Home bar must-haves
“What's in your home bar?”
29 answers from 25 people · Updated Oct 12, 2026
Upgrade your sweet vermouth in your cocktails: more interesting flavors - strong by vanilla notes Excellent in a Negroni, Manhattan, Boulevardier, or Americano. Served chilled on its own or over ice is a nice aperitif or digestif.
AMARO MONTENEGRO LIQUEUR 750ML
My dinner drink of choice with ice and two orange slices. It’s terrific.
Tastes like over-ripe bananas and coffee beans!https://shop.klwines.com/products/details/1052125
Extra fancy pewter cocktail jigger
Perfect weight, perfect patina. You can even have it hand-engraved if you're willing to wait a little longer. Makes for an unexpected special gift.
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Stainless Steel Lemon Squeezer
a metal lemon squeezer was an epiphany that came to me much too late. riddled with yellow paint chips in my morning glass of lemon water. this squeezer sans paint encourages a life long relationship between the two of us (the squeezer and i)
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Luigi Bormioli Backdoor '20S Nick & Nora Cocktail Glasses (Set of 4)
Girls just wanna have fun cocktail glasses
my cocktail bible. I wouldn’t have a bar without it. You can come read my copy over a cocktail at Sugar Water.
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Hair of the Dog Aromatic Bitters – Alcohol Free
my very favorite bitters. excellent in plain old seltzer and in more complex cocktails.
4
Idk why muddlers have to be the ugliest thing ever but it's for sure a fact. The one I love best isn't made anymore but this one looks promising and it comes with an ice smashing bag, if ur into that sort of thing.
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Great gift idea. A stamp and ice cube molds. My brother loves his birthday present.
Art Deco Novelty Cocktail Sticks ‘Cocktails’ by Sudre, French, 1930’s
I have become absolutely enamored with these cocktail sticks. The cutest designs and ones I can’t wait to bring into my home as I grow more into my roles as the hostess with the mostest.
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Drink sparkling wine? This stopper will help keep the fizziness between pours and will allow you to keep an open bottle in the fridge for several days.
Duralex Le Picardie Clear Glass Tumblers (Set of 6)
Perfect little vermouth and house wine glasses.
Westmark Hermetus Cap Opener And Sealer
Very clever German bottle opener that can reseal the cap if you didn't finish your drink in one sitting!
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Store your bar cart in unlabled bottles
Keep it clean at home. With very few exceptions, you don’t need the original bottle with the company’s ugly logo. Bonus: your kids will think you’re mixing potions. I use a label maker to print a small label for the bottom of each bottle to know what’s inside. You can’t even see it. This was inspired by the “Manhattan Cart” at Eleven Madison Park. They roll it out and make a cocktail table-side using all unlabeled bottles. You can painstakingly remove the labels or purchase some brand new clear bottles. They are cheap ($4ish each) but shipping adds up.
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5 recs
Espolón reposado is my favorite tequila for making a margarita with, hands down. Years and years ago, I bought my first bottle at QFC where they told me it’s the bottle bartenders buy the most. It’s served me well ever since and is always on my liquor shelf.
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Like if Campari wasn’t sickly sweet and grew up in the forest
Warm•herbal•elegance for cool nights. Best served with rich conversation or soulful tunes. I particularly love Forthave and their iconic labels. Makes for a classy gift.
All hosts should have a bottle of Bloody Mary mix on hand, for the morning after a Big Night. Toma is that bottle – big tomato flavor, with a spicy horseradish kick, and no bar cart is complete without.
Non-Alcoholic Vermouth by Eleven Madison Home
Praise be — a non-alc vermouth! Crafted by the beverage team at the renowned Eleven Madison Park, this botanical aperitif layers 18 herbs, roots, and spices into something genuinely complex. I wouldn't mistake it for traditional vermouth, but it's the closest I've tasted.
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(If you don’t have an ice machine) The ideal ice set up is this contraption + a bowl to hold the cubes. Stop messing around with the plastic flimsy ones!!! Lost cause
31
Buyer Star Gold Ice Scoop, 8 oz Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Scoop for Ice Cubes
How cute are these gold ice scoops?
The one I reach for most of the time, over ice, mixer. A great whiskey, a little orange, a little cedar.
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a must-have for opening older bottles of wine. The ideal tool for securely removing a fragile cork from a bottle that is 10+ years old. This is a great gift and long-lasting wine tool. (You can also use a more affordable ah-so to extract older corks.)
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