Maybe you're a host with dreams of offering guests a Sunday bloody mary, or a bon vivant looking to save some cash, or the self-selected mixologist of your friend group. If you want a solid home bar set up, there are certain items that are nearly necessary—or at least nice to have.
There's a reason it was at your parents' adults-only Christmas parties and school dances in the 1980s. The punch bowl reigns supreme. Make refreshing batch cocktails that'll loosen up a crowd with minimal effort. A punch bowl or large beverage dispenser will make sure you get to hang out at the party, not just shake cocktails.
With Uncommon Green's custom glassware, your bar can be stocked with iconography that harkens back to your current city, childhood hometown, or beloved topography. It's available on pint glasses, stemmed wine glasses, and more. This way for all options.
The Perfect Drink PRO takes all of the guesswork out of making cocktails at home. It scale connects to your phone to tell you not just what ingredients to place into your drink, but also when you've added enough of a substance. There are more than 400 recipes in the app, and the scale comes with a 750ml stainless steel cocktail shaker.
Breville's "Smoking Gun" is the best indoor/outdoor smoker. It infuses your food or drink with cold smoke flavor from woods, teas, or herbs. The handheld device has two smoking speeds, a removable burn chamber on top, and a 17.5-inch silicone air hose so you can snake it into any covered container.
When the wine flows, you may not have the time or coordination to open every bottle with a handheld corkscrew. That's why it's good to have an electric wine bottle opener on hand. This one is stainless steel and can open 50 bottles on a single charge. Even better: it's super simple to operate. On the front of the device, find a single button that you can push up or down. Push it down to send the screw into the cork and removes the stopper from the bottle. Push the button again to eject the cork from the device.
People should have a good time while they're at your house, but they should also respect your credenza. Grab a set or two of stackable coasters. I recently bought these 4-inch Kamenstein wood and cork coasters. They are eco-friendly, and the cork protects my tables from both heat and moisture. Plus there are felt feet on the bottom to prevent slipping. This set comes with four.
If you are a design-conscious individual that has a killer bar area and loves whiskey, this Drave crystal carafe and pipette—the set looks like it came straight out of a Stanley Kubrick film—is pretty dang nice. The square pipette is coated with a textured, matte aluminum and delivers one milliliter of water at a time. (We know that whiskey tastes better when you add water to it, right? Right.) The futuristic form of the crystal carafe changes from gloss to matte and from transparent to opaque. Sure an expensive and beautiful pipette isn't necessary but then again neither is a home bar.
If you don't have the cash to justify a crystal carafe, you could always up your cocktail suaveness with some stainless steel cocktail picks for martini olives or elaborate bloody mary garnishes. These I-MART stainless steel cocktail picks are 4.25-inches long and come in a set of 15*.
For the home mixologist that wants to take something special on the road, there's Areaware's body flask. It holds five ounces and comes in three colors: white, chrome, and black. The hard-bodied containers are 6.5-inches tall, 3.4-inches wide, and 0.8-inches deep. It's a minimal, classic design, and looks more expensive than it is.
If you want to keep the good stuff from spilling everywhere (or stinking up your jacket pocket), grab a flask funnel. You don't need anything fancy here. This stainless steel funnel is 2-inches tall and has a 1.5-inch mouth.
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