Building a Home Bar
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Time to read 3 min
A well-stocked home bar doesn’t need dozens of bottles. Here’s how we’d build a simple, versatile setup that can make great cocktails without taking over your entire kitchen.
Project: Design By Golden, Photo: Sharyn Cairns
How to curate a home bar
At some point everyone who enjoys a good drink starts thinking about building a home bar. It usually begins with a bottle or two sitting on the kitchen bench, maybe a shaker tucked in a drawer somewhere, and the vague idea that you’ll make cocktails for friends one day.
Then suddenly you look around and realise you’ve accumulated seven half-used bottles, three mismatched glasses and absolutely no idea what to do with any of it.
The truth is that building a good home bar has very little to do with owning lots of things. In fact the best ones are usually quite simple. A few well-chosen bottles, a couple of proper tools and an understanding of a few classic drinks will take you much further than an entire shelf of random spirits. From behind the bar at Familiar Spirits, this is the approach we usually recommend.
The foundation of any good home bar is the base spirits. Gin is a natural place to start because it’s one of the most versatile spirits in cocktails. A good bottle can carry everything from a crisp martini to something long and refreshing like a gin highball or a spritz. Vodka earns its place for the same reason. It slips easily into drinks without overpowering the other ingredients and it’s the backbone of classics like the vodka martini.
Once those are in place, vermouth quietly becomes one of the most useful bottles you can own. A good blanco or dry vermouth opens the door to martinis, but it also adds structure and balance to many other drinks. It’s the kind of ingredient that bartenders reach for constantly, even though most people rarely think about it when they’re stocking a bar at home.
After that, the rest of the bar tends to build itself naturally. A bottle of bitters is incredibly useful and lasts forever. Something citrusy like limoncello can bring brightness to simple drinks. And if you enjoy spritzes or longer cocktails, having soda water on hand is essential.
Project: Studio Jake Arnold, Photo: Michael Clifford Photography
The tools are even simpler than the bottles. A cocktail shaker (we love a stainless steel Boston mixer as the colour won't chip off), a jigger with measuring, a mixing glass, a bar spoon and a strainer will cover most of what you’ll ever need to do. Stirring drinks like martinis or negronis requires very little equipment, and once you’ve made a few you’ll realise the technique is much less intimidating than it looks.
A word on glassware
Glassware is where people often overcomplicate things. A couple of well-chosen glasses will do the job perfectly. Nick & Nora glasses are excellent for martinis and other spirit-forward drinks, while a simple highball glass works beautifully for anything long and refreshing. Beyond that it really becomes a matter of personal taste.
Our favourite glassware collection is the Nude Glass range for it's elegant and fine craftsmanship and great price point... in fact, it's what we use for most of our cocktails in the bar. We also love collecting handmade glassware on our travels and picking up unique vintage pieces. A set of 2 or 4 coupes or martini glasses from a boutique store is our go-to gift for the people who have everything.
Sophie Lou Jacobsen Trumpet Aperitif Glass set of 4
Our favourite Nick & Nora glass from Nude Glassware
Handblown Glass 001 collection designed by Solange Knowles
