Spring Cleaning: A smartly stocked bar

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Mar 30th 2006 @ 6:19PM

We're not talking about the bar you prepare for your best friend's birthday bash. This is for when a couple of friends might drop-in on you for a few drinks. That means you don't have to have everything, just a few things for those surprise happy hour guests. Of course, not everything listed is strictly for the cabinet - you might have to keep some things in the refrigerator.

The Liquors

A bottle of a good red wine - for some reason, Merlot is a good basic that seems to work for most people.
A good white wine - I think the ringer here is Chardonnay, even though personally, I prefer something else.
I also like to keep a sparkling wine or Champagne, as well as dessert wine
Vodka - works for almost everyone, so if you have nothing else, at least have vodka (and I keep mine in the freezer). After that, in my personal order, light rum, gin, then clear tequila
Something in the "brown" family - like Scotch, Bourbon, etc.

Mixers

Tomato juice - in cans, you can open only the amount you need
Horseradish - in a jar, keeps in the refrigerator.
Hot sauce - in the refrigerator. Everyone has hot sauce, right?
Worcestershire sauce - can you tell we like Bloody Marys?
Orange juice - in cans
Cranberry juice - vodka and cranberry works every time
Other juices, if you have the room, like pineapple, but now we're getting fancy
Club soda - in small bottles, or you can do tonic, also in small bottles

Garnishes - obviously, things like lemons and limes (and celery for that Bloody Mary) are not "pantry" so I'm leaving them out. If you're having a party, of course, you would have them

Maraschino cherries - bottled, keeps in the refrigerator for a very long time. I mean, look at how long a fruitcake can last
Olives - bottled, in the refrigerator
Salt and pepper
Granulated sugar

Filed Under: Lists, Spring Cleaning, Ingredients, Drink Recipes, How To
Tags: alcohol, bars, champagne, cocktails, drinking, drinks, gin, liquor, rum, soda, soft drinks, spices, spirits, sugar, vodka, wine

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-31-2006 @11:00AM Elliot Fox said... In my opinion, there's no excuse for keeping vodka on hand, unless it's Grey Goose, or in rare occasions, Kettel One, and it should ONLY be drunk straight. Any mixed drink involving Vodka can be made infinitely better with the proper make of Gin.
Reply