DIY & Crafts, Food & Drink
Essentials for Creating Your Own At-Home Bar
Instead of going out just to wait 10 minutes to get the bartender’s attention for a $15 cocktail, consider building your own at-home bar. In addition to saving money and time, your friends and family will be impressed when you invite them over and show them you’ve become quite the mixologist. We’ve rounded up all the essentials you’ll need for the best bar in town — or at least in the neighborhood.
Spirits
The most critical element of your at-home bar? The liquor, of course! Reserve Bar is an online one-stop shop for all your liquor needs. Stock up on all types of spirits and make sure you always have your favorites on hand for an impromptu happy hour.
Wine Subscription
If you’re looking for something a bit lighter than liquor, then you can never go wrong with a nice glass of wine. First, complete the questionnaire on Winc to discover wines that are perfect for your palate. Winc will then put together a collection of four wines based on your preferences. You can also select your own wines, if you’d prefer. Either way, you’ll have a full wine cellar in no time.
Bartending Kit
Bring out your bartending kit to show off in front of everyone. This 10-piece set comes with all the essentials a bartender needs to craft an excellent cocktail: a bottle opener, shaker, pourer, strainer and more. This kit will also complement your bar setup beautifully, since it comes with a lovely acacia wood stand.
Electric Wine Opener
You may already have a plain old corkscrew lying around in your kitchen drawer, but if you want to get really flashy — and make things easier — consider an electric wine opener. Just set the opener on top of the bottle and watch as it goes into the cork and smoothly extracts it from the bottle.
Bar Cart
Now that you’ve gathered your favorite spirits and wines, a nice bar cart is the next step in building your at-home bar. In this cart from Target, you’ll find ample space for your liquors and you can use the built-in wine rack to hold up to four bottles — which works out nicely if you’re getting four bottles a month from Winc! Store your wine glasses, as well, using the stemware rack.
Mini Fridge
The last thing you want to do is serve your guests a lukewarm drink. This compact mini fridge will fit nicely under your bar or in your bar area. You can move the metal shelves to your liking to keep your beverages — whether it’s wine, beer or seltzer — cold.
Wine Bottle Cooler
After you pull a bottle of chilled wine out of the fridge, the temperature will start going up. Food 52 has a neat wine gadget — the Wine Bottle Chiller — to keep your wine at an optimal temperature. It will keep your bottle nice and chilled for about four hours, so your wine remains cold throughout both predinner drinks and dinner.
Wine Glasses
If you’re looking for some stemware to add to your new bar cart, then these Vinum glasses are a great option. They have a nice, long stem to hold, preventing your hands from warming up the wine in your glass. These glasses are best used for wines such as chardonnay, chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio and viognier.
Glassware
Whether you make a mean bloody Mary or enjoy a Pimm’s cup or paloma from time to time, a highball glass is the perfect vessel from which to sip your freshly crafted cocktail. This dishwasher-safe highball from Crate & Barrel is durable and sturdy, with a gorgeous design that will look beautiful on your bar cart.
Now you have the perfect ingredients to set up your own at-home bar. The final step? Deciding how much you want to charge friends and family for one of your cocktails (kidding!). You can sweeten the deal by getting Cash Back on all the above items with Rakuten. Cheers!
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