Choose versatility
Start with bottles used across several families: gin, white rum, bourbon or rye, blanco tequila, dry and sweet vermouth, orange liqueur, a bitter aperitif and aromatic bitters.
Then buy for your taste
If you mainly enjoy tropical drinks, add dark rum and almond syrup. For aperitif moments, an amaro, sparkling wine and soda make more sense.
- Refrigerate opened vermouth.
- Buy small bottles for occasional ingredients.
- Date homemade syrups.
- Add bottles only when a favourite recipe needs them.
Fresh ingredients are half your bar
Citrus, ice, sparkling water and simple syrup complete the setup. Add a shaker, bar spoon, jigger and fine strainer and you can make a surprising range of drinks.