While buying all of this at once would be cost prohibitive, most people have the majority of these items already.
So use this as a guide to fill in the blanks and make some of the best cocktails short of spending $15 a drink in Uptown.
Steer clear of bar kits and instead buy these items individually. You’ll get much higher quality equipment, which will make them much more enjoyable to use.
- Mixing Glass
- Hawthorne Strainer
- Bar Spoon
- Boston Shaker
- Jigger
- Ice Molds (1.5” cube and 3” cube is a good place to start)
Get the 750ml size of everything until you understand what you run out of the fastest. Don’t make the mistake I did and buy the 1.75L of things, and then never use them.
- London Dry Gin (mid range is fine)
- Rye Whiskey (get the good stuff, Bullet is a safe bet)
- Sweet Red Vermouth (Dolin is good, small bottle, refrigerate after opening)
- Vodka (Relatively cheap stuff is fine)
- Campari
- Angostura Bitters
These are ingredients and garnishes you should try to keep on hand at all times. They go into so many different drinks that you’re pretty likely to use them before they go bad.
Don’t skip the garnish. One of the best parts of a Negroni or an Old Fashioned is the aroma. That comes exclusively from the oils excreted from the rind of an orange twisted on top of the glass before serving.
- Simple Syrup (make it yourself, sugar and water 1:1)
- Oranges (just for the rinds)
- Small Limes (tons of drinks require them)
- Lemons (for the rinds and juice)
- Tonic Water (FeverTree small bottle 4 pack)
- Soda Water (FeverTree small bottle 4 pack)
- Ginger Beer (FeverTree small bottle 4 pack)
I’m a big fan of the more bitter drinks, but I also like the light and citrus forward drinks. So here is a list of some of my favorites that you can mix with what you have from above.
- Negroni
- Old Fashioned
- Boulevardier
- Gin and Tonic
- Gin and Soda
- Moscow Mule
- Gimlet
- Kentucky Mule
- Tom Collins
- Americano
- Manhattan
- Whiskey Sour
Sometimes you want to plan out a night of cocktails. Stop by the store and grab some special ingredients. Fresh mint features in a lot of these drinks, but it goes bad really quickly.
- Bee’s Knees (Honey)
- Mojito (Fresh Mint)
- Mint Julep (Fresh Mint)
- Whiskey Smash (Fresh Mint)
You can find recipes all over the internet, but I really found these YouTube channels to be fun to watch and super informative. Every time I put them on, I find myself watching for hours.