How to Start your Home Bar | How to Drink
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
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This video is my baseline thoughts on all the things you need, and don't need, to get your home bar started. I'll talk about which bottles to buy, which not to buy- but more importantly about the approach you should sue in collecting bottles. I'll talk about what gear to buy when starting out, which books I like, I'll talk about ice. In short, all the questions I get asked the most, in one video. Sorry to say there's no drink in here.
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Directed by: Greg
Edited by: Rachel Ambelang & Greg
Produced by: Meredith Engstrom & Stefano Pennisi & Greg
Cinematography by: Greg
Created by: Greg
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I needed this video so bad
this video was truly awesome! i can't wait for the next one :)
Just started watching your channel and man you do a great job, most relatable and understandable cocktail/bar videos I have seen
Very helpful. Thanks so much!
Yeeess my good man. been waiting for a vid like this. Lasgooo 💪💪💪
"Start your bar around a single spirit."
*Looks into my liquor shelf, sees three different types of whiskey*
I'm a genius
Those are rookie numbers there son... *looks at the 28 whiskies in my bar case...
3? Armature....
guys guys he said 3 types. clearly hes got 60 scotches, 120 bourbons, and atleast 1 canadian
@@satyammishra4224 who said OP is human. Everyone who puts "guy" in their name is obviously a beaver
Looks at shelf
3 whiskeys, 3 rums, and a bottle of gin
Ah yes
Instructions Unclear. I now own multiple taverns across Kentucky
Task failed successfully
You used the wrong ingredients, but got the right recipe.
Didn't know Justified was coming back!
I’m from Kentucky ✊🏼✊🏼
Not agin Gerald for fucks sake
"Buy the ingredients for the cocktails you plan to make."
Excellent. I have now filled by cabinet with bottles of Vodka and Kahlua, and my fridge is filled with heavy cream.
Jackson Rockwell The Dude abides.
Similar, but I like Negronis and Negroni derivatives, so I went a different route. I have a bottle of vodka, but I can't say that it gets much use. I bought it about six years ago and it's still 3/4 full.
Im thinking just a Fridge full of heavy cream that is not in a container and when you open it it goes everywhere.
@@Dirtyboxer1 Good. Vodka should go unused except in the rare cases where neither gin nor light rum can replace it.
I just use any type of coffee creamer for my white Russians.
My shaker: an old pasta jar.
My bar spoon: a chopstick.
My mixing glass: A keep cup coffee cup.
My jigger: A medicine measuring cup.
I thought I was the only one using a chopstick to stir a drink!
Did you purchase those things from Williams & Sonoma for $350?
@@OlDurtyGurty along with tax, it was about $395
@@OlDurtyGurty /facepalm Clearly the "azn" part of my username was lost on you.
My shaker is a mason jar, my bar spoon a spoon, and my jigger is my kitchen scale. It measures in fluid ounces.
Look at this man, teaching me the right questions instead of giving me the wrong answers.
You sir will be quoted.
@@raynyday1101 seconded
he’s like a rabbi 😂
Pro-tip for making crushed ice drinks: Sonic sells pebble ice in 10 pound bags for like $3. It’s great ice and makes your drinks look restaurant-quality.
melts too fast for cocktails
@@TwoAPTMLMusicProductions Clearly, you don’t know the Educated Barfly ‘whip shake’ technique. Works great with sonic ice for almost any drink.
Thanks commenter McCommentFace
You just changed my entire life.
Sonic has the best ice!
Oh my God, greg is the guy in the math problems! "Greg bought 31 oranges and 25 limes..."
Sheldon Robertson how many of each drink is he making per day?
@@tannerwise8788 two but randomly selected.
Sheldon Robertson mm that’s quite the conundrum.
@@tannerwise8788 You should be able to solve this for a probability distribution over days using dynamic programming. 😁
LMAO he really is!!!
Bottles: 2:06
Syrups: 5:19 (Sugar 2/1 Water)
Bar Tools: 11:40
Ice: 19:40
Books: 23:40
What are the odds he talks about starting your home bar the day I turned 21, cool.
Thx for the Bday wishes everyone
Happy Birthday! 🎂🎉🥂
Happy birthday bro
Ayyy happy birthday bud
Why did you wait untill 21???
@@BShadoWxD Drinking ages differ. 21 for USA I think
Greg: ”A bottle of rum.”
Me: *glancing at the nine bottles of rum in my bar cabinet*
Rumchads rise up!
This happens to me every time I come back from visiting family into Dominican airports sources cheap a good rum
Greg: "Chose a cocktail that you like most and just buy the ingredients you need to make them."
Me, thinking about my Long Island Iced Tea: "...(deeply breath)..."
Moment of silence for everyone who needs everything
I started with LIIT on purpose for this exact reason. I figured if I got all the stuff for that, I could have LIIT any time. But also, I would probably be 3/4 of the way to most other drinks as well and build slowly out from there. It's worked well so far.
Timothy Johnson smart idea
@@timothyjohnson224 That was essentially my thinking as well, lol.
Luckily my favorite cocktail is one part Scotch, in a glass. Unluckily that means I spend the GDP of a small nation on my bar and that's still pretty much the only drink i can make.
I started watching your channel as well as The Educated Barfly last October and decided to build my own home bar. I started with the ingredients for an Old Fashioned and practiced that. Easy enough and a grand classic cocktail. I enjoyed it so much and my guests complimented me on my technique so I decided to slowly add to the bar. Now every two weeks when I get paid I pick another cocktail from one of the two show's episodes, and buy the ingredients for that specific drink. Here I am 10 months later and I have a full bar, to the level that anyone who comes over is relatively impressed. At this point guests will bring bottles over of liquor they think I would like, or bring ingredients to make drinks with what I already have, and leave the bottles or ingredients with me to keep with the bar. My bar has grown to over 35 bottles and maintained, it's a beautiful thing. Thanks!
I agree, find the one you like, and build from there. My beginner bar is made entirely around the 1 drink I made up, the "Florida Georgia Lime."
In a pint glass, over ice:
2 oz vodka
2 parts peach tea
1 part orange juice
Lime garnish
I’d love a guide how to literally build a home bar. The furniture part of it, layout and so forth.
THIS
Step 1- don't be an alcoholic because you'll drink your whole bar
To late. That’s why I watch this show, drinking through others
That's what I'm sayin. If there was a bar in my apartment, the only way I'd ever leave is on a stretcher 😂
@@nmarrs8539 Misery loves company!
You can also cover up your alcoholism by having a "hobby". Pretend like you don't have a problem. You know, stock up on vodka every other day in case there's guests coming.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
me: cuts and freezes all of my citrus no matter what, literally drinking a cocktail made with a frozen lemon right now
Gregg: you cannot freeze your citrus
me: 👁👄👁
Freezing has a drying effect. Half the use of citrus is in the peel, since the oils there are really flavourful. A twist from a previously frozen orange will not be the same as a never frozen one. Juice, however, I have heard stays about the same for whole fruit, though cut fruit will oxidize (it seriously does. Juice an orange, then taste it immediately vs in an hour or two) as well as have the drying effect. But I tend buy the bottled stuff anyway because I just can't be arsed to juice a couple limes on my reamer every time I want a Daiquiri, so don't take my word on that.
@@DrBrangar so you basically refuse to drink tasty daiquiris?
That emoji looks terrifying on pc
Well it’s all relative.
Yes, fresh citrus is a lot nicer than citrus that has been frozen. And it doesn’t handle being frozen amazingly.
But frozen citrus is a million times better than those bottles of ‘lime’ or ‘lemon’ juice that taste like dish-soap and sadness.
If I don’t use up a whole citrus I slice up the rest into wedges and toss them in the freezer.
And those frozen citrus wedges are my backup always ready if I forgot to get any or my fresh have gone bad.
For cooking and for drinks.
Those frozen wedges work as a last minute back up and is better than no citrus at all.
And if I get lots frozen wedges in the freezer I make mixed citrus lemonade.
Not as amazing as the same drink would have been using fresh fruit, but better than just tossing perfectly editable and delicious citrus straight into the compost.
And it does still yield tasty and delicious result, just not as perfect as it could have been.
I freeze extra citrus in ice cubes. This negates some of the drying effect and the oils sort of combine with the ice. I also freeze egg whites when a recipe calls for egg yolks. I put those in a ziplock and remove all air, wrapped in tin foil.
I started with bourbon and Gin. And with that I focused on Old fashions and Gimlets. And from that I started to expand based on those core spirits. Which then lead me down paths of other drinks to which I then bought ingredients for them. Etc. Now I have a bar where I can make anything from an old fashion to a paper plane or a gimlet to Gordon’s cup. And I came to that slowly (slightly accelerated recently with the pandemic) but all of those cocktail ideas etc was done because this channel. Thanks, Greg.
The pandemic helped me out as well. It was my first attempt at stocking my home for more than one style of drink so I chose a few favorites and practiced making them from the moment I woke up until the time I went to bed, then from the afternoon until the evening.
The pandemic is literally why I got into it. I keep thinking maybe I'm drinking to much, but then I remind myself that when I got Demerara sugar, instead of "I'm excited to drink," my thought was "I'm excited to see how this changes the taste of my daiquiris with that Haitian Barbancourt"
I recently discovered this channel; after binging your entire rum playlist, I went out and bought 10 different cocktails' supplies with a single quality low-funk rum, and half dozen fruits and modifiers. So far, it's working out pretty good.
I started with the Daiquiri. If you have white rum, simple syrup and lime, it's so easy to branch out. Not only can you do a ton of variations on the Daiquiri (even the maligned but delicious Strawberry Daiquiri), other classics like the Mojito and the Piña Colada are only a couple of cheap ingredients away.
Great advice. I love the fact that it's good for someone who just wants to make quality drinks.
It was this channel that made me want to try my hand at mixing drinks for my friends. I would pick a few drinks that I would want to make and buy all of the ingredients that I need. Five months, and almost $500 later, there are very few drinks that I don't have the ingredients to make. It has been an exciting journey, and I owe my inspiration to Greg. To say thank you, here is a drink that I made at home. Maybe someone has done it before, but I haven't seen the recipe yet.
The Gingermeister
2oz. Scharf Jagermeister
1oz. Ginger Syrup
1oz. Vodka
1 Can of Ginger Beer (Ginger Ale is fine)
Shake on Ice, strain into collins glass with a long single piece of ice in it, fill the rest of the way with ginger beer (or ginger ale, it's fine).
Just a little recipe from my bar to yours. Thanks for everything.
When you said knives are knives I just thought about the scene from the new incredibles movie where mr incredible is losing it while trying to help dash and he’s like “ MATH IS MATH “
I was literally just sitting here thinking about this subject as we speak. Perfect timing. Lol
Same, oddly enough
my 21st is in 8 days, the best timing
I literally was talking to friends yesterday about making cocktails at home because we can't go out and get them anywhere right now. After work I went out and picked up bourbon, simple syrup, peychaud bitters, a jigger, a bar spoon, and a set of large ice molds. It's a start, but at least I can make a killer old fashioned now.
Well i got a few bottles of whisky and rum. So I got that going for me, which is fine
That's the best feeling
One of the best times I ever had and one of the best things I ever did on the whole bucket list of things was to run "my own" bar. When I was stationed on the Sinai peninsula of Egypt supporting the MFO each contingent was allowed to have it's own bar. Our contingent was considerably smaller than many of the others (12 people total) who had large stateside equivalent type bars (compared to 100 or so people). We had a small "patio bar". In a pinch we could probably squeeze in 20-30 people tops elbow to elbow but generally only had about 10 or so people at a time and we only opened on the weekends and kept a quiet laid back more "exclusive" less frequented speak easy kind of a place. Prices were fixed by the command at $1 a beer or mixed drink and we weren't allowed to operate "for profit". Basically just enough to pay operating costs and to fund morale activities like plaques and cookouts and such. Tradition was that the newest person there who wanted to started off "working" (no pay) at the bar and eventually took over when the current person left (generally a 6 month stint). Because of messed up paperwork with my replacement I ended up staying in country for an additional 6 months. So I ran, tended, bar backed, and managed a 1 man show for closer to 12 months. Because we were a small, quiet, less "party" type bar I was able to carry a small amount of a lot of different beers and liquor as opposed to slinging cases and cases of MGD. It was an amazing time and I loved every minute of it and would do it again in an instant.
Sounds wonderful!
I started my home bar because I started watching this channel dude, thanks for that! First bottles I bought were to make the Mai Tai, best drink ever.
Literally the exact same
Dido .
The advice you give here at the beginning is basically what helped me finally get over my newbie anxiety and just start making cocktails. Way back when, I bought bartender's guides, Dale DeGroff, Old Mr. Boston, whatever, I could find, and then would get totally overwhelmed by the options. Spent years just sipping bourbon and meaning to get back to it. Watched your "5 easy three-ingredient cocktail" video and videos on very, very simple drinks. Old Fashioneds. Whiskey Sours. Manhattans. Just got the stuff I needed to make those, and made them over and over again until I felt like I could do a Whiskey Sour in my sleep. Checked out "Best Prohibition-Era Cocktails" vid next, and noted anything that I had most of the ingredients for.
I got a little pocket notebook and hand-wrote all my favorite recipes from your vids + simple cocktails in "The Craft of the Cocktail" by hand. Now they feel like *my* homemade recipes because they're in my handwriting, haha. I made my own Grenadine per your recipe -- pomegranate molasses and orange flower water will put you back about eight bucks, and having a bottle of that around is a frickin' GAME CHANGER, especially for prohibition cocktails. I keep a wantlist of different boozes at Binny's so each time I have a little cash, I'll add a new fancy bitters or a good bottle of jamaican rum to my shopping cart. My wife got me gum arabic (so I can make gomme syrup) and a dasher bottle for absinthe for our anniversary, so Sazeracs are coming up next!!
After like five false starts, I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this! But I refuse to let go of my cobbler shaker, haha! I've never gotten the seal right on my Boston Shaker and it always leaks while shaking on the second drink, and then seals shut on the third. Maybe I'll get the hang eventually, but right now I'm working with the tool that works for me.
Thanks for the channel! This is the one that finally made me confident to open up the bar and try something beyond sipping bourbon every night.
"101 Quarter Ounce Pours" is a great name for a book.
He could write an entire book on this subject with that title and make bank xD
Really great and helpful episode-I remember catching a Q&A livestream of yours near the beginning of quarantine where you briefly went over the must-haves for a home bar when buying on a budget and taking notes on it like crazy, and this felt like a really refined and easy-to-reference expansion on that spiel.
Personally, I've really enjoyed the more behind-the-scenes and educational episodes and just the longer-form rambles in general, so I'd love to see that followup video about techniques and other practice tips!
Laughing because I’m watching this 2 years later and he says those jiggers with the handle “suck” and he almost exclusively uses those now. Just made me laugh 😆
I don't think he's talking about the kind of jiggers he uses now. The ones he's talking about basically look like little hammers. They're like the Japanese ones but with a rod sticking out the side.
For me, im starting with my first 3 favorite drinks.
My starter bar is going to be:
Whipped Vodka
Tequila Rose
And peach Soju
And the mixers to go with each one:
Orange Juice/SunnyD
Strawberry Rockstar
Peach Calpico
It's funny you out this out today, this week I started my journey into mixology. My wife surprised me with a bar kit that came with a very nice set of weighted Boston style shakers and went out and rounded up some ingredients for the coffee cocktails from your videos. They came out fantastic, and tonight I am going to make the potion #2 from the Zelda video you did a while back. She snuck in a order of butterfly pea blossom powder (she knows I like visual effects) so I think it will be a grand time. I am also looking forward to hosting our friends for Dungeons &Dragons&Drinks.
Thank you for making these videos Greg, they have been very enjoyable, entertaining, and will give me more excuses to spend time with our friends.
"I'm gonna be talking for a really long time"
*excited alcoholic noises*
Lmao
Yep! yeah, saw it, and nearly killed myself choking my vodka down excitedly
I wish this video existed when I was getting started at mixology.
Now I am a professional bartender and man I agree with everything.
Also, if you care about the results, quality and technique of your cocktails, also choose one and dedicate yourself until you find it almost perfect.
For me it was de Mojito, and to this day I have received no complains about it, it's perfectible tho
Greg is a gentleman and a scholar. I just moved down to Florida this week and I was literally making a shopping list to stock a little home tiki bar and looking for something to play in the background when this gem pops up.
Funny enough, I actually went out and bought all that and spent a load of money when I wanted to get into mixing my own drinks. A year later, I still have a bunch of those bottles, though none of them have gone unopened. So if you do the stupid thing like I did and blow a bunch of your money, depending on how often you drink, the upkeep costs aren't that bad. If they are, well, you might need to talk with someone about your drinking habit.
I started with an inherited cocktail book from my grandfather and the idea that I would work my way through it alphabetically. I already had some stuff when I started, but it was still a daunting task. I'm still working my way through it alphabetically with one serving of one drink per day, and my approach is to go to the store on a weekly basis to defray the costs. At the beginning of each week I take stock of the drinks I'm scheduling for the week, and buy the fresh stuff that I need, like cream or citrus. I've been at it awhile now and I'm pretty well stocked, and I only need to buy a bottle of this or that every month. I've been at it for 2 years and am working my way through the S's now. I just bought a $30 bottle of sherry last week for my upcoming sherry cocktails in my book. But when you're just starting out, it can be kind of expensive; but even in the beginning I was only spending $50-75 a week on stuff I needed and most of it has lasted awhile
@@psmuldow basically i do something similar. though i don't go through a book. i make about one new cocktail per week only but i do try to do at least one new one every week and buy whatever i need for that. the only thing i seem to go through is cointreau since i like it a lot and i add it to drinks even when it isnt called for lol
i have about 3 different rums 4 or so whiskeys 2 different gins a small bottle of tequila vodka which i don't use much since i really don't do much with vodka or tequila. no interest in most vodka drinks except for my wife who doesn't much like alcohol. i have tons of liqueurs though. you don't need expensive stuff you need variety and that just takes time.
@@psilocybemusashi Yeah, having variety is key. It does take a lot of time, and can get expensive if you put your collection together piecemeal. When I'm looking for new bottles, I look for stuff that isn't bottom-shelf gut rot but also not top shelf, high dollar items. I go for unique, affordable options that don't break the bank. I recently found a single malt Scotch that is aged in chardonnay casks that has a really interesting flavor profile that was $35 for the bottle. I try to get my liquor for less than $50 a bottle; I feel I can get good quality and solid variety at that price point
THIS!!! This channel is a great example of the superiority of TH-cam over television! Thank you!
youtube is evil but videos are good. i haven't had cable or an antenna for over a decade now... really it has been at least 15 years without a tv. i am not bragging my point really is that youtube is evil. sure they don't have a problem with this channel but you will get deplatformed if you have an opinion that some professor at some university thinks is offensive to someone. that isn't freedom. that is tyranny and youtube is helping to spread tyranny. youtube used to be good. today it is thought police.
The more important question is-
*How do I NOT drink the bar I’m trying to build, before it’s built?*
Unironic advice here, put the alcohol somewhere you can't see them. A storage closet or something similar. Out of sight, out of mind!
Billybob James good idea. I legit thought about stashing it at someone else’s house until I have everything I want.
@@Jack_Arbor I'd loose everything twice as fast at a friend's house than if I just left it at my place.
God, right? I'd probably notice that I have what I need for a cocktail I've never tried and make it, then realize I have the stuff for another too, and another, and another... Then I'm passed out on the floor with even less of a bar than before.
THIS! 🙉
That food analogy for the bar setup is brilliant! I recommend the 5 basic spirits (Rum, Gin, Vodka, Tequila, Whisky) when starting out just based on people's usual taste and the ability to do highballs; starting with you favorite cocktail just make sense. Cheers
captain jack's life: "if you're going to rough it, you can get by with one bottle of rum"
Well that explains why the rums always gone
Yes mate
I like this comment
2 minutes in I heard what is probably the most sound advice I have heard a Drink channel state. Plan your bar for what you are going to make. The food analogy was brilliant. I most certainly would not go buy shrimp, steak, flounder, veal, chops and so on at the same time unless I was prepairing each item for a party. The bar will almost grow itself in a short matter of time if you stick with learning mixing becasue you will buy what you need as you need it. I have already failed at this by thinking that I need to run out and buy multiple bitters, and various things I see everyone using. Now I have a ton of things I really don't use and things do go bad. As far as the spirits that is a little different I think because those will be available to me when I get there and still hold their quality. Sound advice that everyone should consider.
This is SO weird!!! I JUST bought a bar on OfferUp , and I’m picking it up today! Your video couldn’t have come at a better time! And I totally agree with your recommendation to buy your ingredients according to whatever drinks you plan on making at the moment, then add on from there. I started making tiki drinks at the beginning of quarantine, and I’ve amassed quite a collection already! It’s all very exciting. 😄
I love this channel, and I'm kind of going backwards watching your videos. Love this practical advice.
If anyone goes back to see this basic bar video, I'd suggest hitting up your local antique mall to find some really cool vintage barware to fancy up your space. You'd be surprised at what unique items you can find! It will be a conversation starter.
The "Do the vertical integrations first, so it carries over to the horizontal integration" analogy is such a great analogy! Wonderful work
I've made mint syrup and I have found a way to keep it fresh and not skunky. The trick is to use multiple strains of strong mints and mix them together. My favorite is 2/3rd mountain mint (which is not usually consumed but it's great) and 1/3rd spearmint. Pick the mint off the live plant a minute or two before tossing into the boiling syrup, and clap it once or twice.
Best, “what you need to start a bar” video on TH-cam. Thanks!
One of your best video's to date. Breaking down not just your thought process, but taking a simple approach to expanding a persons drinking experiences, o yea, and helping people enjoy the experience.
this was great! i agree with you about modifiers being way undervalued by ppl usually starting their bar. here's what i always recommend to friends starting a bar. there's a ton of classic drinks you can't make w this but i instead go ingredients that will combine easily a lot of different ways
rye
gin
tequila
dark rum
cynar
campari
sweet vermouth
blanc vermouth
lemons
limes
sugar
soda water
I've literally been thinking about this all quarantine. Your timing is perfect my man.
A knife with a fork at the tip is probably a serving knife or a cheese knife (cheese knives have a curved fork).
You can use distilled water for ice. It always comes out clear. It’s $1 a gallon. I really enjoyed the show.
I’d like to see pictures of your clear ice. Do you mean clear like a window?
Yes clear like glass. Maybe can save some money. I’ll upload the results and how I do it.
How do I email you so I can send this clear ice video using distilled water? I can’t figure out how to do it here. Thanks.
Ok I sent them by email via your Twitter email.
I just started a home bar with lots of spirits, and I found that having the plastic pours for the bottles helps making less of a mess
I bought everything to make a long island over the course of a month. That set me up with a good base to start with. I just kept buying a bottle or 2 every month. Works because I'm a beer drinker at heart.
A book that riffs on getting one bottle and then making several drinks from it is The One-Bottle Cocktail, by Maggie Hoffman (Ten Speed Press, 2018). Lots of good ideas in it. The text is enjoyable to read. Everything you want!
The first part of the video where you’re recommending how to start your home bar is literally exactly what I did when I started mixing. Went to the store, found a cool looking rum took it home and tasted it. Then found a liqueur that complimented it, finally I went to the grocery store to add my last ingredient and bam I invented a pretty gosh darn good drink and loved it, from there I just kept buying bottles of stuff to compliment what I already had and make new drinks until before I knew it, I had a full stocked bar with anything I’d need to make most drinks
ant: *discovers Greg's 500-pound stash of sugar
"the...the promised land"
the best video on home bar I have seen, much better for regular people like just naming bunch of bottles and including so much value and info about this space
I always tell people that the bottles really depend on your personal palate. If you have one of each from the top 5 basic spirits, you're good to go. The rest comes down to you equipment and ingredients (fruit, mixers, etc)
Greg becoming self aware of his addiction to spilling.
after watching this video, Greg should have spilled something to keep his record intact...
what?!?
I'll have you know 'obviously more than a barspoon' is a legit measure
Just bought my first home ...moved in on Sunday of this week and going to start my bar very soon.... thank you love the channel !!! From a canadian who drinks old vienna!!
Great episode. I love how Greg really demystifies bartending and makes it seem much more approachable and easier to understand if you're just getting into it.
Man, love the honesty on the ice! No matter what you do, directional freezing is the way! Boiling, double boiling, etc doesn't matter!
Me trying to start a home bar: "Why is the rum gone?"
This is fantastic advice. I started making cocktails through my love of tiki drinks and started this same way (only I bought two kinds of rum). Now I have a well stocked, varied bar and can make hundreds of drinks - tiki and non-tiki alike. Thank you for a great video!
I've got a bottle of tequila, rum, bourbon and gin. Citrus and simple syrup make SO MANY COCKTAILS out of those.
I built up what I have so far based on Greg's vids, FWIW.
add some bitters and you pretty much have everything you'll ever need
@@benburch shoot, I forgot I have peychauds and ango
My favorite thing for my home bar is the app "my bar"
It let's you list out your ingredients that you have in stock, and then it tells you every cocktail in its database that you can make using your list of ingredients, including if you can make a cocktail by substituting one of your ingredients for something you dont have, and it gives you steo by step instructions to make it. Any cocktails not in the database, you can add. Like literally you add rhe recipe, with a picture of the drink in your own hand or on your own table, and boom, everyone now can see that drink recipe and it will tell you if you have everything to make your new recipe. Also, itll tell you what ingredients you are missing to make other cocktails, so like looking at my list, if I buy some cranberry juice, suddenly there are 9 new cocktails I can make because I already own everything else to make them except the cranberry juice. And when you run out of an ingredient, say you use the last of your rye whiskey, you can remove the rye from your "in stock" list and over to your "shopping" list, so when you stop by the liquor store next you literally have a list of things you are out of that you regularly use.
Hey Greg, have you ever heard of a manga and anime called "Bartender"? If so could you attempt to create one of its drinks like "Old Pal" or "Alexander"?
I would love to see that.
Those are both classic drinks as well. The Alexander was popular throughout the 80's and 90's and could be seen along side the sweet and fruity vodka martini craze, if I recall correctly. The Old Pal, also a old, old classic from the 1920-1930's and has only somewhat been in the whiskey/bourbon revival of the past decade (which we've seen similar drinks come up like the Old Fashioned and the Negroni)
The Manga was pretty decent in it's portrayal of older drinks and if you liked it, you may like Sleepy Barmaid (Madoromi Barmaid) which is fairly new and started 3 years ago (2017).
after finding your channel at the beginning of the year and subsequently binge watching as much as i could i have grown more and more interested in mixology. this video, plus the video about the best stuff in your bar 2020, has finally pushed me over the edge of adopting this hobby, having wished bartending gear for my eighteenth birthday coming up. thank you for introducing me to a hobby im sure me (and my friends) will enjoy immensly
I would love to see some "experiment" videos, in the vein of GugaFoods / SousVideEverything. Make a classic cocktail several times over, varying only one thing. Maybe an old fashioned with several different base spirits, or different brands of whiskey, or shaken vs stirred, or gomme syrup vs simple vs simple+egg white. Then just try all the variations and compare and pick your favorite. For bonus points, bring the production crew in to sample them and give their ratings as well.
Anyway, I love the channel. Carry on.
I listened to you, started with rye, and ended up with like 12 modifiers, and having a blast!
Finally bought a bottle of gin, and lo and behold, I could already make 8 different drinks!
You’re a prince, thank you so much!
(also dressed out the bar gear with Barfly, and goodwilled some Riedel cocktail glasses!)
The overwhelming impression I got while reading Liquid Intelligence was 'Dave Arnold is a madman, and I trust him with my life.'
The episode I've been looking for. Googling how to start your home bar is a nightmare of answers. Thank you so much! Favorite TH-cam channel ever.
Greg’s grenadine recipe is the best I’ve made so far.
Man I gotta say ever since this whole thing with the global pandemic, I started watching your video and making cocktails at home has made things more enjoyable. I've basically made myself my own lil bar at home and can't wait for this pandemic to get over and show off some of the drinks recipes you've shared. My personal favorite recipe you've made is the Tavern Punch from your D&D video. Thank you for your videos they've helped me find something I enjoy doing other than getting Drunk with friends.
When I was a kid (I'm 34, so late 80's- early 90's) my parents used to go to Tom and Jerry parties. I'm curious if you've ever heard of this cocktail and if you have a recipe for a Tom and Jerry.
"Tom and Jerry parties" sounds like a weird sex thing.
Bar talk and cocktails channel made cocktail called Tom and Jerry. Maybe that what you looking for, or it is another cocktail called Tom and Jerry :D
Fun fact: it was Walt Disney's favorite drink.
You must be from Midwest.
@@AdamS-nv5oo Way to not make broad generalizations Sir.
The fork is to spear like an olive from in a jar generally those are cheese knives it's to spare the piece of cheese but I would guess they use it in a bar kit to Spear the olives out of the jar
This concept is basically how my home bar is entirely gin with an occasional bottle of scotch mixed in
Nonalcoholic ingredients. He mentions it a few minutes in.
tequila and rum for me lol
I was getting bored of whiskey on the rocks and wanted to upgrade my drinking game. I've discovered a whole new way to enjoy my favorite liquor doing this. Grabbed gin on a whim and made my first martini. I never thought I would love gin.... this hobby is dangerous, and I love it. Now, if I go to a classy bar, I can order a drink like I know what I'm doing. Making drinks for friends and family is a lot of fun too.
Great video! In building my bar, I am always trying to understand better what substitutions work and don't work when making a drink. The spectrum of vermouth types, amari, sherry are fun to explore, but I'm always looking for guidance. Techniques and tricks would be fun too! Thanks.
I like how you’re honest about the stuff you really don’t need
"there's no cocktail in this episode" Alright I'm out. "I'm gonna talk for a really long time." Ok I'm back in.
I just started my own home bar after this video. I got French Vermouth, The Botanist Gin, and grapefruit bitters, I also got some Citrus Flower apertif from Haus and Topo Chico mineral water. I think I am set for the rest of the year. All I need now is a shaker, a jigger, and a strainer, oh and a bar spoon so I can crack ice like a boss.
I stock ginger beer, limes and every spirit that mixes well with those 2
So, every spirit there is?
This metodi rocks.
your evil for that read more
Where's the mules at dude!!!!
Foghorn
Well, that makes you a chicken, Buck Buck
My first cocktail was a Sazerac that my aunt made me at her home bar. I was hooked on the idea of mixology at once. When I was about to leave for the night she said "I have a book that was gifted to me that I never really got into, why don't you take it home." I said yes, and she handed me Smuggler's Cove. Straight to the deep end! I'd love to hear Greg's bottle guide for getting started with some of the essential tiki drinks.
"That little fork on the end, dunno what you're supposed to do with that". That's because that's a cheese knife. Specifically I think it's called a soft cheese knife or a fork-tipped spear/pronged knife. The pronged tip is to help in serving harder cheeses.
Yup, start with what you will drink. I have bought my first bottle for my home bar - cachaca!!
Don't really mess around with mixing much at all, so don't know how this might throw things off taste wise, but:
For your simple syrup crystallization issue, have you considered adding a minute amount of corn syrup to the mix when initially dissolving the sugar granules? The different molecular structure should keep it from ever freezing up on you and prevent even the slightest bit of crystal formation.
Again, as someone without much if any experience with various mixed drinks, and especially without much of any palette for the minor nuances there-in, I'm curious if that would do anything taste wise. Perhaps make it even slightly more sweet than your already admitted overly sweet solution.
What a refreshing take on a question! I used to sell paintball gear. People would always ask what marker should I buy? I would ask them, what do you plan to do in paintball? Get what you like first. Work from there.
Fun drinking game: drink every time Greg looks down.
I'm dying to know whats on the floor!
I watch videos on 1.5 speed when I'm trying to learn something from them. I would die if I did this 😂😂
I haven't used it a lot yet but I found an app called 'mixel' that can show you what drinks you can make from the ingredients you have in your house. It also shows what ingredients you don't have you could substitute with ones you do have, which drinks require the least number of additional ingredients and which ingredients you could buy to unlock the greatest amount of new recipes. You do have to pay to see more than just the basic recipes though, but we're beginners so the basics are fine.
“Fresh eggs are the same thing, you’re gonna want to buy a chicken”
Good advice. I've had good luck with a 2:1 (volume) rich simple syrup. To turn it into a simple syrup approximate 4 tsp rich ≈ 1 fl. oz. simple. A nice thing is you can make a great extra sour daiquiri by diluting the rich syrup with extra lime juice instead of water. More lime without altering the rum:sugar:water ratio constant.
I bought a bottle of everclear and a package of hypodermic needle.
The good old "Trump Sanitizer"
good way to approach! i agree, start with what you drink, expand on what you drink. then perhaps lend out a bit to what friends like and drink. it will take years and years, but eventually will grow into a great well rounded bar
Hey Greg! Thank you for the awesome starting video! One scientifically pedantic, but important question, when you are prepping your 2:1 simple syrup is that 2 parts sugar plus 1 part water by mass or by volume? Thank you!
Hi you posted this forever ago but I've only ever seen it made by volume
I found you through this video and I love it! I’m starting a home bar and can’t wait to get into it
I agree that both the Imbibe and Liquid Intelligence books are fantastic, I wouldn't necessarily suggest them to beginners. They're what you move onto once you figure things out and want to do a deep dive. For beginners, I really like The Bar Book, by Jeffrey Morgenthaler. While it has some drink recipes in it, its focus is on technique. It basically started out as a training guide for new bartenders. From mixing and shaking techniques, to all the ways you can make syrups and infusions, it'll really help you step up your game. Liquid Intelligence gets into more of the theory, and covers crazy techniques like using centrifuges and other lab equipment to make ultra pure syrups and stuff like that. I love that crap, but I got more practical knowledge from The Bar Book.
For drink recipes, I usually use a series of apps from MixologyTech, though they're only available on the iPhone/iPad. The Easy Craft Cocktails app is a good into app with most of the most popular craft cocktails. PDT Cocktails has all the recipes from Jim Meehan's book and really focuses on earlier pre and prohibition cocktails. Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app is the definitive guide to tiki cocktails. There's a couple apps in this series that cover modern classics, new cocktails, punches, etc. The great thing about all these apps is that you can enter your bar inventory into them, and the app can tell you what you can make, and also suggest the additional ingredients that'll give you the most bang for your buck for increasing the number of drinks you can make. You only need to update the ingredients in one of the apps, and it'll sync it with the other apps. These are bar far the best drinks apps I found, and are worth the $10 a pop price. Don't waste your time with the 99 cent apps with 5000 drink recipes. They're most likely crappy apps, and the recipes are often suspect.
Dude fuck developers who only support one platform. Can support that shit. Only excuse is when you're a fledgling developer still working on your first apps.
When I acquired a BUNCH of lemons that were nearing their end, I juiced em all and froze the juice in an ice cube tray. Once frozen, transfer to a ziploc in the freezer. I always prefer fresh over frozen, but using frozen lemon juice in a shaken drinks works better than no lemon juice atoll.
5:58 Heheh... you said "doo doo".
Yeah - I had to say it. It's Friday.
Hi Greg, I am just commenting to tell you I really enjoyed your video on how to start a home bar. I have been home bartending for almost ten years now and have to say it is one of my passions. 😊
I have been asked many times on how to start a home bar. The first thing I tell them is just to buy the ingredients for what ever they want to make and go from there. Do not go out and buy everything at once. Your video is all that and so much more. I wish I had seen your video on this subject when I was first starting. I have never really commented on a youtube video before but had to give you kudo’s. 🙂
You are only the second bar/cocktail youtube channel that I have ever subscribed to and I have seen hundreds! (I may be exaggerating a bit) I may be sharing your channel info a bit if that’s ok woth you. 😄
When I did research into making flavor-infused alcohols (As a welcome home gift for my brother who was returning from a tour of duty in a dry country), I found rinsing the jars with hydrogen peroxide first, and then give it a rinse with boiling water should kill anything in the jar. You will want to use rubber gloves when handling the jars and the hydrogen peroxide, as it will also attack the cells in your skin. It's just that human skin cells are a lot tougher than the bacteria you're trying to kill. (If you see those alleged health experts touting the benefits of hydrogen peroxide as a skin care regiment, please don't do this. Those bleached patches of skin is where the hydrogen peroxide is slowly killing off the skin cells.)
Likewise, if you're using wide mouth jars instead of bottles, it's a lot easier to fill a large pot of water, put the jars in (making sure to get out the trapped air) and let them boil for a little bit.
I am the beginner of beginners and I reallyyyyy like this guy. 🙌🏼 thank you for your advice!!