Stocking a cocktail bar from scratch can seem daunting, but never fear; with this handy guide, you’ll be able to fill your bar cart with only the essentials you need to make delicious cocktails for yourself and your party guests.
I think we can all agree that paying $18 for a cocktail you could easily make at home is NOT it. The only thing is, well, making sure your home cocktail bar is stocked with everything you need to make your favorite cocktails yourself.
Stocking a cocktail bar from scratch can seem daunting, but never fear; with this handy guide, you’ll be able to fill your bar cart with only the essentials you need to make delicious cocktails for yourself and your party guests.
Super hosts and hostesses, prepare to take screenshots. Here’s everything you need to keep a crowd-pleasing bar cart to rival any trendy cocktail bar.
Just like cocktails themselves, the backbone of your cocktail bar will be the spirits you choose to keep on hand. Start by selecting the spirits that can be sipped neat, over ice or mixed easily: bourbon and tequila are great options. You can keep a mid-quality bottle for mixing and a high-quality bottle for sipping of each, or just stick with one high quality bottle. You may also want to stock a few different varietals depending on you/your guests’ preference, like straight, wheated or rye bourbon and blanco, reposado or añejo tequila.
Whatever you decide, just make sure you’re sticking with what you and your guests like to drink the best. No need to clutter your bar cart with obscure bottle varietals or flavored spirits that won’t get much mileage.
Recommended bourbons and tequilas:
Mixers are essential for cocktail creation, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep crates of sugary sodas, juices and premade mixers lying around. Choose 3-4 mixers to keep in your fridge, and you’ll be well-prepared to make cocktails you and your guests will love.
We suggest:
Any of these can be swapped based on your preference. For example, if you love making tiki drinks at home, you’ll want to stock up on tropical fruit juices to use as mixers.
Tip: If you want to elevate your DIY cocktail game even more, stick to adding elements from the Most Requested Holiday Party Cocktails.
Now for the fun part: adding a few garnish options and mixology gadgets to your cocktail creation repertoire. If you’re a sucker for aesthetics and shiny doohickeys, go wild, but just know that you really only need citrus slices, a cocktail shaker and strainer and a trusty jigger.
For your final cocktail bar setup, add your glasses (simple tall and short glasses will do), ice bucket and festive decor and display your garnishes and gadgets so guests can help themselves.
Here are a few of our favorites:
And that’s it! It truly doesn’t take much to build out a cocktail bar, but the fun comes from watching it grow over time (and, of course, the friendships forged and strengthened over good cocktails).
Looking for a lower maintenance cocktail bar? As in, like...a fridge of premade drinks? We see you. Check out our favorite ready-to-drink cocktails that taste straight from the bar.
