> I was wondering what everyones thoughts were on the "must haves" at
> home. I am currently building a bar at home and I want the right
> stuff.
as in building a physical bar, or purchasing booze? buildign a physical bar
is a whole nother fiasco, but holler and i'll summarize.
keep in mind the sorts of drinks you and your friends like. if none of you
likes scotch, you probably don't need it. if you adore layered shots, you'll
want to add a lot of cordials.....
personally i don't stock anything i won't drink myself, and try to have things
to make most commonish drinks. unless you plan on serving martini's (note
real martini's have gin, and cocktails served in martini glasses are still
cocktails) you can probably get away with one gin and no vermouth. more
unusual things like the absente, absinthe, keke, black duck, and other
specialty things wander in and out of the line up. i tossed an * on the "must
haves" in my opinion, and you only need one of each. but this is a starter
list.
at the moment i have:
*mixing vodka
neat vodka
*scotch (several)
*gin(several)
*whiskey (several)
*vermouth (sweet, dry, and bianco)
*light rum
dark rum
*white rum
absente
*coffee liquor
*irish cream
flavoured vodka (several complimentary)
chambourd
brandy
*roses lime
*roses grenadine
*small cans of juice (orange, pineapple, cranberry and grapefruit)
*cans of V8 (or tomato juice)
*a variety of bottled beer
*small bottles of tonic and soda
*bitters (orange and angostura)
hot sauces
*worchestershire sauce
"wooster" sauce -a japanese version of worchestershire
horseradish
*celery salt
coarse salt
coarse sugar
*bakers sugar (it's finer than regualr sugar so it disolves faster)
table sugar
*various sodas
conspicuous in absence are:
*tequila
gran marnier
burbon
creme de menthe
*curacao (blue or other colors)
spiced rum