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A Friday or Saturday night instantly flashes pub-hopping and dining to one’s mind. While visiting a fancy bar in an upscale location may look appealing, ongoing pandemic restrictions can spoil the plan. A bar visit with friends may not materialize immediately, but you can still enjoy your Tequila or Martini your home bar.

Setting up a bar at home is an exciting chance to make drinks) of your tastes and preferences for yourself and your guests. A home bar gives you the comfort to stock liqueurs of your choice and in a manageable capacity and also helps you use your home’s under-used corner space. However, you may not have full knowledge of planning and installing a home bar from start to finish. Here are ten practical tips for setting up your home bar to perfection and modern tastes.

1. Start Your Home Bar In A Small Way.

Whether it is a personal need or choice, setting up a home bar needs money, time investment, and some experience. Keep to your ambition of starting a home bar but do your initial legwork and preparation after assessing your space limitations and needs.  

To make a start:

• Choose at least four spirits you enjoy the most, and shop for a few bar tools and glasses.
• Find out how you are adjusting to the present bar space.
• Keep adding things to your bar area slowly and with time.
• Start small with a moveable bar cart and gradually upgrade your bar space to your comfort and indulgence.

Remy Martin VSOP is a fantastic option for women who prefer hard liquor over wine. Think of your kids and grandparents at home before planning your bar. Space availability may not be such an issue for starting a home bar as much as privacy and access. Weigh all the parameters before developing a home bar.     

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   Identify Your Home Bar Space.

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No two home bars will be the same. Each house has its distinct décor value and hang-out feel. For some, a home bar may be the place for common celebrations. Others may find a home bar an exclusive time for spirits-sipping. There are three common kinds of home bars to consider according to your space dimensions:

• Built-in home bar: The bar comes in a built-in unit for ready installation and has multiple shelves, storage, and seating capacity.
• Bar Cart trolley: The lack of indoor space to construct a built-in bar is no reason to quash your bar dreams. Think of a movable bar trolley to store and serve drinks to your friends and colleagues.  
• Closet-turned-bar area: Your anteroom may have well-designed closets for crockery and miscellaneous homeware. Convert your closet into a wet bar. The standalone bar cabinets make versatile home bars and come in many sizes, colors, and styles fitting your space dimension.

If your house suffers from the luxury of space, think of using your platform beds’ storage capacity to stock your bar items. Storage furniture like sideboards and credenzas are yet another creative way for a home bar set-up. Consider non-traditional possibilities to store liquor at home.     

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   Know And Stock Essential Spirits And Bar Drinks. 

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Any home bar may have fancy bottles, glasses, and a bar environment. Take pride in your knowledge and stock of liquors and liqueurs to enhance drinking and modern serving carts.

• Liquors: Stock vodka, gin, whisky (Rye, Scotch, Bourbon), rum, tequila, cognac (and other brandies), bitters.
• Liqueurs: Keep a collection of cocktail-defining flavors like Irish cream, dry and sweet vermouth, liqueurs (orange, melon, black raspberry or coffee), crème de menthe, crème de cacao for usual and fancy cocktails.
• Mixers: Store non-alcoholic mixers in your bar repertoire to get the best flavor in cocktails. Avoid stocking mixers if you are less frequent in throwing home parties. Save your home bar space for something more important.         
• Sodas: Upgrade your drinks with small bottles of club soda, tonic water, ginger ale.  
• Ice: Fresh ice is fundamental in drinks. Use ice cubes, shaved ice, cracked ice, block ice, and ice balls in cocktails and mixed drinks.
• Garnishes: Citrus fruits (lime wedges, orange peels), mint juleps, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, whipped cream will help you garnish most drinks.   

Keep adding to your bar collection and dutifully replace bottles containing borderline liquor with new ones.  

For wine lovers joining a wine club is a good idea. You will get a few bottles of fine wine delivered to you every month. Check out these Winc wine reviews to see if this club is the right fit for your bar.

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   Invest In Glassware.

When making and serving alcoholic drinks, ordinary glass won’t do. You need to invest in classic glassware such as beer mugs, whisky glasses, martini glasses, and shot glasses to be on the right page. Here is some basic glassware to get you started.

• Pint glasses: A pint glass is a basic for pouring beer. You may also use a pint glass to double mix your drink.
• Lowball glasses: If your mind is on a single shot drink, go in for the short-bodied lowball glass.
• Highball glass: This is a tall glass tumbler (referred to as Collins glass) mainly used to serve mixed drinks with a large proportion of non-alcoholic mixers.
• Wine glasses: The battle is not between white wine and red wine but which colored glass will suit which wine. Make sure your wine glass has a wide mouth and bulbous body for sufficient airing.
• Coupe glasses: They look classy and serve well as a champagne glass. Moreover, there’s no need for ice in a coupe glass. It has a broad bowl and saucer-shaped stemmed glass.  
• Copper mugs: Copper mineral enhances the cocktail drink taste and aroma. Moscow Mule and its variations are signature drinks served in copper mugs. Mint julep, ginger beer, winter sangria are other cocktails that are copper compatible.     

If you wish to elevate your drinking experiment, think of crystal glasses. It will be a pleasant addition to your home bar.   

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   Think Basic Bar Tools And Accessories.

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Whipping up amazing cocktails needs some essential tools to enhance the taste. Here is what you need.  

• Mixing Glass: A thick glass and a spout will help you mix your drinks suitably well.
• Bar Spoons: It is a must accessory for stir-up cocktails. Consider a copper spoon to get an ancient-looking accent. 
• Jigger: Learn to measure alcohol by the ounce by getting “jigger,” a double-sided shot glass.
• Muddler: Crush herbs, fruits, ice, sugar cubes, and other flavorsome ingredients using a muddler.   
• Shaker: If you don’t have many guests dropping in, make do with a traditional cocktail shaker or switch to a Boston shaker to mix the ingredients well. Go for a good-size shaker that can mix and blend over one cocktail at a time.
• Strainer: A strainer works to eliminate any pulp or leaves from the ready-to-drink cocktail. Hawthorne is a commonly used strainer for making enjoyable cocktails.  
• Peeler: Go back to the humble potato peeler to shave off citrus fruits peel.     
• Ice And More: Amplify your cocktail moments with three things in ice – ice bucket, ice cubes, and ice scoop.
• Accessories: Keep a set of white towels, toothpicks, a bottle opener, a sturdy knife (with a serrated blade for cutting citrus fruits), a cutting board, and a few glass bottles (to store syrups and juices) in your home bar handy. This will help bring in bar hygiene and sanitization. 

For teetotalers and mocktail lovers, glassware and tools are virtually the same as for alcohol drinkers. However, you could set up a soda bar and line up a rainbow of syrups to enjoy your non-alcoholic mocktails.     

1. Refresh Your Home With Modern Furniture

   Keep Bartending Guides And Cocktail Books.

While the internet is a quick tool to get the latest, finding the precise way to make mojito or martini may need you to reference a book. Flipping through a book has its charm and convinces you, well before reaching the last leaf.

Dress up your bar cabinet or trolley with books on bartending skills, seasonal drinks, and cocktail snacks. Be in the knowledge of whipping the tastiest cocktails and mocktails at your housewarming party. History and adventure go hand in hand, so make your bar bookshelf a blend of serious and quirky. Your home bar may be small, but think big to make it the most visited place in your home (other than the liquors).  

1. Color And Clean Your Bar Uniquely And Responsibly.

Bold and stylish themes never go out of fashion. Explore bold colors and spirited finishes on walls and décor statements without sacrificing the family’s sentiments. Get graffiti-style wall coverings and inspired artworks. Think marble walls and green wallpaper, a touch of tropical or a bit of gloss to make your bar lively.

Apart from color, redefine your bar lighting fixtures. Cone-shaped pendant lights, tiki lamps bring out the unconventional in a home bar. Talk to an architect to know about the color diversity for your home bar. Also, bring hygiene in your home bar by wiping the liquor bottles and glasses with a cloth napkin to maintain a fresh and sparkly look.     

1. Plan Out Mood Lighting.  

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A bar is a specific area in the house where guests gather for drinks and mini-celebrations. Bar lights can set the mood and are as vital as the bar design and liquor bottles. Here are some bar lighting options to help you celebrate the mood and occasion. 

• Hanging Bulbs: Upgrade your bar space with Edison or filament hanging bulbs. Concentrated spotlights like hanging bulbs emphasize your drinking bar features while creating an offbeat trendy look.   
• Pendant lights: This lighting fixture is a regular in a bar counter. It comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and shades for bulbs and canopies. Cord options are also available. Choose multiple mini-pendants or a large pendant subject to the mood you wish to create (romantic and intimate, inspiring or showy and elaborate).     
• Cabinet lights: Spotlight your martini or coupe glasses in your bar cabinet in what we call showcase or cabinet lighting. Bar cabinets have a single light consciously installed on the inside of the cabinet to drop light on a particular item, such as glassware or antique liquor bottles. With the help of architectural and lighting consultants, you can adopt trendy options in lighting one or more cabinets.

Adopt practical height when using pendant lights in your home bar. Choose energy-efficient LED lighting for under-cabinet lighting. 

1. Store Drinks At Room Temperature.

Most distilled spirits such as vodka, whisky, gin, rum do not require refrigeration. Keep them in the freezer for an hour before serving your house party guests. Refrigeration is no compulsion but an individual choice.

Also, direct sunlight and UV rays may speed up liquor oxidation and color change and prove to be harmful. Let your liquors stay indoors to avoid any taste interference. However, fortified wines like vermouth, port wine, and sherry and cream-based cordials like Bailey’s Irish cream need cooling and refrigeration. Make it a point to know the spirits that are fridge-friendly and those that prefer room temperature. 

While the right temperature is essential for alcohol storage, find creative ways to display your malt liquor. Go beyond conventional options like bar cabinets. Think of a bookcase or the corner of the kitchen shelf to store your alcoholic drinks such as Remy Martin VSOP comfortably.

1. Stock Up Citrus Fruits.

Only a veteran drinker will know the importance of citrus fruits when sipping a drink or two. Citrus peels like lemon, lime, and orange complement a cocktail, whisky, or martini. Hence, the pressing need for a cutting board and a good knife when making a drink of your choice.

Avoid canned items and preservatives when preparing a drink. Believe in squeezing the lime or orange rather than reaching out for tins. You may find squeezing a citrus fruit a pain, but it is worth the effort. Once you become habitual to the art of slicing limes and oranges, it is easy to redo them for your guests. 

Final Thoughts

Whisky bottles (Remy Martin VSOP) kept in a sleeping position can seep the bottle cork and disintegrate the alcohol content. Store the liquor bottles in a standing position to maintain their taste and longevity.

Avoid overstuffing your bar unless you love to stock specialty spirits. Get the architecture done and put up the quintessential barware. Also, keep your home bar short and snappy. Put a new bar theme on the walls after a few weeks gap to make it statement-looking. Visit a lifestyle or home décor store to buy your cocktail essentials. If you have infants or teenagers at home, lock the bar cabinet. Drink and serve moderately. Cheers!