September 2011

3 Uncommon Bar Tools You Should Have

Building an at-home bar is rather different from building a commercial bar. You only really need to stock bottles you and your guests like rather than a wide enough selection for every taste in a target demographic. You don't need a shelf full of glasses and while it's nice to have bar sinks, they're really not necessary. There are a few tools of the bar that tend to get excluded from home setups, though, that can really make the difference between so-so homemade cocktails and top-notch craft drinks. Here are three pieces you should consider for a truly exceptional personal bar.

The Lie of Craft Liquor

I just got back from a craft distillery that makes vodka, gin and whiskey... except they don't actually make vodka. In fact, I've yet to sample a vodka from a craft distillery that is actually vodka. This is because American liquor crafters imagine themselves to be clever when actually they're just afraid of difficult marketing. Let me elaborate:

The Lush Chronicles: Your Regulars

Becoming "one of the regulars" is an organic process. Sure, you could intentionally go to the same bar once a week or more, but it means nothing unless you really want to. When it comes to a lush's true regular watering holes, there's always something that keeps them coming back. More than that, they keep coming back against all reason. Me? I live in a city that's positively bristling with bars of every stripe. A lush could sit on a different stool every night and never run out. And yet I find myself going back to the same places time and again, finding comfort in some little thing that makes me blind to all the other bars around me. Maybe it's the bartenders who have engaging attitudes, maybe it's that I know they've got an uncommon bottle on the shelf I like. Maybe it's just because I have good memories there. Whatever the reason, I find myself back in those same bars time and again. That said, my thirst for variety is often as strong as my thirst for liquor. The balance, then, is having a small deck of regular spots, each one filling a certain role when one or the other doesn't suit my mood.