How To Set Up A Home Bar

Whether you're a beginner at entertaining or have been hosting parties for years, a home bar is great to have. With just a few basic items you can mix up classic cocktails like a pro -- and we're here to help you stock up, whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced entertainer.

By no means do you have to be an expert or own a real bar -- keeping your drinks on a table or in a cupboard is totally fine. You'll find that the more you entertain, the better you'll become -- plus the more parties you throw, the more host/hostess gifts of liquor you'll receive!

If you've never had a home bar and are unfamiliar with drinks, the first thing to understand is the lingo. Two terms are often confused: liquor (lik-er) and liqueur (li-kur). Here's a breakdown of what you need to know:

Liquors are hard alcohols, a.k.a. spirits, such as gin, vodka, whiskey, or brandy. They are distilled from grains, fruits or vegetables and contain no sugar.

Liqueurs are alcohols flavored with herbs, fruits, nuts and/or spices and have sugar added. A liqueur can be enjoyed sipped as an aperitif (pre-dinner drink) or digestif (post-dinner drink) or mixed to make cocktails.

Bitters are a very concentrated form of liqueur (yet they don't taste sweet, but rather bitter as their name suggests) used in small amounts (a few dashes is all you need) in drinks and cocktails.

Mixers are non-alcoholic additions in mixed drinks and cocktails. They include sodas, such as tonic water, seltzer, lemon-lime soda, and juices such as cranberry, orange, lemon and lime.

Syrups are used to sweeten drinks and cocktails. The classic type is a simple syrup, made from equal amounts sugar and water heated to a simmer and then chilled. Simple syrups can further be infused with fruits, herbs or spices or they can be made from alternative sweeteners like honey or agave syrup.

Click through the slideshow to learn what you need to stock a complete bar for beginners, and then click through for recommendations as you become more advanced.

What liquors do you have in your home bar? Leave us a comment below.

Comments

[Rossi Vali]

06:56 AM on 07/10/2012

Oh wonderful! Lush lessons! Anyone ever hear of entertaining at home without the need for booze? Nope. Guess not. And of course people entertaining at home don't have a limit and don't realize that their partiers who go home driving inebriated are responsible for whatever that partier does like hit someone because they can't drive straight! Drink responsibly. Yeah right! If you want to learn how to set up a home bar, go to the home bar authority: http://www.human-growth-hormone-hgh.net

[Sam Hadden]

04:36 PM on 04/16/2012

So what are you supposed to do, set up a card table for your bar? This article totally missed the mark on setting up a home bar. It should be titled "how to mix a drink" or "how to stock a bar". If you want to learn how to set up a home bar, go to the home bar authority: http://www.barplan.com

[Bethany Quinn]

02:27 PM on 04/05/2012

I'd definitely switch most of the "beginner" and intermediate recommendations - I'd start with rum and vodka - they're much easier to mix than things like gin and bourbon, and the ratios are much more forgiving in something like vodka and cranberry than with a dry martini.

[psridgell]

01:13 PM on 03/17/2012

Why don't you drunken sots just kill yourselfs, instead of dragging it out by pickling your brains with alcohol, and killing innocent people on the highways by the hundreds of thousands

[psandysdad]

10:47 AM on 03/17/2012

Good article. I learned a few things, like what the terms actually mean.

[Ursula Fassl Behmke]

08:33 AM on 03/17/2012

i have a couple of bottles in my bar for geust,red wine,white wine,beer,coke and plenty of water.

[Wendy j]

02:38 PM on 03/06/2012

My bar contents consist of whatever I was given for Christmas the prior year. Usually about the time I use something up its Christmas time again so it works out well.

[cqdeed]

02:07 PM on 03/06/2012

I don't entertain so my bar is limited to what I prefer. My bar consists of one bottle of tequila, one bottle of a single malt scotch, one bottle of Bushmills, one bottle of Jack Daniel's, two bottles of beer and one brass shotglass. If I were forced to chose only one I would pick the Jack Daniel's.

[DLD48]

12:19 PM on 03/06/2012

"7 Things Beginners Should Have in Bar"

Beer, white wine, red wine, burbon, vodka, scotch, gin.

[hemipwr54]

11:57 AM on 03/06/2012

Forgot, a bowl full of contraceptives.

[Ossit]

06:21 AM on 03/06/2012

Oh wonderful! Lush lessons! Anyone ever hear of entertaining at home without the need for booze? Nope. Guess not. And of course people entertaining at home don't have a limit and don't realize that their partiers who go home driving inebriated are responsible for whatever that partier does like hit someone because they can't drive straight! Drink responsibly. Yeah right!

[Colleen Gillan]

11:35 AM on 03/06/2012

Seriously? Drinking alcohol is not illegal and there are many, many people who can enjoy a drink without getting drunk. There are also designated drivers. I am usually that driver for my friends. Grow up. As a Chicago radio personality says - your comment says something about you.

[Michel t]

09:04 PM on 03/06/2012

In psychology, we call that "Projection".

His/her personal experience must be that people cannot have a drink without getting drunk... and since they cannot control themselves... No one else should be allowed to drink...

~

Personally, the friends I usually have a drink with on occasion, all like simple things.
- Dark beer
- Straight scotch/Whiskey

The only time we'll make a mix is in the spring... some warmed up maple sap with some whiskey... Just plain delicious!

[notreallyabadguy]

05:02 PM on 06/18/2012

geez prudence, I think you clicked the wrong link. Isn't it time for Pat Robertson to come on? I know the idea of other adults making their own decisions about their own lives is scary. Just try not to think about it.

[F Sot Fitzgerald]

07:04 PM on 03/05/2012

"The article states, "Liqueurs are alcohols made from herbs, fruits, nuts and/or spices and are sweet." Um, no and no. Liqueurs are made WITH herbs, fruits, etc., and may be EITHER sweet or bitter (e.g. Fernet Branca."

Cheers,

AlcoholReviews.com

[Dpfromca]

12:24 PM on 03/17/2012

I believe liqueurs, by law must contain at least 2.5% sugar.

[fionijane]

02:49 PM on 03/05/2012

Put Ilegal Mezcal in your home bar, it's the best mezcal I've tried and a hit with guests.