Real simple

Home Bar Essentials Checklist

home bar

• Liquor

• Bourbon

• Cointreau or triple sec (some people swear Cointreau is worth the money even if you mix it)

• Gin

• Rum (light)

• Scotch (blended)

• Tequila (white)

• Vermouth (dry)

• Vermouth (sweet)

• Vodka

• Wine

• Red

• White

• Beer

• Light

• Dark

• Mixers

• Cola

• Ginger ale

• Club soda

• Sparkling water

• Tonic water

• Cranberry juice

• Orange juice

• Angostura bitters

• Garnishes

• Green olives (pitted)

• Lemons  

• Limes

• Kosher salt

• Maraschino cherries

• Accessories 

• Long cocktail spoon

• Paring knife

• Peeler

• Cutting board

• Corkscrew

• Bottle opener

• Juice squeezer

• Standard shaker: The shaker should have a metal bottom and a metal lid with a strainer.

• Jigger: Choose one with a 1-ounce measure on one side and 1 1/2 ounces on the other. Most recipes call for 1 1/2 ounces of alcohol (a jigger, or a shot), but some call for 1 ounce (a pony). If you don’t have a jigger, 3 tablespoons are about equal to 1 1/2 ounces.

• Bartending handbook. (Ultimate Bartender’s Guide by Ray Foley, inventor of the Fuzzy Navel drink recipe!)

• Cocktail napkins

• Cocktail toothpicks

• Swizzle sticks

• Glasses

• Martini glasses

• Highball glasses

• All-purpose wineglasses