A table of cocktail glassware, bar tools and colorful silicone ice trays for building a home bar

The Home Bar: The Complete Guide

Published 14 Apr 20266 min read

Filed under Barware & Cocktail Tools Angostura Cocktail Kingdom Spiegelau

A home bar starts with four tools, three glass shapes and one aromatic bitters, and every bottle added after that should have a job. The barware below comes from Cocktail Kingdom (shop Cocktail Kingdom) and the glassware from Spiegelau (shop Spiegelau), which crafts its glasses in Germany.

The Tools

The four tools are a jigger to measure, a mixing glass or shaker to build the drink, a bar spoon to stir it and a strainer. Cocktail Kingdom makes all four: the Leopold jigger (shop Leopold Jigger), the Mixtin stirring tin (shop Mixtin Stirring Tin), the Leopold Barspoon (shop Leopold Barspoon) and the Premium Julep Strainer (shop Premium Julep Strainer).

Greg Boehm founded Cocktail Kingdom during the early-2000s cocktail renaissance and, starting in 2008, built it into a maker of professional barware. The Leopold jigger is named after Boehm's great-grandfather, who taught him to make a Manhattan at age six. Another house design, the beveled Yarai cut, appears on Japanese crystal mixing glasses and on rocks glasses such as the Yarai Stackable Rocks Glasses (shop Yarai Stackable Rocks Glasses).

Spiegelau has more than five centuries of experience making glassware. Its Perfect Serve collection includes a coupette for drinks served up without ice (shop Perfect Coupette), single and double old fashioned glasses for drinks over ice (shop Perfect Double Old Fashioned), and a longdrink glass for highballs (shop Perfect Longdrink).

The Bitters

Bitters are the bar's spice rack, and a few dashes do for a cocktail what salt does for food. One aromatic comes first. The rest are added by job.

Aromatic: Angostura aromatic bitters (shop Angostura Aromatic Bitters). Dr. Johann Siegert invented them in 1824.

For range: Fee Brothers has been a family company in Rochester, New York, since 1864. Its flavors run from aromatic to fruit, nut and spice, among them Old Fashion Aromatic (shop Fee Brothers Old Fashion), Peach (shop Fee Brothers Peach), Black Walnut (shop Fee Brothers Black Walnut) and Aztec Chocolate (shop Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate).

Regional craft: Dashfire Bitters, started in 2013 by Lee Egbert and run by Lee and Dawn Egbert, is known for its Vintage Orange, Minnesota's first barrel-aged bitters, made from orange rind, bourbon and spices aged in a Minnesota-made white oak barrel. The range also includes an Old Fashioned Aromatic (shop Dashfire Old Fashioned Aromatic). Scrappy's Bitters was founded by the Seattle bartender Miles Thomas and is still made by hand in Seattle, and the line includes a Lavender (shop Scrappy's Lavender). King Floyd's, in Novato, California, makes Green Chili bitters from roasted Hatch, poblano and jalapeño chiles (shop King Floyd's Green Chili) and Scorched Pear & Ginger from blowtorched Bartlett pears and ginger root (shop King Floyd's Scorched Pear & Ginger).

Distinct flavors: Bittermens, launched by Avery and Janet Glasser in 2007, makes Hopped Grapefruit (shop Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit), Xocolatl Mole (shop Bittermens Xocolatl Mole) and Elemakule Tiki (shop Bittermens Elemakule Tiki) bitters.

For cocktail historians: Bob's Abbott's Bitters (shop Bob's Abbott's Bitters) is Bob's Bitters' recreation of Abbott's, a Baltimore bitters that went out of production in the 1950s with no recorded formula. Robert Petrie and the bartender Jake Burger rebuilt it from analysis of a surviving original bottle and years of comparative tastings. Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Boker's Bitters (shop Boker's Bitters) is an interpretation of Boker's, a nineteenth-century New York bitters.

The Syrups

Where bitters season a drink, a syrup sweetens it and can carry its main flavor.

Bacanha makes cocktail syrups in its workshop near Paris, using organic ingredients wherever it can. Its flavors include pistachio (shop Bacanha Pistachio), bergamot (shop Bacanha Bergamot), violet (shop Bacanha Violet) and peach (shop Bacanha Peach).

Raft makes its syrups in small batches in Portland, Oregon. Its Grapefruit Smoked Salt Chile (shop Raft Grapefruit Smoked Salt Chile) is built on grapefruit juice, agave, guajillo and habanero chiles and alderwood-smoked salt, for a smoky Paloma. The maker suggests one tablespoon per 4 to 5 ounce cocktail or 6 to 8 ounces of soda water.

Sonoma Syrup Co., founded in Sonoma wine country, makes simple syrups, among them Classic (shop Sonoma Syrup Classic) and Mint (shop Sonoma Syrup Mint).

The Non-Alcoholic Options

St. Agrestis makes the Phony Negroni, a ready-to-serve non-alcoholic aperitif built on juniper, citrus peel and gentian root, poured into a rocks glass over ice with an orange twist. The company also makes a Phony Mezcal Negroni (shop Phony Mezcal Negroni) and a Phony Espresso Negroni (shop Phony Espresso Negroni).

Curious Elixirs makes numbered booze-free cocktails. Curious Elixir No. 2 (shop Curious Elixir No. 2) is the maker's take on a spicy pineapple-ginger margarita.

Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company traces back to its co-founder, the sommelier Jacob Kocemba, who could not find a wine to match a dessert at the Michelin-starred Copenhagen restaurant where he worked and started blending teas to fill the gap. The teas are made to pair with food, among them BLÅ, with jasmine and white tea (shop Copenhagen Sparkling Tea BLÅ).

Visit Us

Browse the Cocktail Bitters (shop Cocktail Bitters), Drink Syrups (shop Drink Syrups) and Barware (shop Barware) collections online. Products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com. The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and visitors can ask staff questions in the shop.

For mezcal served the Oaxacan way, Rancho Gordo Sal de Gusano is the classic accompaniment to mezcal, made with ground worms and served with lime.

For stirred drinks over a large cube, Cocktail Kingdom Yarai Rocks Glasses hold 7.5 ounces and fit a 2-inch ice ball.

See also: Christmas gifts for cocktail lovers, for a home bartender who already has the bottles.