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Home Bar Basics

Setting up a bar at home needn’t be an expensive undertaking. At the very least, you only really need something to mix in and a glass for your drink (I’ve used a clean coffee pot to stir a Martini before now – it’s not glamorous, but it works). But there are a few things that will make your life easier.

1 A good shaker

This is really a matter of preference. You want something that fits comfortably in your hand when you shake it, and which has a tight fit when it’s closed (there’s nothing worse than scrubbing Daiquiris off the ceiling, let me tell you). Some people favour the Boston Shaker, with its metal base and slightly smaller glass mixing top. I prefer a compact all-metal shaker, known as a Cobbler Shaker, which has a built-in strainer. Mine makes 2–3 cocktails at a time and fits nicely into my rather small hands.

The French Shaker lacks the Cobbler’s strainer and, again, is an all-metal affair. I think the metal matters. Although I have a couple of beautiful glass shakers, I keep them purely for decoration (along with my 1930s bear-shaped Cobbler Shaker, which is entirely impractical, but which makes me laugh). The conductivity of metal chills the drink quicker and with less dilution.

2 A strainer

This is vital if you lack a Cobbler Shaker, because you generally want to strain a drink into a glass. They come in fairly standard sizes to fit easily over the mouths of most shakers. Often, you’ll find them in a set with a cocktail shaker and a jigger. Just make sure, when you buy one, that it’s well made: the cheap ones can be a bit loose where the handle meets the circle of the strainer, and they have a tendency to nip your skin.

3 A bar spoon

A bar spoon is a very long teaspoon – as a measure, they’re identical – with a fat, flattened end which you can use to crush things like sugar cubes. In a bar, they’re very handy. Do you need one at home? Probably not. But you do need…

4 A muddler

…an elongated wooden pestle for crushing the oils out of leaves, breaking sugar into bitters and so on. When it comes to muddling leaves, wood is always better than metal – it’s gentler and less bruising, preserving the leaf’s integrity while extracting the flavours you require for the drink. In an emergency, the handle of a wooden spoon will do.

5 A Jigger

If you want something to taste right, measurements matter. In the UK, cocktail measures are based on the standard bar measures as laid down by law for the sale of spirits (25 ml for a single, 50 ml for a double in England and Wales; 35 ml and 70 ml in Scotland), and most jiggers and measurers sold there conform to these standards. In the US, cocktails are generally measured by the fluid ounce, which works out at approximately 30 ml for a single shot, and 60 ml for a double. On page 22, I have listed cocktails that dance to the 1:1:2 rhythm or similar, and upscale easily by ratio. It doesn’t really matter whether you use a US or a UK measure for these, so long as you stick to the same one. I favour a glass measurer or jigger with measurements marked in both millilitres and fluid ounces on the side.

6 A juicer

If you’re planning to make Margaritas or Daiquiris for a party, trust me, you want some kind of electric citrus juicer. It saves an awful lot of time and effort. And it will also allow you to squeeze fresh orange or grapefruit juice for breakfast. That’s a win in anyone’s book.

7 A blender

There are only a couple of drinks in this book which use a blender, and, to be honest, you could shake them if you have to. However, I find my KitchenAid Artisan Blender indispensible: a good blender allows you to whip up frozen drinks, blend fruit juices and so on. Plus it’s good for making soup – and what’s soup if not a hot, non-alcoholic cocktail?

8 A killer black dress

Or a sharp suit. Obviously.

Spirits

It goes without saying that, without spirits, there are no cocktails. Apart from the non-alcoholic ones on pages 130–43. In this book, I have deliberately tried not to prescribe certain brands in favour of others, but there are a few instances where the recipes have to be specific. For example, a Zombie is not a Zombie without Bacardi 151, and that’s all there is to it. But, by and large, buying should be determined by the following points:

1.Quality matters, regardless of those who claim (wrongly) that cocktails were invented to hide the deficiencies in Prohibition-era booze. Buy the best you can afford.

2.Buy the brands you like. This cannot be said enough. People spout a lot of blether about booze and wine, particularly about wine, but there is one golden rule: if you like it, it’s good. To hell with the pedants and snobs. There’s not a huge amount of difference between various brands of vodka so I trust you to choose your own, but when you look at gins in particular, there’s so much variation that you have to try a few to pick your favourite. I lean towards Beefeater and, for a change, Plymouth or Sipsmith, but that’s not to speak against Tanqueray, Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire, or any of the others, for that matter.

When it comes to rum you should note that, beyond quality, different rums provide different flavours. White rums are distinct from amber and dark rums while aged rums and rhums agricole are different again. It’s worth experimenting to find the ones you like – like wine regions, different countries produce distinct products, and there’s lots to explore.

The same goes for whisky. Ryes and bourbons have subtly different characters. So, too, do Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey – they even spell the word differently! But, while quality is important in a cocktail, it’s a crime to mix anything with a good malt whisky. Those that have have been found bludgeoned to death with tam o’shanters in dim back alleys. You’ve been warned.

3.Space. Most of us don’t have room for a lot of bottles, so buy for the cocktails you make most often.

Vermouth

Every bar needs a sweet vermouth and a dry vermouth, depending on the drinks you favour. As a fortified wine, it keeps for a while, though it does deteriorate slowly over time, so keep open bottles in the fridge. I favour Noilly Prat for a dry vermouth and Martini for sweet, and I’m a big fan of the Cocchi di Torino range for their extraordinary character and flair. Try a few different brands (ideally in other people’s bars) to find the ones you like.

Bitters

Bitters lift and distinguish a cocktail. Often, they turn out to be the secret ingredient which makes a drink sing. These days, a lot of bartenders make their own from wildly diverse ingredients. You absolutely, categorically need a bottle of Angostura bitters in your bar. It will last for ages, and it is highly adaptable. But if you have room, a bottle of orange bitters will always come in handy, as will some Peychaud’s bitters from New Orleans. And one of my favourite bitters companies, The Bitter Truth, makes a very handy five-bottle travel box – the celery bitters within makes for an excellent Bloody Mary.

Garnishes

The peel of citrus fruits used to make twists should always be unwaxed. One bartender I know makes an Essence of Sex Wax, which is used for greasing surf boards but, beyond that, I can see no earthly reason for wax to come anywhere near a cocktail. The wax on citrus fruits may help their preservation, but it hinders the release of the oils in their peel which, when we use a twist, is what we’re after. Speaking of which, if you want to add a touch of fancy, squeeze the oils through a lit match or lighter. They will ignite and caramelize in the flame, which makes for a lovely aroma, particularly in an Old Fashioned.

Make sure you have a sharp knife, or a channel knife, and a chopping board for prepping all kinds of citrus and other fruit. Though, to be honest, when it’s just me, I often cut a twist of citrus with a potato peeler…

While we’re on the subject of garnishes, look out for good quality maraschino cherries. Luxardo, who make a fine maraschino liqueur, sell the real thing in jars. I recommend them.

Sugar Syrup

You can buy sugar syrup in bottles, but it is very easy to make at home and considerably cheaper. Simply measure out equal quantities of caster (superfine) sugar and water, say 250 ml (8 fl oz) of water to 250 g (8 oz) of sugar, into a saucepan. Then dissolve the sugar completely in the water over a low heat (the heat isn’t strictly necessary, it just speeds up the process). Allow the mixture to cool, then store the sugar syrup in a sterilized bottle for up to a month in the fridge.