Setting up a mini-bar at home is Easy!

Nice article in Business World

Here are some tips on how to go about creating a basic but complete mini bar at home.

LIQUOR: Obviously, the basic essential. though the variety of spirits will depend on how frequently you entertain your guests and also on your finances, a good bar at home will need four basic liquors: whisky, vodka, gin and rum. As Indians prefer whisky to any other liquor, stocking 2-3 bottles is a good idea. A good single malt such as The Glenlivet and some blended scotch will add value to your mini bar. For scotch, Chivas Regal or Black Label is best, though 100 pipers or Ballantine’s are equally good. A bottle of bourbon whisky, such as the Famous Grouse will add variety as will some good Irish whisky.
Women prefer vodka to any other liquor (majorly because it doesn’t smell), so a bottle of absolut vodka would be best, or else even smirnoff can keep your friends happy. gin and tonic water is a hot selling drink in most bars, so is rum with coke or soda. so, a bottle of old monk (dark rum) and bacardi (white rum) will just complete your bar cabinet’s liquor stock. also, given the popularity of tequila shots these days, a bottle of imported tequila would come handy any day. it can also help you mix some great margaritas.

GLASSWARE: It’s often said that good food looks tempting only if it’s served well. Same goes for drinks too. Glasses don’t make any difference to the taste of a drink, but they do add panache to one. People often stock their kitchen cupboards with a variety of them, but go wrong with the selection. The basic glass that is a must for any bar is the tall glass or the Collin’s glass. It is used for serving juices, mocktails, cocktails and other long drinks. The old-fashioned glass comes next, which is best for serving whisky on-the-rocks. Goblets and wine glasses come handy in serving cocktails and also give a lot of scope for garnishing. A martini glass is strictly for a drink with no ice. Lastly, beer and shot glasses can be kept in stock too. Glasses should essentially be colourless; it is the colour of the drink that adds value to it and not vice versa.

CORKSCREW: A small but an absolute essential. again, you are spoilt for choice for a tool to open champagne and wine bottles. From the old-fashioned wooden one to the sommelier’s knife to the twin-pronged cork puller, all serve the purpose. The best, however, is the one with wings that has two arms that rise when inserted into a cork. You then press down on the wings and the cork pops out. And the more expensive ones add a touch of class to your mini bar.

MEASURER: though most of us tend to measure pegs by guess, using a measurer is recommended. Particularly, if you are following a cocktail or mocktail recipe. There is a variety of measurers available in the market, but the double-sided metal one that measures two pegs (30 ml on one side and 60 ml on the other) is most useful. For cocktails, a glass or plastic one with markings on one side is best — it is bigger and can be used to measure other liquids too.

ICE BUCKET: and ice rushing to the refrigerator every other minute to take ice might be both inconvenient to you and your guest. A good ice-bucket with tongs can help you save time and effort, more so if you have a large number of people to attend to. Ice buckets these days come in great variety, in wood, silver, plastic and glass. For a personal touch you can opt for monogrammed ones too. Our advice is it should serve the purpose, so no point getting too flashy. Also, you must ensure a good supply. Running out of ice can prove to be quite a dampener for your party.


JUICES, MIXERS, SAUCES, ETC. Yes, these are important too. how else do you think you can ever make cocktails and other mixed drinks? Lemon and orange juices are most commonly used, so they should always feature in your bar. Freshly-squeezed ones are incomparable, but given the time crunch we all live in, bottled ones can work too. For classic drinks, such as the Bloody Mary, some tomato juice in stock would always help. Men (particularly Indian) would any day prefer a hard drink to a cocktail so, a bottle each of club soda and coke should be kept for their whisky and rum intake, respectively. Tonic water goes great with vodka and gin, which makes it a must have too. If you love mixing drinks for your guests, there’s more that your bar should have. An evening of cocktails will require sugar syrup and some mixers such as ginger ale and grenadine. Lemon-flavoured aerated drinks such as 7up or sprite are favoured with white rum. So, more the merrier!