you have any of these things already in your kitchen, it’s a big plus because you can use them also in your home bar from time to time.
◦ dehydrator
◦ cheese cloth
◦ coffee filters
◦ a sous-vide
◦ empty and clean jars or bottles
◦ painters tape
◦ ginger or garlic grater
◦ pour spouts
◦ mixing glasses
◦ jams and jellies
◦ purees
◦ ice trays, various shapes and styles
◦ small cookie cutters
◦ nice and sharp knives
◦ caviar-making essentials
◦ aerator & cartridges (for whipped cream/foams/infusions
◦ smoker gun
◦ toothpicks
◦ bottle-opener
For garnishes I recommend:
◦ any kind of citrus with a peel (i.e. lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, yuzu)
◦ flowers
◦ herbs
◦ fruits*
◦ vegetables
◦ worcestershire sauce
◦ spices like anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove
◦ even house made caviar if you wanna go all out! (Not from fish, don’t worry!)
*Dehydrating citrus is a cost-effective way of making garnishes and oftentimes can be appreciated for their aesthetics in cocktails.
You can prep some things ahead of time if you want to customize your home bar to match your own flavors and style.
You can prep your own syrups and garnishes with what you’ve already got at home, so you won’t need to buy expensive (and processed!) syrups from the store.
This is easily done with citrus, herbs, sugar, and water. Look at my article here on how to make syrups and infusions in few simple steps with only a few ingredients!!
Garnishes can be really fun and creative if thought through. There are books dedicated to the craft of garnish, arguing that the garnish should by no means be an afterthought to cocktail making.
You can also make fancy ice in interesting shapes to stylize your cocktails or match the theme of an event. Charcoal ice is cool – just add black charcoal powder to the water before freezing it. I did this in this Japanese-inspired Whiskey Ginger. Check it out here! Lmk if you like it!!
Think… your next Star Wars birthday party for your girlfriend & you bringing over a hot purple ‘Dark Side’ cocktail with charcoal ice in the shape of Darth Vader and a mini light-saber as the garnish…
Or ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ – the cherry red Voldemort-themed cocktail with charcoal ice in the shape of snakes. So fun!
The Cart
When you’re looking for a bar cart think outside the box! Your home bar can actually be a stylized bathroom trolley with wheels, a craft cart, a vintage dresser/vanity or interesting side table... anything! Get my point?
Next time you go to TJ Maxx or Marshalls, spend some time looking at the random furniture. Oftentimes you’ll find unique pieces which can be turned into unique bar carts. Try to imagine if it's possible to install a glassware holder on the bottom surface of a shelf. Does it have the ability to add wheels so you can roll it?
Think of different areas of your home that the cart will fit in! Can you see yourself entertaining with it in the living room? On the porch?
See this one? They used cards and installed a glass holder to the front of a board. It's stylistic and fits in with the theme of this room specifically. Very unique with the chalkboard behind!
I’ve had my home bar arranged on bathroom trolley which usually are intended to store bathroom items like make up and hair accessories. I’ve used a few other things mentioned above, but eventually settled on a retro-looking craft cart from Target.
I really like the look of it and that I can easily roll it around my place. Its about 3 ½ feet high and is round, black, and has wheels. I can roll it around to decorate a different room everyday if I wanted to.
Getting The Booze
Pick three different spirits and purchase a decent bottle of each one. If that seems like too big of a feat for you because walking into a liquor store can sometimes be intimidating and overwhelming, buy one spirit each time you go to the liquor store.
I recommend a lighter colored, an amber, and a darker colored spirit to have some variety.
Vodka, vermouth, bourbon...
Gin, rum, whiskey...
Eventually this is what I recommend you have on hand so you can slay the cocktail game at any time from home.
Vodka, brandy, gin, rum (amber and white), whiskey, dry and sweet vermouth, orange liqueur, aromatic and orange bitters, and tequila if that's in your taste buds. Not many classic cocktails use tequila, so that's why it's not on the list. You can buy ALL of this liquor on the lower end for about 250 dollars. If you go mid-range to high end, you're looking at $400 or so, specialty bottles can get much higher than this.
Now you're all set to go!
◦ Cart
◦ At least 3-4 spirits
◦ Bitters - aromatic or orange to start off
◦ Bar tools
◦ Garnishes - citrus peel, spices, non-edible ok
◦ Citrus - lemon/lime or anything you like
◦ Syrup - simple or make your own
◦ Vermouth
◦ Orange liqueur
◦ Glassware
◦ Ice
◦ Water
With all these ingredients, plus your fridge stocked with the essentials, you’ve got a beautifully stocked bar cart that's ready for entertaining!
It’s unique, it’s stocked with your favorite ingredients. You can make pretty much any classic cocktail!
Please leave a comment below if you fancy! Stay tuned for more!
Cheers!!
Mahalo nui loa for reading!! -Rachel @rachelpaiige
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