A Home Bar Starter Pack

Build a travel bar — or give a gift.

For the one-year anniversary edition of this newsletter, I thought I’d explicate a theory that’s always been implicit in the design and organization of my posts but that I’ve never laid out explicitly: how to build a home bar from the ground up. And when I say “how to build a home bar,” I’m not talking about the dimensions of your bar counter. Instead, I mean: how to think about which specific collection of bottles and ingredients you need to start making great cocktails at home. 

My primary advice can be summarized as follows: Think basic. Think classic. And think modular. 

Your goal isn’t to be able to make every cocktail, or even close. You don’t want to focus on making a selection of cocktail-nerd drinks with a bunch of obscure ingredients. 

Instead, what you want is to be able to make a number of high-quality classics and standards using a relatively small number of essential bottles, plus some common grocery store staples. You can do this with about a half dozen bottles, and as few as three. Think of it as putting together a home bar starter pack. 

Three Use Cases

Before we get to the bottles themselves, let’s talk about why you’d want to do this. I can think of several reasons. 

First, if you’re trying to get started making cocktails yourself. For folks who have not made drinks at home before, this can be a challenge, even if you have a book full of recipes. Where do you start? What’s the first bottle you buy? The second? The fifth? And how do you proceed from there? 

Second, if you’re traveling and want to set up a basic home bar in a temporary location. You can’t really take your home bar with you, but you might still want to make cocktails for your family or your friends while away. I’ve done this on many occasions — traveling to see my parents, for example, or staying with old college pals. 

If the plan is to have some drinks at someone’s home, I’ll typically organize a basic setup with a few key bottles and ingredients so I can make cocktails for everyone. This costs some money, but depending on what you pick, it’s less expensive than you might think — about the price of buying a few bottles of wine, and certainly less than drinking out. A bonus: If you’re making the drinks yourself, you know they’ll be good. Plus, if you’re at someone’s house, you can leave the remainders with them, and, if there’s interest, instructions on how to make some cocktails for themselves. Which brings us to...

Third, if you’re giving someone a gift. Want to help someone get started making cocktails? You probably don’t want to start by buying them bottles of Ramazotti and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao — even though those are both great. Instead, you want to give them a collection of core basics that work well together and play nicely with other ingredients they might end up buying for themselves. 

Like I said, building a home bar is an inherently modular project. As with so many things in cocktails, it’s a matching problem. You want to start with core bottles that are used in many different classic drinks, and then build out from there. So let’s talk about how you might do that. 

The Core Five 

I think nearly every home cocktail bar should start with at least three bottles, and probably five. These bottles will provide a kind of platform from which you can build the rest of your bar, depending on your interests and tastes. If you’re trying to make cocktail bar style drinks, based on the classics, these are all essential. 

Before we get to the particular bottles, however, we need to talk about the non-alcoholic ingredients. The bad news is: You need them. The good news is: You probably already have them. 

Making cocktails at home is in some sense always a “Stone Soup” like endeavor. That’s especially true when you’re making cocktails at someone else’s house. 

In the same way that the travelers in that story who arrive in the hungry village carrying only an empty pot make a delicious soup by cajoling an array of already available ingredients from the villagers, you’ll need to raid the refrigerator and pantry for a number of ingredients that are probably already there — and if not are easy to obtain. 

The most important of those ingredients are lemons (for juicing) and white sugar (for syrup). 

However, it’s also useful to have demerara sugar (also for syrup), honey (more syrup), maple syrup (still more syrup), oranges (to peel for garnish), limes (also for juicing), and, if you already have them, brandied cherries — ideally Luxardo. For the recipes below, I’ll assume you have, or can easily obtain, most of these already. 

So here’s my preferred starter pack:

1) Rittenhouse Rye. You won’t be surprised to hear that the first bottle on the list is Rittenhouse Rye. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: It’s the most important, most versatile, most essential bottle in your home bar. It works extremely well in almost any drink that calls for either bourbon or rye. If all you have is a bottle of Rittenhouse and some ordinary kitchen staples, you can still make a basic Rye Whiskey Sour and some simple variations. 

Rye Whiskey Sour

• ¾ ounce rich (2:1) simple syrup*

• ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. 

Note: Make rich (2:1) simple syrup by blending two parts white sugar with one part water on high for 2-3 minutes. Chill, then store in a refrigerator for up to a month. 

Rye Gold Rush

• ¾ ounce 3:1 honey syrup*

• ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker. 

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. 

Note: Make 3:1 honey syrup by whisking three parts honey with one part water until integrated. Chill, then store in a refrigerator for up to a month. 

Maple Leaf

• ¾ ounce maple syrup

• ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. 

2) Angostura Bitters. Okay, this isn’t a bottle of booze in the usual sense. You probably won’t be sipping this straight (although I have known folks who take Angostura shots). But it’s still based in alcohol, and it’s incredibly useful in a wide array of classic and contemporary drinks. Once you have your bottle of Rittenhouse Rye and Angostura bitters, you can make a Rye Old Fashioned. (You should also try a Whiskey Sour with a dash or two or bitters included.) 

Rye Old Fashioned

• 1 tsp rich (2:1) demerara syrup* 

• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.

2. Add ice, then stir until chilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a single large piece of ice. 

4. Garnish with a strip of orange peel. 

Note: Make rich (2:1) demerara syrup by blending two parts demerara sugar and one part water on high for 2-3 minutes. If you don’t have demerara sugar, you can also substitute ordinary rich (2:1) simple syrup. If you don’t have any of these, you can use maple syrup. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make demerara gum syrup in an immersion circulator. 

3) Dolin Rouge sweet vermouth. An aromatised fortified wine that is a common ingredient in cocktails, sweet vermouth is an absolute must-have for any home bar. It unlocks the ability to make a Manhattan, which is structurally similar to an Old Fashioned, in that it’s a three-part stirred cocktail with a high-proof spirit base, a sweetener, and bitters. 

There are a vast number of sweet vermouths on the market, but as I wrote last year, most home bartenders will be able to make any drink they want with just three. And while it’s not my absolute favorite in every application, if you’re just getting started, you can easily make do with just one: Dolin Rouge, a light-bodied, playful bottle that goes with absolutely everything. Remember to store your vermouth in the refrigerator after you open it! 

Manhattan

• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

• 1 ounce Dolin Rouge sweet vermouth 

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.

2. Add ice, then stir until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass.

4. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry. (If you don’t have a cherry, an orange peel will work in a pinch. You can also opt to use no garnish at all.) 

If you’re looking for a minimalist starter pack, you can stop right here. If you can make a solid Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and a couple of Whiskey Sour variations, you’re already well ahead of the curve. Frankly, I’ve been to too many bars that haven’t mastered these drinks. This little setup many not feel like much, but it’s a very solid start.

However, if you want to upgrade your starter pack, I’d recommend moving on to a bottle of…

4) Campari. This delicious but somewhat controversial bitter ingredient will let you make a Boulevardier. Although I personally prefer a complex, five-part version with an unusual ratio, you can make a very tasty 2:1:1 up Boulevardier with a bottle of Rittenhouse, a bottle of sweet vermouth, and a bottle of Campari. 

Boulevardier 

• ¾ ounce sweet vermouth (Dolin)

• ¾ ounce Campari

• 1 ½ ounce Rittenhouse Rye

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker. 

2. Add ice, then stir until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass.

4. Garnish with a strip of lemon peel. 

5) London dry gin (Beefeater). So far, all the drinks you’ve made with your starter pack have been based in rye whiskey. But at this point, it’s time to start working your way out into other base spirits. And unless you simply hate the stuff, I’d start with Londron dry gin. 

There are many great bottles out there, but as I wrote earlier this year, my favorite all-arounder is Beefeater, which is one of the few gins to work equally well in both stirred and shaken drinks. Once you have this, you can make a Negroni — a gin/sweet vermouth/Campari drink that is the better known, more popular sibling of the Boulevardier — as well as a handful of sour-type drinks. 

Negroni

• ¾ ounce Campari

• ¾ ounce sweet vermouth (Dolin)

• 1 ounce London dry gin (Beefeater)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.

2. Add ice, then stir until chilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a single large piece of ice. 

4. Garnish with an orange peel. 

Gimlet

• ¾ ounce rich (2:1) simple syrup

• ¾ ounce fresh lime juice

• 2 ounces London dry gin

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass. 

Bee’s Knees

• ¾ ounce 3:1 honey syrup

• ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

• 2 ounces London dry gin

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker.

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass. 

So: There you have it. Five bottles. A handful of kitchen staples. Nine easy, mostly classic drinks. If you can make these drinks well, you and your friends can drink well forever. To be sure, these drinks aren’t overly elaborate. But if you make them with a bit of care, they’re all delicious, and they provide a variety of flavor profiles for people with different tastes. 

Branching Out

But now that you’re started, you’re going to want to go a little bit further. You’re going to want to add complexity and play with new spirit bases. You’re going to want to expand your bar. And this is where things get more complicated. 

There are a bunch of different directions you can go. But like I said, you need to think about this as a modular project. You want to add bottles that work with what you already have. So if you’re looking for an expansion bottle, my recommendations are:

Dry vermouth (Dolin) and orange bitters (Regan’s): This is a matched set, and the main thing it does is let you make a Martini. Unlike sweet vermouth, dry vermouth is an easy category to knock out with a single bottle: Dolin dry. Although other good dry vermouths exist, the vast majority of dry vermouth cocktails simply presume that you will use Dolin. (Also, if you end up with a bottle of orange bitters, you should try adding it to your Old Fashioned, on top of the Angostura bitters.) 

Here’s a very basic Martini recipe: 

Martini

• 2 dashes orange bitters

• 1 ounce dry vermouth (Dolin)

• 2 ounces Beefeater

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. 

2. Add ice, then stir until thoroughly chilled. 

3. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass.

4. Garnish with a lemon peel. 

Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur: This sweet fruity liqueur comes in handy more often than you might think. For our purposes, it allows you to make a Fancy Free. 

Fancy Free

• 1 dash orange bitters

• 1 dash Angostura bitters

• 1 tsp rich simple syrup (optional, but I prefer it)

• ½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

• 2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.

2. Add ice, then stir until chilled.

3. Strain all ingredients into a rocks glass over a single large piece of ice.

4. Garnish with a strip of orange peel.

Now, once you have a bottle of Luxardo, that gives you some other options: Most obviously, you can buy a bottle of Green Chartreuse and make a Last Word (gin, lime, maraschino liqueur, and Green Chartreuse) and a Final Ward (rye, lemon, maraschino liqueur, and Green Chartreuse). You can buy a bottle of Pernod or absinthe and make a Tuxedo No. 2. 

Or you can start with a new base spirit — say, light rum. And then you can make a Daiquiri (really just a rum/lime sour) and start down the road toward tiki. 

Alternatively, you can pile up bitter liqueurs like Ramazotti and vary your Negroni-type drinks to infinity and beyond. Or you can just become a Whiskey Guy and have an opinion on every single brand of whiskey and whether it makes a good Manhattan or Old Fashioned. If you like less boozy drinks, you can expand into sherry and make drinks like the Bamboo and the Adonis. 

There are many options and many paths. The point is to make sure you are intentionally choosing one. 

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Cocktail library: Spirited: Cocktails from Around the World, by Adrienne Stillman. This isn’t a bar building book, but it is one of the best, most comprehensive collections of cocktail recipes I’ve ever encountered. It’s nicely organized by category, so if you’re looking for ideas on what to make, there’s almost always something new and interesting. 

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