Home Bar: The Essentials

You don’t need to go out to have a drink. If you have a home bar at your place, you can entertain your friends and have a good time right from home. It’s so much cheaper to mix your drinks, provided you have the essentials to make cocktails. The fun part about it is that you and your friends can make your own mix by experimenting with ingredients. It’s up to you to decide how strong you want your drink to be. So, here are the essentials to have in your place.

Base Spirits

Any home bar needs a base spirit. These are the sources of the alcoholic content in a cocktail drink.

1. Whisky: This is an alcoholic drink that came from a fermented grain mash. There are different grains used for each variety, such as barley, rye, wheat, and corn.
2. Rum: This is an alcoholic drink that came from sugarcane, and it’s aged in an oak barrel.
3. Gin: This is a spirit that gets its flavor from juniper berries.
4. Tequila: This is made from the cactus family, called agave plant.
5. Vodka: This is made from distillation of substances such as grains, potatoes, fruits, and sugar.

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Other essentials you need in your home bar:

1. Sweet and dry vermouth: Vermouth is considered an aperitif wine, which means you don’t take it with the main course, but sort of an appetizer to stimulate appetite. The taste is usually bittersweet. Sweet vermouth, as the name implies, has a sweet flavor and a reddish to brownish color because of the caramel, and it’s used in sweet cocktails. Dry vermouth is used in dry cocktails, like martinis.
2. Orange curaçao: This is a sweet liqueur flavored with citrus fruits.
3. Campari: This is a liqueur infused with herbs and fruits.
4. Champagne and seltzer: Champagne is a sparkling wine primarily produced in France, and a seltzer is a carbonated water.

You will also need a homemade sweet and sour mix in your home bar. You need four cups of fresh juice and six cups of simple syrup. This is a mix of equal parts of water and sugar, boiled together until the sugar is dissolved. Cool in the refrigerator.

Bomb Shelter Negroni

This is an example of a cocktail drink that you can prepare from your ingredients in your home bar.

• Mix together 1 ½ ounces of gin, 1 ounce of sweet vermouth, and 1 ounce of campari
• Add some ice cubes

You’re free to experiment concoctions for your cocktail drinks. You may add some fresh fruits and fresh juices for added sweetness and tart. The only important thing to remember is to discipline yourself and refrain from drinking too much alcohol. Now you can entertain at home and you have the freedom to enjoy the home bar.