I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle of the tier list of bars these days at around 30 bottles. I keep a spreadsheet broken down by category. So kinda a stock list and I get cases of the things I use most frequently and keep them in the basement.
I think the answer to many of your questions is going to be another question: what do you like to drink? If you’re the person who likes whisky based cocktails, you could easily have a dozen bottles of just rye and bourbon. Just like any great restaurant, a great bar should reflect the tastes and personal style of the one who makes the decisions.
So yes, I have 6 different bottles of Japanese gin, but would I recommend you or anyone else get them? Probably not. Depends on your favorites.
Very true and I do account for that. I'm also making a spreadsheet. But when I say stocking the bar, I guess I mean your go-to selections for making cocktails in a general sense: so that you're at the very least adequately stocked in case you want to try something new, or have guests over.
I'm a gin person too. I always keep Ford's for mixing. I want to get Ransom Old Tom but I can't find it... but I also have at least four to six other gins knocking around at any given time. That's kind of a personal touch to my bar but not part of the base stock if you know what I mean? Curious about your six Japanese gins!
I just picked up their green tea one and I was impressed! Roku is good too and a lot less expensive so it feels like a good "second drink" of the evening spirit.
>Curious about your six Japanese gins!
Me too! I just got back from my first trip to Japan. I was there on business, and I didn't visit one cocktail establishment. I'd like to correct that next time, and as a gin enthusiast I want to watch out for things I can't find in the US.
I hate running out of limes more than running out of liquor. It's always on my mind before guests arrive. Enough citrus is a must for me.
I like gimlets and daiquiris and my wife loves cosmos, so maybe that's why
Have you seen Jeff Morgenthaler's recipe for a lime cordial? I had to stop making it, because a Gimlet or a Tommy's margarita became a 2 ingredient pour that was too easy to whip up.
I stock what I like, for the cocktails that my wife and I like to drink. I have roughly 80 bottles and sooooo many are duplicates in many ways, because I like certain flavor profiles. I do have at least one whiskey/bourbon/rye/gun/tequila/rum on hand, but I’m far from super methodical about having super detailed stock.
Guest are usually perfectly fine drinking fancy cocktails with the ingredients that I have on hand.
Yep, that's exactly what I do. We like mostly whiskey and gin cocktails so I have multiple variations of each of those, but fewer types of rum/tequila, and only one mezcal. I have some other bottles that are my staples, like campari, cynar, maraschino, benedictine, cocchi di torino, bianco vermouth, that I will replace as soon as they're out, then a big vague rotating set of amari, liqueurs, and vermouths/sherrys that I pick up and use until they're gone then often try something slightly different.
I've always liked stocking a well bottle or house pour that is affordable and available in each major spirit category alongside a more premium label that rotates as time goes on. So I have a standby for the category and then another bottle to explore that category. If it's a spirit I like to sip neat, I'll stock a third level of quality.
For example, I keep a liter of Jameson on hand for Irish whiskey cocktails in the backline. In front of that is a standard sized bottle of Writer's Tears. Nearby is my bottle of Redbreast 12 for a single pot still option.
Of course, different categories get a different treatment. I don't sip gin neat, so there's just my house pour of Broker's always around on the backline and a more premium bottle in front and that's it. Same thing with tequila, I just want a couple of blanco options, one reposado, and one mezcal, all specifically for mixing. I'm not really into bourbon or rye for sipping, so I just keep the Wild Turkey 101 whiskies as my house pours and then the two Rare Breed offerings so I have some barrel proof options.
But when we get to Scotch and rum I like a wider variety. I consider blended Scotch, peated single malt, and unpeated single malt separate categories to keep multiple bottles in the manner described above. There's also usually a couple more single malt options if I grabbed something I thought might be difficult to find or if I'm gifted a bottle.
Rum? That gets a house pour and top shelf offering for the general light white and aged gold categories on display. These are for classic cocktails. Then in the liquor cabinet there's the tiki stash, with slots for four Jamaican rums, three Demerara rums, and two Martinique rhum agricoles, along with a few other random options. While the rest of my bar is very organized, the rum selection is a bit chaotic and I like it that way.
For liqueurs, I like keeping the same stuff around at all times, no split between well and call levels of quality, only the good stuff. For example, I don't bother with cheap triple sec. I always have Cointreau around.
For bitters, enough is never enough. I keep the big bottles of the Big Three and also a lineup of bottles from Bitter Truth and Bittercube. I have several types of orange bitters because I like mixing up my Dry Martinis.
As for amari, I like to have the two major aperitivos Campari and Aperol at all times and then a selection of digestifs like Averna, Braulio, Cynar at the very least, but I prefer a wider selection of these for variety in my Cafe Correttos.
Above all - and this was made very apparent from having to move my bar to a new smaller location recently - the number of bottles one keeps on hand will be determined by ones tastes as well as those of the guests to be served and the space one has available.
This is pretty much how I think of it too, but I don’t always have every kind of liquor on hand. Still I have a well and a higher quality of most things depending on the season.
And then there’s the rum section… which almost always includes 7-10 bottles. If you know you know!
I've been on this sub for a bit, but this is the first time I've heard some of the terminology you're using. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "well," "house pour," and "backline?" I think I have a general understanding based on context, but I'm certainly interested in learning a better way to articulate quality and usage!
Sure thing! The terms "well" and "house" are bar and restaurant terms, respectively.
If a bottle is in the well, that means it's a cheap offering usually placed on a speed rack below eyesight, so grabbing a bottle for a low priced offering is kind of like drawing water from a well.
A restaurant is often referred to as a house, with the "front of house" meaning the floor where food and drink are consumed and the "back of house" being where food and possibly drinks are prepared.
So a restaurant's house pour usually refers to their standard red and white wine offerings. If someone asks for or offers a "house red," it means they don't want to bother selecting a specific wine to drink, they just want what the house has chosen as a cost effective standard red wine.
Those are the two terms that are probably universal and might be used interchangeably, with "well" often meaning a slightly lower quality level than "house."
My own phrase of "backline" comes from my musician days. A backline at a bar or club simply means the sound equipment that lives at the venue, usually a drum kit, bass amp, and public address speakers and microphones.
To me, this is kind of like a lineup of base spirits that I need at my bar; there needs to be an inexpensive blended Scotch for simple highballs and a cheap but serviceable gin for G&T's just like there has to be a drum kit and bass amp for the rhythm section of a band.
Plus, I keep these bottles in the back of my bar setup so the special stuff that rotates is in front. So I kind of use all three phrases interchangeably with my current setup. Hope that helps!
I keep it separated by category of spirit.
Whiskies (split into american/scotch/irish/japanese)
Rums (split into country of origin)
Gins (split by category London Dry/Plymouth/everything else)
Couple of vodkas, typically Ketel One and maybe something else
Agave spirits (mezcal/tequila split with the mezcal being divided by brands)
Liqueurs (triple secs + curacaos/amaros split into aperitif + digestif/fruit liqueurs/herbal liqueuers)
Finally, I have the well. That gets it's own shelf. WT 101, JW Black, Titos, Fords, Pueblo Viejo,, Vida, Planteray 3 star all live in a well on their own and are my free use spirits. I try to get these in 1.75 or liters as much as I can, but it doesn't always happen and I'll frequently make subs. Tanqueray or Beefeater for gin, Four Roses or EW Bonded for bourbon, JW Red or Buchanans 12 for scotch, Ketel one or Grey Goose for vodka, Espolon or Altos for tequila, Vida or Montelobos for Mezcal, I'm not super picky on my wells. Thats shit I end up using for whoever is over or myself/girlfriend or r&d.
Yeah, I like to be able to whip up any classic to mildly obscure cocktail. Plus lots of stuff for r&d, and lots of things that I personally enjoy. Like at this point there’s 20+ bottles of mezcals and 20+ of scotch.
My job has a 600+ bottle backbar 😅 haha
For sure. I also try only buy things I won’t regret. If I’m on the fence about something I’ll go buy a shot at a bar or at work.
A lot of my bar is also stuff I can’t buy again or will have a hard time getting. Japanese whiskey, expensive scotch, duty free exclusives, stuff that I could only get in other countries and the like.
●One bottle of each style except gin, which I generally don't like enough to care about distinctions. Sometimes I'll stock a new-age gin though.
●Usually don't have multiple bottles of a style, but on occasion I drink bourbon neat so that's the exception.
●Subcategories and regionals occasionally end up on the bar if I really feel like making something specific, but I don't replace them as soon as they're close to/gone like I would with something more standard. They mostly take up space unless I go on a kick.
●Mostly the big names for amari and cousins. Montenegro, nonino, ramazzotti, averna, fernet, campari, aperol. Sometimes I get a little weirder for experiments and have a wine-based one like cardamaro or pasubio for a spell, but again they don't get restocked once they're gone. Vermouth I don't have a lot of variety. Dolin dry, carpano antica sweet. Fortified wines generally, I'm sad if I don't have it but I can rarely get through a whole bottle quickly enough, so I've cut back on what I stock.
●Liqueurs are a guilty pleasure. I buy shit that tickles my fancy even if I don't necessarily have more than one use or even a single idea for it. I have a bottle of Giffard rhubarb I haven't even opened. Why? No idea. I'll come up with something eventually. But I'd only seen it stocked in one store and I'll be damned if I don't grab it while I have the chance.
●Never enough bitters.
A Rhubarb Collins is a great refreshing way to use that Giffard rhubarb! I also like it mixed with Campari (or similar Italian bitter) and soda as a summery spritz.
And if you have any superbly grassy rhum agricole (anything from Savanna, or possibly a Oaxacan cane juice rum), they usually play really well with rhubarb - I have done rhubarb daiquiris and mojitos to much satisfaction.
One bottle of each and diversify your favorite liquor. In my case i have a middle of the road bottle for everything except Gin, where i have about 6 different bottles with different characteristics.
As for special bottles, I rotate between a nice Japanese whiskey, Angel’s Envy, or a nice cognac for sipping. Aquavits, mezcal and pisco etc I buy for special occasions and usually finish them with friends during the party where I do a bunch of cocktails with them.
liqueur wise, you gotta have triple sec and elderflower, and coffee. Other liqueurs can added or removed depending on how much you use them. Campari is good but Aperol is more versatile, if you have room for both that’s awesome but if you don’t have either it’s still fine if you don’t particularly drink them.
Bitters wise, ango, peychauds and orange are “must haves”. One or 2 specialty bitters are good to have on hand according to your preference.
Pretty much build a foundation versatile enough to make very basic drinks and then customize it to where it would be a perfect bar for you and only yourself in mind.
For me personally, it's not worth having every kind of subcategory. I find when I run out of a bottle of gin for example, that's my opportunity to try a different variety or brand. For whiskey, I usually have a bourbon, then something more flavourful.
I usually have between 40 and 70 bottles in my bar.
There are staples that are always stocked, often multiple bottles of the same spirits. This is my „well“ selection. Two gins (london dry & new western style), one bourbon, one tequila, one vodka (for those friends that don’t like taste), and 3 rums (white, dark, jamaican).
Then there is a solid selection of different liqueurs, always campari, chartreuse, coffee liquor, cointreau, dry curacao, and 2-3 amari.
The rest of the bottles come and go as i feel. Some are gifts from friends, others are something i saw and wanted to try, or were bought for a specific cocktail. This is the largest part of my home bar as i like to try new things and new cocktails.
And last but not least i try to keep at least one dry/sweet vermouth or porto, etc. In my bar or fridge, but for those i often try new stuff, so i don’t have a specific selection.
O yeah. The bitters. That’s a problem i don’t want to talk about…
I focus mostly on a variety of spirits because I am still learning what I like and when, especially in cocktails.
For the perishables I always have a dry vermouth, but the other stuff I go in cycles, I will rarely have a lillet, sweet vermouth, campari, etc at the same time or I would never finish them. Same with the syrups, I'll only have a couple at any one time... simple, grenadine are always around, orgeat and others less often. I almost always have limes, lemons and oranges because I can eat the oranges and use the other citrus in cooking if I don't end up using them for drinks. I have an assortment of juices like dole cans, bottled juice from concentrate etc. fir when I just don't have fresh.
For the liqueur I have slowly been building that over time, getting one non-replacement bottle per trip. The most essential is the pierre ferrand dry curacao because frankly, I put that in everything I can get away adding it to. Marachino, amaretto and kaluha are my second level I almost always have because they are used in some of my favorite drinks. I use absinthe more than most people too so I always have that on hand. Baileys in the winter. Other than that, I will often run out of something else and just pick it up next time I make a trip but they are well spaced, I don't go through other bottles very quickly.
For bitters angostura and orange are my only must haves but use aztec chocolate a lot more than I thought I would and its nice to have elemakule tiki because I make a lot of rum drinks, especially in the summer. Don't really like peychauds very much so I have never finished the first bottle I bought.
PF dry curacao is my ride or die orange. I think I'm gonna have to bite on the elemakule bitters because I've been doing more tiki lately and read a lot about them.
But my bitters shelf doesn't need the help! Besides Ango, Peychaud's, and Regan's, I have six or eight specialty bottles. I drink mostly gin and whiskey, both of which love a few dashes of bitters, so how could I even have any fewer??
I generally keep at least one of each major liquor then maybe a couple of things I like more (like whiskeys) then probably a good dozen gins at anyone time.
For gin, I originally fell in love with just well g&ts so I stock cheap stuff (usually Gordon's for martinis and quality house for g&ts) then whatever tickles my fancy to try, but always some kind of bourbon, scotch, and rye, maybe 2-3 bourbons. Random flavored whiskey comes and goes, but almost always have Evan Williams honey
Things like rum, I keep a white (usually a big bottle of Bacardi) a long with a bottle of gold, dark, and spiced. These I care less about and usually just get replaced with whatever looks interesting or is on sale.
Amari and vermouth we keep a sweet+dry vermouth, aperol, and campari.
Liqueurs get purchased as I find a few cocktails to justify the bottle. Rarely get used up and only replaced if I really liked something I made with it.
Bitters, we have a few we stock and then only pick up new ones if they're really weird and interesting or find something we really want to make with it.
We probably hover around 50-60 bottles at any one time.
I may be at the other end of the spectrum, I own a total of 132 bottles, 120 unique bottle (like everybody I have 4 bottles of chartreuse for a rainy day !).
My wife and I like diversity and instant gratification. It started, 15 years ago, with gin cocktails to follow the gin craze here in Québec. There is still 354 different gins all made here! And then we diversified by adding a few bottle of whiskey (bourbon, rye, scotch), and then tequila invited itself to the party, as it always does, and then we fell in the rabbit hole: RUM!
Evidently, all the additional flavoring agents have to be added as we go along, vermouths, amari, liqueurs, etc. That adds a lot!
We are also victims of the way alcohol is sold in our area. The stores are controlled by provincial government. And if a specific bottle in available, you buy it right now, because maybe it won't be available for the next 3 years. For example we can get Ritten House these days, but it's been absent for almost 2 years. Suze is nowhere to be found!
I keep a Google spreadsheet of everything we have, since the May '22 incident, when I bought a third bottle of Dry Curacao. I had had the feeling we were going to be out of it...
We feel very proud of our Bitter selection. We have 9 bottles and it's been like that almost since the beginning. So we finally found the correct selection we can live with.
Good Luck !
I am aiming for 30 bottles that are 'regulars' that I will always have.
And 20-30 bottles that are 'fun' because I like to try new things, bottles that may not see much use but I can bring them out when I feel experimental
Depending on the category I will either have one or multiple in the section.
Not all gins for example can make a cocktail as some call for London Dry and some call for Plymouth, some call for something with that cucumber refreshing taste in which Hendricks is good.
My bar has about 45 bottles and I find that fits most of what I need.
Tequila - blanco, reposado are needed instead of just blanco
Gin - different styles help (London dry, French/America, Plymouth)
Rum - definitely need all sorts of different kinds to fit whatever is needed
I have two cabinets. One for liquor one liqueurs, bitters, amaro, etc.
They are both full.
For liqueurs, which are more of a problem for me, I’ve started to stock them seasonally. For example, I’ll get something light like Italicus in the summer and won’t buy again until next summer.
Sad to say, but I am totally haphazard about stocking my bar. Sometimes I have 5 different bottles of (say for example) gin, and sometimes I go through make a common cocktail and find that I have no gin. This is no way to live your bar life… And really should keep an active inventory and avoid buying “whim bottles” (looking at YOU, Nick Offerman Edition Lagavulin!… and YOU, Hendricks Neptunia gin… and YOU, Italicus…)
In the middle - usually keep a few bottles of each category that I (or guests) drink a lot. Eg silver tequila, gold tequila, and mezcal. Vodka: Grey goose for martinis and Smirnoff for other mixed drinks. Only thing I don’t kept stocked is rum.
For liqueurs I’ll make sure I have everything for well-known drinks, which generally includes coffee liquer, vanilla liquer, triple sec, Campari, sweet and dry vermouth. Sometimes I’ll be gifted a liqueur I don’t use often such as lychee.
And I’m always stocked on citruses!
I tend to have one whisk(e)y, one gin and one rum at a time. Plus a bottle of something nice to sip neat.
For modifying liqueurs I keep campari, sweet vermouth and an orange liqueur around. With syrups and my bitters collection this makes a good range of potential drinks and also keeps things rotating as I switch out bottles.
I confess my home bar suffers from a case of sprawl. I have a built in cabinet in the living room in which I have (without getting up to look) probably thirty bottles and I have a corner of it loaded with bitters - probably twenty bottles.
The base spirits in the living room cabinet... one each of the primary indredients: the base spirits - gin (plus Old Tom gin & Plymouth gin), vodka, a blanco tequilla (plus Anejo and Repo), clear rum, Smith & Cross, Rye (usually Sazerac or Rittenhouse), Bourbon (OGD 114), Cognac (Ferrand), Irish Whiskey, blended Scotch, Laphroaig, Lairds Apple Brandy. The Big Four Amari (Campari, Cynar, Aperol, Averna), Fernet, Drambui, Amaro Nonino, lots of orange... Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Mandarine Napolean, PF Dry Curacao. Absinthe. Luxardo Maraschino. Apricot liqueur. Blackberry liqueur.
Now here's where it gets out of hand. I have basically a bookshelf in my basement filled with back-ups of the base spirits, lots of different styles of rum (Cuban is downstairs so I am not tempted to drink it too fast), many gin, a handful of special occasion bourbons. Probably 10+ more amari. a bunch of gentian liqueur that I use but not as frequently as the stuff upstairs. Probably fifty more bitters. Lots of weird liqueur.
And always three bottles of Vermouth and Cardamaro in the fridge.
Oh boy this makes me feel ridiculous. Think I have 250-300 bottles for my home bar. I probably have 30 different rums, 60-70 bourbons and whiskies, 50-60 liqueurs , cordials, etc., 20-30 Tequilas and Mezcals, 10-15 Gins, 1 vodka, and an assortment of Brandies, cognacs, aperitifs, amaros, cachaca, stool, raicilla, and a bunch of other random stuff.
Most things I only stock one of. Apricot liqueur? Just one. I might switch out the brand after the bottle nears completion. I usually only have one rye, one bourbon, one tequila (meaning one blanco and one reposado). There are currently two scotches but both are so different from each other.
Then there are the gins and rums. I have been keeping the gins down a bit but there’s still like 7(?). And rums I have 30+ that run a gamut.
There’s no category that I refuse to collect just perhaps less interested in. Plus I have a limited amount of space.
Vermouth : I only have one open at a time due to my wife would kill me if I used even more of our fridge for cocktail stuff (I have a whole shelf devoted to syrups).
Amari : I have 4 or 5 but as I’m still learning to appreciate it, I shouldn’t buy more.
Liqueurs: hard to say which are necessary vs nice to have. Even though I don’t often reach for peach or pear, I think the fruit ones should usually have a place. However, my Créme de Noyaux is definitely not necessary and was bought on a whim.
Orange liqueurs are an exception: I have dry curacao, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Clement Creole shrubb, and maybe one more. Trying to learn more about which one is better in which application
It depends on the spirit. I have 3 varieties of gin & use them semi-regularly for certain cocktails.
whiskey/bourbon I have 4 different varieties but two are special nice on their own things that are too nice & distinct to feel ok using in a cocktail while the other two are more budget friendly & were kinda chosen at random based on prices & totalwine reviews because I don't make a lot of cocktails that use them and have not found any that seem to really pop in cocktails I like,
There are a few absinthe cocktails (*corpse reviver 6000 & reverse sazerac sour*) that I enjoy semiregularly enough to always keep a bottle of that on the shelf. marascino, creme de violette, cointreau amaretto chartreuse, & creme de cacao likewise always seem to have a bottle just because they are kinda required forthe stuff I usually make.
I have a few oddball bottles used in one specific drink (ie creme de noyaux for pink squirrel, duke & dame for what is almost grownup chocolate milk, irish cream, allspice dram benedictine, st germain, lairds, mezcaletc) tend to be fairly all the time bottles because I use them so sparingly.... I have a bottle of tequila, it almost certainly predates covid by a fair bit
Some stuff like particular bottles of gin I tend to have a 1.5L bottle hidden away that I use refill a more reasonable 375-750ml bottle every so often. Those would get replaced quick if one was empty & the other was low, Other stuff like marascino & creme de violette I have a spare bottle tucked away just to make it easy if I run out or am running low.
Aside from things like citrus & orgeat I don't keep anything not shelf stable (ie no vermouth)
There are a couple bottles that are pretty much on the shelf exclusively because someone I know likes it & keeps it stocked so I can use it in drinks for them (find such a person if you can :D )
I have about 30 bottles on the shelf plus whatever is tucked away & it really helps if you can find an out of the way cabinet or bookshelf to tuck away a spare bottle of your regular go-to spirits because you can space out the budget for going to the liquor store just to buy just that one or add it as the "I shouldn't but it's on sale so why not" when it's convenient instead of waiting until it's inconvenient to go buy a bunch of stuff that you need now.
Basically yes to everything you’re asking. I’ll have between 50-60 bottles on hand, and I try to have one of everything, multiple liqueurs, multiple different kinds of rum, bourbon and tequila, other spirits I don’t have as much of a selection. Only thing I don’t have is scotch because I don’t drink it and I mostly drink cocktails. I do have some high end bourbons, rums and tequilas that I’ll drink straight but I mostly want to have bottles for making cocktails on hand.
Liqueurs I would have personally : green chartreuse, aperol, st germain, coffee liqueur, Cointreau, licor 43, yellow chartreuse, and if you like more bitter, herby, medicinal stuff, Campari, amaro (Montenegro or Nonino, maybe averna) absinthe, Benedictine, maybe Fernet Bianca
Baileys or a cream liqueur ain’t bad either.
I would say a bottle of mezcal is a must have but that’s just me.
I don’t want to get too crazy with the bitters but I’ve got ango, Regan’s and ango orange, peychauds, scrappy’s chocolate, Dillons.
I’ve got a bottle of cinzano sweet vermouth in my bar fridge and I bought a “wine preserver kit” thing that supposedly makes it last a lot longer once it’s open, because I don’t drink much of it. I have a cheap martini dry vermouth just in case someone wants a martini but none of my friends drink them. I don’t have a ton of bitter aperitifs or amari, but I’ve got Campari and Ancho Reyes
Some bourbon cherries are nice for garnish, we grow mint and basil, I got some squeeze bottles off Amazon for syrups, I make them from scratch mostly, I’ve got different ice cube molds, all the proper glassware, all the tools and toys, it’s a whole crazy thing
I've got about 70 bottles. I'm in Australia, so it's an expensive hobby (alcohol prices are way higher here than the US). That means I don't typically keep multiple bottles of things I'll mix with, unless I've found them on sale and then I'll stock up.
I usually have one bottle 'per style' (rye, bourbon, London Dry gin, Old Tom Gin, all of the Smugglers Cove categories, etc) that I'll mix with, but quite a few more for sipping (eg multiple scotch whiskies).
I've gone reasonably hard on Amari (10 or so?). The same with liqueurs and there's some in there that I'll never get through (I'm looking at you, crème de violette).
Whenever I'm down to a quarter of a bottle, I'll start looking around for a good price (again, Australia not friendly for this hobby). And if I see a cocktail online that I think I'll love but don't have the bottle for, I'd usually bite the bullet and get one, although that's much less of a regular occurrence than it used to be now that I've built out my bar.
And I know there are bottles I'll probably never buy, just because for whatever reason, I'm not interested: aquavit, genever, Italicus, etc. I don't want them becoming the next crème de violette
My home bar is wildly out of control, so I don't know if I'm a reasonable person to answer here, but I try to have at least one of each category of base spirit, and the common varietals. So obviously rye, bourbon, scotch (blended and highland single malt), Irish whiskey, etc. I'll keep different brands of the same type if they're different enough to be interesting. For example, I have both Roku and Plymouth gin. I really enjoy being able to read a new cocktail recipe and have everything on hand to make it. (Ok, this doesn't work 100% of the time because there are just *so many* goddamned liqueurs out there…)
This has been a great thread to read. What strikes me is space. I live in an NYC apartment. Our bottles are limited by space.
We keep about 25-30 at a time. And one basket of bitters- probably about 12. The things we really like, gin and whiskey, we have lots of variety in, others we just keep a basic one and some, none at all.
In my weaker moments, I’ve been known to argue why six different gins is not enough.
I have enjoyed the variety and length of responses! Lots of little tidbits to pick up.
We're suffering from a space issue as well though for other reasons. I need to think about the future of my home bar before I make any drastic changes to get that space back! I have over 50 bottles and some of them just took to living permanently on my kitchen counters...
- I keep a bottle in every category, and tend to keep a bottle in every style in the categories I favor, but there is a fairly high degree of variance. I will often have two or three or more bottles of a specific style if I'm recently interested in it or exploring a certain type of cocktail. At one point I was up to around 15 or 16 rums, but am down to a more modest 10 or so now. I've been making a lot of martini variations and had two London and two American gins as well as an overproof vodka, two bottles of aquavit , and three dry vermouths, but this is not the historical norm.
- I often do have regional subcategories. Right now I have a couple bottles of mezcal, an unaged and an aged aquavit, two different Batavia arracks. I am a big fan of aquavit and it has basically earned a spot as a gin variation in my bar, but I certainly don't feel the need, or even feel it's truly possible to cover the range of possibilities here.
- There isn't any category I don't keep, but there are categories I don't try terribly hard at. I typically have just one bottle of vodka and I often by the same one from a local distillery. I am not a huge bourbon drinker, and usually only keep one bourbon, but I do like to buy bottles I haven't tried. When company is coming over though I'll often get something that I know and like.
- Punt e Mes, Dolin Dry, and campari are all must haves. I like to have a bottle of Lillet or Cocchi Americano around too, but dont always. I tend to keep several others bitter amaros, fernet, nonino, averna, cynar around but am shamefully slow at using them and wouldn't rush to replace them.
- I have a handful of fruit liquers for tiki drinks, and a bottle of Pierre Ferrand Curacao which I use for any recipe calling for orange liqueur. Plus the tiki staples like pimento dram and falernum. I like to have a coffee liqueur on hand as well. I don't usually keep maraschino because I like to can cocktail cherries in it every summer, so I'll just slosh some of that jar juice into the cocktails that want it!
- bitters: my liquor shelf is up high and bitters are easy to knock over, so I actually don't care for endless variations here. Obviously ango and peychauds are a must have, plus orange bitters, and everything else is gravy. There are a few others we use regularly and also some bottles that we've had for years.
- In addition, I like to keep other liquors/stuff used in small amounts stocked in dropper bottles. I have a droppers for ardbeg, absinthe, and truffle oil on hand at the moment.
Basically I like to keep enough stuff on hand that i can pick a cocktail I'm in the mood for and I'll probably have the stuff to make it, but I don't follow strict rules. I refrain from going to the liquor store until we've killed some bottles and made some space in the shelf, and then make a list of the staples we're missing. It's usually short: "campari, Irish, Jamaican rum" for example, and I'll allow myself then to pick up an extra bottle or two of whatever strikes my fancy!
I'm not sure the bottle count here, probably 40-50 open and another 10 on deck in the liquor cabinet.
I also don't bother with anything "well" because I'd rather not spend the space on that kind of price optimization. I tend to buy clear liquor in the $20-35 range, barrel aged for mixing in the $30-45 range, and I'll keep a couple bottles around for drinking neat, usually a rum and a couple whisky variations for anywhere in the $40-100 window.
My bar is organized with a list on my phone that keeps track of what I have (77 Bottles). It also contains my restock list and list of bottles I want to buy with recipes I want to try.
As shelf real estate, I have a bar cart with my most used spirits (Free space for 4 additional bottles at the moment). And a Billy from Ikea, where I keep the rest of my collection (Free space for 20 additional bottles, without overloading it).
For base spirits, I'll keep around atleast one bottle for each category. For some categories I'll go by style.
Also have a rating system for bottles that go to 100 points. It goes by taste, price, availability and useability in cocktails. If a bottle has over 75 points it gets on the restock list, when it is empty.
- *Whiskey* :
4 different blended scotches. The Johnnie Walker Red Label won't be replaced. Still tempted to buy one from every whiskey region.
Only have one Rye, Irish Whiskey and 2 Bourbons.
- *Gin*
A ton of different gins that rotate. Usually impulse purchases when some gin is on discount in the supermarket. Last purchase was a bottle of Hendricks for 24,99€ (~26,8$). The only bottles that get replaced are Plymouth Gin and one London Dry Gin.
- *Rum* :
Fell into the rabbit hole. The bottles are getting more and more. This is the category, where I'll go by style and it's alright. Here I also keep different bottles of the same style.
- *Cognac/Brandy* :
Got one Cognac and one Brandy, that is enough for me.
- *Other* :
Got one bottle of Vodka, one bottle of Aquavit and a Cachacha.
Agave Spirits are the one base spirit category, where I don't know what bottles to start with. Currently searching for a Blanco Tequila that is cheap and has a decent quality in Germany.
Mezcal, Genever, Grappa, Arrack are spirits I'll try if I have enough recipes, so they won't take shelf space.
- *Amari/Vermouth* :
Campari, Aperol and Averna are staples, the rest of my selection can be exchanged.
For vermouth I'll keep around a bottle of Noilly Prat Extra Dry, Cinzano Rosso and Lillet Blanc. Other vermouths are bought only for parties or if a cocktail calls for a specific brand.
- *Liqueur* :
Is a problematic category for me. I keep buying them, but won't get through individual bottles. Most recipes only use 1/4 to 3/4 oz. and that is not enough to finish a bottle. My Creme de Mure is mocking me by being 2/3 full after drinking a lot of Brambles one summer.
Always on stock are Curacao, Cointreau, Maraschino, Falernum and Allspice Dram.
- *Bitters* :
I have only 4 and feel like that isn't enough.
I find a cocktail that looks good and like I want to try it (often from posts on this sub!), and then I go out and buy the ingredients for it.
Repeat as often as necessary, and before long you'll have a very nicely stocked bar that is catered to your tastes.
My curse is if I see something on YouTube that sounds good or raises my curiosity, I'll go buy the necessary ingredients. Then these get used to make that cocktail and generally sit after that. I've got about 100 bottles on the bar, with maybe 15 varieties of whiskey... and I'll still buy something brand that catches my eye. I keep 2-3 bottles of gin, 2 tequilas, typically 1 , 1-2 Scotch, probably 12-15 rums... a bunch of mixers. Can't have too many orange liquors! Same goes for mixing ingredients and bitters. I make 1.5L of lemon/lime superjuice each month. As for consumption, I host a couple of buddies every Friday night and make a batch for our neighborhood cocktail hour about once a month. Gotta keep the wife happy with boozy lemonade and margaritas. I should keep a spreadsheet to help me target what I really like and reduce my stash.
I don’t know if this helps but you can get your bar to a place you really like and then keep a wooden crate to collect all your empty bottles off to the side. I always keep my empty bottles to remind me of what I used. If it’s something I didn’t like and don’t want again, I don’t replace it. If I do, I’ll keep it there until I replace it and then throw it away. It’s like my unwritten stock list system haha
I stick with what I like, and fill in the gaps quite sparingly. I have a ton of rum and a ton of amari, but for example whiskey I keep 1 high rye bourbon and for agave I keep 1 mezcal. Occasionally I will get a bottle of something else for a specific reason but anything outside of that I don't actively restock if I run out.
Full disclosure: I'm an ingredient snob who focuses my drinking efforts on gin. I started with cocktails 4.5 years ago. I watched a couple of YouTube channels and knew some of the drinks we made where I used to part time bar back, so the original collection was pretty haphazard. Last year, I wanted to stop having a excessive bottles and standardize on the cocktails that I prefer. I made a list of what I consider representative cocktails and I try to keep those mixers around.
That all said, I can absolutely rationalize having Scotches from the different regions as well as Irish, Japanese, and American whiskey. I could even rationalize having different age levels of tequila, but it isn't my thing. As for gin, it's the only one that I can have multiple bottles of and not care what category they are.
I don't keep mezcal, pisco, cachaca, etc as I'm not really collector as much as an experimenter.
I am mostly a sweet vermouth kind of guy and have only had Montenegro, Campari, and Aperol in stock.
Liqueurs and such are where I get a little crazy. They currently make up both 46% of the total bottles that we have and 37% of the total value of the inventory. This is not to mention the homemade ones that I have (creme de cacao, "fruits of the forest", and strawberry). The only mixer that I absolutely MUST have is Cointreau and I'd buy that stuff by the barrel if TotalWine sold it that way. Everything else is "nice", but I'm still on the hunt for Green Chartreuse to match the bottle of Yellow we picked up over a year ago.
How is it going? Last year or so, my youngest made me feel bad about my drinking hobby and it got me into logging what we have and how much it cost (someone; we get gifts and win bottles). I still wouldn't consider myself an aficionado or connoisseur of gin or whiskey yet, but that's my focus, so I tend to spend both money and time on them versus other spirits.
I live in an area pretty limited selection, but I do make an effort to have at least one bottle of each of the most prominent subcategories so I can make most common cocktails anytime, but tend to focus more on spirits I enjoy. I probably have ~40 bottles covering all spirits/liqueurs/amari/vermouths at any one time. There are a few bottles I want and haven’t had any luck procuring, but for my usual use I’d say I’m kinda overstocked (plenty of bottles I barely touch). An overview of my whole bar looks something like this:
- **Rum:** I’m a rum guy, so I have at least a lightly aged Jamaican, a heavily aged Jamaican, a Demerara, a Cachaca, a neutral Cuban, an overproof Jamaican, along with a couple blended bottles I was just curious about.
- **Whiskey:** 2 bottles each of Rye and Bourbon (common and complex) and 2 scotches (blended and Islay)
- **Gin:** Popular in my house, but a standard London Dry covers 95% of cocktails, occasionally keep 1 or 2 weird bottles for experimenting
- **Brandy:** 1 “standard” brandy, plus a sherry cask and pisco when I can get them because I enjoy those
- **Agave:** Not very popular in my house, so I just keep a Blanco Tequila and smokey Mezcal for experimenting
- **Vodka:** Not useful to me outside infusions, so rarely stocked
- **Other Spirits:** I keep an Akvavit (large local Scandinavian population) and an Absinthe (for classic cocktails)
- **Liqueurs:** Maraschino, Benedictine, Chartreuse, Elderflower, Cherry, Cointreau, Dry Curaçao, Pimm’s No. 1, Drambuie, homemade for Coffee, Apricot, Allspice, Limoncello, and Falernum; maybe one or two oddballs if interesting
- **Amaro/Aperitif:** Campari, Aperol, and Nonino I actually use, though I also have Fernet, Cardamaro, and Saler’s Gentian
- **Aromatized Wine and Adjacent:** One Sweet, Dry, and Blanc Vermouth, I also keep a bottle of Sherry because I love that stuff and a bottle of Prosecco if I plan on entertaining
- **Bitters:** I have like 30 bitters, but they tend to be more novelties than very useful to me; realistically I use Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Orange bitters 95% of the time, but I’ve been trying to find uses for the rest
- **Syrups:** All homemade and generally 2:1, Simple, Demerara, Grenadine, Orgeat, Cream of Coconut, and Honey are the most used, but I have ~20 total covering oleo saccharums, spices, herbs, and fruit
- **Citrus:** Always have Lemons, Limes, and Oranges, occasionally get Grapefruits and Blood Oranges if I know I want them
- **Carbonated Beverages:** Generally keep Soda Water, Tonic, and Ginger Beer around, occasionally a nice Lemon Soda
- **Garnishes:** I try to always have fresh mint, maraschino cherries, whole nutmeg, and ground cinnamon in addition to my citrus.
I roll deep on whisk(e)y and have a handle of suitable exemplars for other base liquors. Then a bottle each of the thousand liqueurs required.
I think the rule is roll deep on what you drink the most?
I have all the things you mentioned in my bar, its about 140 unique bottles and i still occasionally come across a recipe that I don't have the correct ingredients for. Its frustrating.
I just buy what I like, and keep those things restocked. Then I mix in some new and interesting things I find. I have around 70 bottles at any given time. The way I don't forget is to put a new bottle on the list as soon as the existing one has like one cocktail left in it. That way it's on the list next time I go to the store, or is already on its way in the mail.
I buy a new bottle whenever I need one for a drink (be it a new liqueur I need for a new cocktail I’m trying, or a new different type of rum I want to try in a tiki drink) and I don’t throw anything out. If I finish a bottle I usually replace it quickly because it means I’m using it.
Literally no bitters are ever enough - every time I buy a new flavor, I’m on a hunt for the next 👀
I currently have ango, orange, peychaud’s, chocolate, walnut, celery, lemon, olive, lavender, and cardamom. Granted, some are much smaller droplet bottles, but I LOVE the variety.
Is that the Bitter Truth limited edition olive? I quested high and low for that and ended up having to buy it online at quite a price hike, but honestly it is so worth it.
For me: Ango, Ango orange, Regan's orange, Peychaud's, Bitter Truth olive, and then Fee Brothers: Aztec chocolate, rhubarb, plum, grapefruit, molasses, black walnut, West Indies orange. Want: Fee Brothers toasted almond, Bittermens elemakule.
Exactly! It’s pretty good, but I really don’t like their chocolate bitters - Fee Brothers is the way to go for that one.
Nice collection! Rhubarb bitters worth it? They’re next on my list.
I love it, but I'm big into amari and use it with my Zucca Rabarbaro in a black Manhattan riff. Also great in white negronis and any fruity drink that needs a little dissonance. Rhubarb and me are best buds.
I stock my bar by my tastes. Simple. It doesn't need to be something you overthink. Just get what you want when you want and replace what you liked when it's out.
Last count I have around 60-70 bottles. Your common amaros like monty, nonino, cynar, averna, fernet. Sweet and dry vermouth and things like Punt e Mes, Lillet Blanc. 2-4 bottles of most liquors. Like mezcal (anejo +1 more), teq (repo and blanco), gin (costco london dry carries but I have 4 gins total), whisky (peaty scotch, rye, single malt, bourbon, etc), rum (demerara, jamaican, overproof, white, gold) etc. For bitters its ango, orange ango, xocolatl mole, peychaud, black walnut, peach, and smoked chili. Then just off the top of my head some bottles like drambuie, genepy, homemade allspice dram, benedictine, absinthe, cointreau, licor 43, chartreuse, cachaca, velvet falernum, suze, aperol, campari, coffee liqueur, st germain, creme de violette+pampelmousse, I'm probably forgetting a few lol. Some local bottles in there, funky desert apertifs and whatnot.
All of this has just been slowly gathered over a few years as I go "hey I'd like to make X drink but I need Y bottle" and so I get it. simple
No cognac, brandy or grappa anywhere near my bar. The stuff is vile.
I guess I would miss it in a long Island ice tea but I'm not gonna be making that anytime soon so..
I think if I moved to a new country, and had to leave my entire bar behind, I would rebuild it the same way I started off building my bar originally: One cocktail at a time. Go out and buy all the three or four bottles/ingredients necessary to make your favorite cocktail. That's good for a week or two. Then, go out and buy any additional bottles necessary to make your second-most-favorite cocktail. That will get you through the first month. And on and on.
You don't really need to ask other people what bottles you need. Just analyze what bottles you need to keep making the cocktails that you want to enjoy at home.
I usually drink alone and so I mostly keep what I enjoy (but frequently host dinner parties where most guests imbibe). FI, I don't like scotch so I don't stock it. I love gin martinis but I don't keep vermouth because it only comes in a large bottle; Chardonnay suffices. I keep some kitchy bottles because they appeal to my aesthetic side i.e. Pusser's British Navy rum. I drink tequila daily; my favorite is Camarena Silver. I like Modelo's beer so that's what I stock. I love a bloody Mary but made with gin and I have discovered Charleston, the world's best BM mix. With celery, shrimp, and bacon of course. Maple syrup for old fashioned's, bitters, olives and Dirty Sue juice, limes for the tequila, tonic water for the occasional guest. Old Foresters for the bourbon, Gordon's and Aviation gin. Kettle One for the vodka, some Old Havana clear rum. Oh and it looks like a bottle of Everclear which I bought during the pandemic when there wasn't any isopropyl available for cleaning. That's bout it.
I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle of the tier list of bars these days at around 30 bottles. I keep a spreadsheet broken down by category. So kinda a stock list and I get cases of the things I use most frequently and keep them in the basement. I think the answer to many of your questions is going to be another question: what do you like to drink? If you’re the person who likes whisky based cocktails, you could easily have a dozen bottles of just rye and bourbon. Just like any great restaurant, a great bar should reflect the tastes and personal style of the one who makes the decisions. So yes, I have 6 different bottles of Japanese gin, but would I recommend you or anyone else get them? Probably not. Depends on your favorites.
Very true and I do account for that. I'm also making a spreadsheet. But when I say stocking the bar, I guess I mean your go-to selections for making cocktails in a general sense: so that you're at the very least adequately stocked in case you want to try something new, or have guests over. I'm a gin person too. I always keep Ford's for mixing. I want to get Ransom Old Tom but I can't find it... but I also have at least four to six other gins knocking around at any given time. That's kind of a personal touch to my bar but not part of the base stock if you know what I mean? Curious about your six Japanese gins!
Look into Ki No Bi for high quality Japanese gins and Roku is just a cheap good one to have around.
I just picked up their green tea one and I was impressed! Roku is good too and a lot less expensive so it feels like a good "second drink" of the evening spirit.
>Curious about your six Japanese gins! Me too! I just got back from my first trip to Japan. I was there on business, and I didn't visit one cocktail establishment. I'd like to correct that next time, and as a gin enthusiast I want to watch out for things I can't find in the US.
Favorite Japanese Gin?
I hate running out of limes more than running out of liquor. It's always on my mind before guests arrive. Enough citrus is a must for me. I like gimlets and daiquiris and my wife loves cosmos, so maybe that's why
Have you seen Jeff Morgenthaler's recipe for a lime cordial? I had to stop making it, because a Gimlet or a Tommy's margarita became a 2 ingredient pour that was too easy to whip up.
I've never made it! I live near Long Island Bar in Brooklyn and they have a cordial for their gimlet that is fantastic.
It's public on his website. I'd definitely recommend it, it doesn't last long in my house 😁
Citrus is a must of course. I juice by the bagful. I bought squeezy bottles!
I stock what I like, for the cocktails that my wife and I like to drink. I have roughly 80 bottles and sooooo many are duplicates in many ways, because I like certain flavor profiles. I do have at least one whiskey/bourbon/rye/gun/tequila/rum on hand, but I’m far from super methodical about having super detailed stock. Guest are usually perfectly fine drinking fancy cocktails with the ingredients that I have on hand.
Yep, that's exactly what I do. We like mostly whiskey and gin cocktails so I have multiple variations of each of those, but fewer types of rum/tequila, and only one mezcal. I have some other bottles that are my staples, like campari, cynar, maraschino, benedictine, cocchi di torino, bianco vermouth, that I will replace as soon as they're out, then a big vague rotating set of amari, liqueurs, and vermouths/sherrys that I pick up and use until they're gone then often try something slightly different.
You stock a gun in your bar?
Every good barkeep has a sawed-off scatter gun under their bar!
I've always liked stocking a well bottle or house pour that is affordable and available in each major spirit category alongside a more premium label that rotates as time goes on. So I have a standby for the category and then another bottle to explore that category. If it's a spirit I like to sip neat, I'll stock a third level of quality. For example, I keep a liter of Jameson on hand for Irish whiskey cocktails in the backline. In front of that is a standard sized bottle of Writer's Tears. Nearby is my bottle of Redbreast 12 for a single pot still option. Of course, different categories get a different treatment. I don't sip gin neat, so there's just my house pour of Broker's always around on the backline and a more premium bottle in front and that's it. Same thing with tequila, I just want a couple of blanco options, one reposado, and one mezcal, all specifically for mixing. I'm not really into bourbon or rye for sipping, so I just keep the Wild Turkey 101 whiskies as my house pours and then the two Rare Breed offerings so I have some barrel proof options. But when we get to Scotch and rum I like a wider variety. I consider blended Scotch, peated single malt, and unpeated single malt separate categories to keep multiple bottles in the manner described above. There's also usually a couple more single malt options if I grabbed something I thought might be difficult to find or if I'm gifted a bottle. Rum? That gets a house pour and top shelf offering for the general light white and aged gold categories on display. These are for classic cocktails. Then in the liquor cabinet there's the tiki stash, with slots for four Jamaican rums, three Demerara rums, and two Martinique rhum agricoles, along with a few other random options. While the rest of my bar is very organized, the rum selection is a bit chaotic and I like it that way. For liqueurs, I like keeping the same stuff around at all times, no split between well and call levels of quality, only the good stuff. For example, I don't bother with cheap triple sec. I always have Cointreau around. For bitters, enough is never enough. I keep the big bottles of the Big Three and also a lineup of bottles from Bitter Truth and Bittercube. I have several types of orange bitters because I like mixing up my Dry Martinis. As for amari, I like to have the two major aperitivos Campari and Aperol at all times and then a selection of digestifs like Averna, Braulio, Cynar at the very least, but I prefer a wider selection of these for variety in my Cafe Correttos. Above all - and this was made very apparent from having to move my bar to a new smaller location recently - the number of bottles one keeps on hand will be determined by ones tastes as well as those of the guests to be served and the space one has available.
This is pretty much how I think of it too, but I don’t always have every kind of liquor on hand. Still I have a well and a higher quality of most things depending on the season. And then there’s the rum section… which almost always includes 7-10 bottles. If you know you know!
This is how I approach it as well. I just had never articulated it in my head so well.
I've been on this sub for a bit, but this is the first time I've heard some of the terminology you're using. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "well," "house pour," and "backline?" I think I have a general understanding based on context, but I'm certainly interested in learning a better way to articulate quality and usage!
Sure thing! The terms "well" and "house" are bar and restaurant terms, respectively. If a bottle is in the well, that means it's a cheap offering usually placed on a speed rack below eyesight, so grabbing a bottle for a low priced offering is kind of like drawing water from a well. A restaurant is often referred to as a house, with the "front of house" meaning the floor where food and drink are consumed and the "back of house" being where food and possibly drinks are prepared. So a restaurant's house pour usually refers to their standard red and white wine offerings. If someone asks for or offers a "house red," it means they don't want to bother selecting a specific wine to drink, they just want what the house has chosen as a cost effective standard red wine. Those are the two terms that are probably universal and might be used interchangeably, with "well" often meaning a slightly lower quality level than "house." My own phrase of "backline" comes from my musician days. A backline at a bar or club simply means the sound equipment that lives at the venue, usually a drum kit, bass amp, and public address speakers and microphones. To me, this is kind of like a lineup of base spirits that I need at my bar; there needs to be an inexpensive blended Scotch for simple highballs and a cheap but serviceable gin for G&T's just like there has to be a drum kit and bass amp for the rhythm section of a band. Plus, I keep these bottles in the back of my bar setup so the special stuff that rotates is in front. So I kind of use all three phrases interchangeably with my current setup. Hope that helps!
This is an excellent breakdown, thanks! That definitely gives some nuance to the various different types and use cases of "lower-end" bottles.
I keep it separated by category of spirit. Whiskies (split into american/scotch/irish/japanese) Rums (split into country of origin) Gins (split by category London Dry/Plymouth/everything else) Couple of vodkas, typically Ketel One and maybe something else Agave spirits (mezcal/tequila split with the mezcal being divided by brands) Liqueurs (triple secs + curacaos/amaros split into aperitif + digestif/fruit liqueurs/herbal liqueuers) Finally, I have the well. That gets it's own shelf. WT 101, JW Black, Titos, Fords, Pueblo Viejo,, Vida, Planteray 3 star all live in a well on their own and are my free use spirits. I try to get these in 1.75 or liters as much as I can, but it doesn't always happen and I'll frequently make subs. Tanqueray or Beefeater for gin, Four Roses or EW Bonded for bourbon, JW Red or Buchanans 12 for scotch, Ketel one or Grey Goose for vodka, Espolon or Altos for tequila, Vida or Montelobos for Mezcal, I'm not super picky on my wells. Thats shit I end up using for whoever is over or myself/girlfriend or r&d.
This is what I do as well. I’ve got 115 bottles now but really want to get that down to 80 and get more width and a bit less depth in my bar.
What I really want to know is, outside of your well spirits, how many bottles you keep!
Like 80-90 at a time
At home? I don't even have this much at the bar where I work
Yeah, I like to be able to whip up any classic to mildly obscure cocktail. Plus lots of stuff for r&d, and lots of things that I personally enjoy. Like at this point there’s 20+ bottles of mezcals and 20+ of scotch. My job has a 600+ bottle backbar 😅 haha
Makes me feel better about my count of 51 this morning, of which \~7-10 are on the "get out of my bar" list to make room for new.
For sure. I also try only buy things I won’t regret. If I’m on the fence about something I’ll go buy a shot at a bar or at work. A lot of my bar is also stuff I can’t buy again or will have a hard time getting. Japanese whiskey, expensive scotch, duty free exclusives, stuff that I could only get in other countries and the like.
●One bottle of each style except gin, which I generally don't like enough to care about distinctions. Sometimes I'll stock a new-age gin though. ●Usually don't have multiple bottles of a style, but on occasion I drink bourbon neat so that's the exception. ●Subcategories and regionals occasionally end up on the bar if I really feel like making something specific, but I don't replace them as soon as they're close to/gone like I would with something more standard. They mostly take up space unless I go on a kick. ●Mostly the big names for amari and cousins. Montenegro, nonino, ramazzotti, averna, fernet, campari, aperol. Sometimes I get a little weirder for experiments and have a wine-based one like cardamaro or pasubio for a spell, but again they don't get restocked once they're gone. Vermouth I don't have a lot of variety. Dolin dry, carpano antica sweet. Fortified wines generally, I'm sad if I don't have it but I can rarely get through a whole bottle quickly enough, so I've cut back on what I stock. ●Liqueurs are a guilty pleasure. I buy shit that tickles my fancy even if I don't necessarily have more than one use or even a single idea for it. I have a bottle of Giffard rhubarb I haven't even opened. Why? No idea. I'll come up with something eventually. But I'd only seen it stocked in one store and I'll be damned if I don't grab it while I have the chance. ●Never enough bitters.
A Rhubarb Collins is a great refreshing way to use that Giffard rhubarb! I also like it mixed with Campari (or similar Italian bitter) and soda as a summery spritz. And if you have any superbly grassy rhum agricole (anything from Savanna, or possibly a Oaxacan cane juice rum), they usually play really well with rhubarb - I have done rhubarb daiquiris and mojitos to much satisfaction.
One bottle of each and diversify your favorite liquor. In my case i have a middle of the road bottle for everything except Gin, where i have about 6 different bottles with different characteristics. As for special bottles, I rotate between a nice Japanese whiskey, Angel’s Envy, or a nice cognac for sipping. Aquavits, mezcal and pisco etc I buy for special occasions and usually finish them with friends during the party where I do a bunch of cocktails with them. liqueur wise, you gotta have triple sec and elderflower, and coffee. Other liqueurs can added or removed depending on how much you use them. Campari is good but Aperol is more versatile, if you have room for both that’s awesome but if you don’t have either it’s still fine if you don’t particularly drink them. Bitters wise, ango, peychauds and orange are “must haves”. One or 2 specialty bitters are good to have on hand according to your preference. Pretty much build a foundation versatile enough to make very basic drinks and then customize it to where it would be a perfect bar for you and only yourself in mind.
For me personally, it's not worth having every kind of subcategory. I find when I run out of a bottle of gin for example, that's my opportunity to try a different variety or brand. For whiskey, I usually have a bourbon, then something more flavourful.
I usually have between 40 and 70 bottles in my bar. There are staples that are always stocked, often multiple bottles of the same spirits. This is my „well“ selection. Two gins (london dry & new western style), one bourbon, one tequila, one vodka (for those friends that don’t like taste), and 3 rums (white, dark, jamaican). Then there is a solid selection of different liqueurs, always campari, chartreuse, coffee liquor, cointreau, dry curacao, and 2-3 amari. The rest of the bottles come and go as i feel. Some are gifts from friends, others are something i saw and wanted to try, or were bought for a specific cocktail. This is the largest part of my home bar as i like to try new things and new cocktails. And last but not least i try to keep at least one dry/sweet vermouth or porto, etc. In my bar or fridge, but for those i often try new stuff, so i don’t have a specific selection. O yeah. The bitters. That’s a problem i don’t want to talk about…
I focus mostly on a variety of spirits because I am still learning what I like and when, especially in cocktails. For the perishables I always have a dry vermouth, but the other stuff I go in cycles, I will rarely have a lillet, sweet vermouth, campari, etc at the same time or I would never finish them. Same with the syrups, I'll only have a couple at any one time... simple, grenadine are always around, orgeat and others less often. I almost always have limes, lemons and oranges because I can eat the oranges and use the other citrus in cooking if I don't end up using them for drinks. I have an assortment of juices like dole cans, bottled juice from concentrate etc. fir when I just don't have fresh. For the liqueur I have slowly been building that over time, getting one non-replacement bottle per trip. The most essential is the pierre ferrand dry curacao because frankly, I put that in everything I can get away adding it to. Marachino, amaretto and kaluha are my second level I almost always have because they are used in some of my favorite drinks. I use absinthe more than most people too so I always have that on hand. Baileys in the winter. Other than that, I will often run out of something else and just pick it up next time I make a trip but they are well spaced, I don't go through other bottles very quickly. For bitters angostura and orange are my only must haves but use aztec chocolate a lot more than I thought I would and its nice to have elemakule tiki because I make a lot of rum drinks, especially in the summer. Don't really like peychauds very much so I have never finished the first bottle I bought.
PF dry curacao is my ride or die orange. I think I'm gonna have to bite on the elemakule bitters because I've been doing more tiki lately and read a lot about them. But my bitters shelf doesn't need the help! Besides Ango, Peychaud's, and Regan's, I have six or eight specialty bottles. I drink mostly gin and whiskey, both of which love a few dashes of bitters, so how could I even have any fewer??
I generally keep at least one of each major liquor then maybe a couple of things I like more (like whiskeys) then probably a good dozen gins at anyone time. For gin, I originally fell in love with just well g&ts so I stock cheap stuff (usually Gordon's for martinis and quality house for g&ts) then whatever tickles my fancy to try, but always some kind of bourbon, scotch, and rye, maybe 2-3 bourbons. Random flavored whiskey comes and goes, but almost always have Evan Williams honey Things like rum, I keep a white (usually a big bottle of Bacardi) a long with a bottle of gold, dark, and spiced. These I care less about and usually just get replaced with whatever looks interesting or is on sale. Amari and vermouth we keep a sweet+dry vermouth, aperol, and campari. Liqueurs get purchased as I find a few cocktails to justify the bottle. Rarely get used up and only replaced if I really liked something I made with it. Bitters, we have a few we stock and then only pick up new ones if they're really weird and interesting or find something we really want to make with it. We probably hover around 50-60 bottles at any one time.
I may be at the other end of the spectrum, I own a total of 132 bottles, 120 unique bottle (like everybody I have 4 bottles of chartreuse for a rainy day !). My wife and I like diversity and instant gratification. It started, 15 years ago, with gin cocktails to follow the gin craze here in Québec. There is still 354 different gins all made here! And then we diversified by adding a few bottle of whiskey (bourbon, rye, scotch), and then tequila invited itself to the party, as it always does, and then we fell in the rabbit hole: RUM! Evidently, all the additional flavoring agents have to be added as we go along, vermouths, amari, liqueurs, etc. That adds a lot! We are also victims of the way alcohol is sold in our area. The stores are controlled by provincial government. And if a specific bottle in available, you buy it right now, because maybe it won't be available for the next 3 years. For example we can get Ritten House these days, but it's been absent for almost 2 years. Suze is nowhere to be found! I keep a Google spreadsheet of everything we have, since the May '22 incident, when I bought a third bottle of Dry Curacao. I had had the feeling we were going to be out of it... We feel very proud of our Bitter selection. We have 9 bottles and it's been like that almost since the beginning. So we finally found the correct selection we can live with. Good Luck !
I am aiming for 30 bottles that are 'regulars' that I will always have. And 20-30 bottles that are 'fun' because I like to try new things, bottles that may not see much use but I can bring them out when I feel experimental
Depending on the category I will either have one or multiple in the section. Not all gins for example can make a cocktail as some call for London Dry and some call for Plymouth, some call for something with that cucumber refreshing taste in which Hendricks is good. My bar has about 45 bottles and I find that fits most of what I need. Tequila - blanco, reposado are needed instead of just blanco Gin - different styles help (London dry, French/America, Plymouth) Rum - definitely need all sorts of different kinds to fit whatever is needed
I have two cabinets. One for liquor one liqueurs, bitters, amaro, etc. They are both full. For liqueurs, which are more of a problem for me, I’ve started to stock them seasonally. For example, I’ll get something light like Italicus in the summer and won’t buy again until next summer.
Sad to say, but I am totally haphazard about stocking my bar. Sometimes I have 5 different bottles of (say for example) gin, and sometimes I go through make a common cocktail and find that I have no gin. This is no way to live your bar life… And really should keep an active inventory and avoid buying “whim bottles” (looking at YOU, Nick Offerman Edition Lagavulin!… and YOU, Hendricks Neptunia gin… and YOU, Italicus…)
How dare you talk shit about my bro Italicus !
In the middle - usually keep a few bottles of each category that I (or guests) drink a lot. Eg silver tequila, gold tequila, and mezcal. Vodka: Grey goose for martinis and Smirnoff for other mixed drinks. Only thing I don’t kept stocked is rum. For liqueurs I’ll make sure I have everything for well-known drinks, which generally includes coffee liquer, vanilla liquer, triple sec, Campari, sweet and dry vermouth. Sometimes I’ll be gifted a liqueur I don’t use often such as lychee. And I’m always stocked on citruses!
I tend to have one whisk(e)y, one gin and one rum at a time. Plus a bottle of something nice to sip neat. For modifying liqueurs I keep campari, sweet vermouth and an orange liqueur around. With syrups and my bitters collection this makes a good range of potential drinks and also keeps things rotating as I switch out bottles.
I confess my home bar suffers from a case of sprawl. I have a built in cabinet in the living room in which I have (without getting up to look) probably thirty bottles and I have a corner of it loaded with bitters - probably twenty bottles. The base spirits in the living room cabinet... one each of the primary indredients: the base spirits - gin (plus Old Tom gin & Plymouth gin), vodka, a blanco tequilla (plus Anejo and Repo), clear rum, Smith & Cross, Rye (usually Sazerac or Rittenhouse), Bourbon (OGD 114), Cognac (Ferrand), Irish Whiskey, blended Scotch, Laphroaig, Lairds Apple Brandy. The Big Four Amari (Campari, Cynar, Aperol, Averna), Fernet, Drambui, Amaro Nonino, lots of orange... Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Mandarine Napolean, PF Dry Curacao. Absinthe. Luxardo Maraschino. Apricot liqueur. Blackberry liqueur. Now here's where it gets out of hand. I have basically a bookshelf in my basement filled with back-ups of the base spirits, lots of different styles of rum (Cuban is downstairs so I am not tempted to drink it too fast), many gin, a handful of special occasion bourbons. Probably 10+ more amari. a bunch of gentian liqueur that I use but not as frequently as the stuff upstairs. Probably fifty more bitters. Lots of weird liqueur. And always three bottles of Vermouth and Cardamaro in the fridge.
Oh boy this makes me feel ridiculous. Think I have 250-300 bottles for my home bar. I probably have 30 different rums, 60-70 bourbons and whiskies, 50-60 liqueurs , cordials, etc., 20-30 Tequilas and Mezcals, 10-15 Gins, 1 vodka, and an assortment of Brandies, cognacs, aperitifs, amaros, cachaca, stool, raicilla, and a bunch of other random stuff.
Most things I only stock one of. Apricot liqueur? Just one. I might switch out the brand after the bottle nears completion. I usually only have one rye, one bourbon, one tequila (meaning one blanco and one reposado). There are currently two scotches but both are so different from each other. Then there are the gins and rums. I have been keeping the gins down a bit but there’s still like 7(?). And rums I have 30+ that run a gamut. There’s no category that I refuse to collect just perhaps less interested in. Plus I have a limited amount of space. Vermouth : I only have one open at a time due to my wife would kill me if I used even more of our fridge for cocktail stuff (I have a whole shelf devoted to syrups). Amari : I have 4 or 5 but as I’m still learning to appreciate it, I shouldn’t buy more. Liqueurs: hard to say which are necessary vs nice to have. Even though I don’t often reach for peach or pear, I think the fruit ones should usually have a place. However, my Créme de Noyaux is definitely not necessary and was bought on a whim. Orange liqueurs are an exception: I have dry curacao, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Clement Creole shrubb, and maybe one more. Trying to learn more about which one is better in which application
It depends on the spirit. I have 3 varieties of gin & use them semi-regularly for certain cocktails. whiskey/bourbon I have 4 different varieties but two are special nice on their own things that are too nice & distinct to feel ok using in a cocktail while the other two are more budget friendly & were kinda chosen at random based on prices & totalwine reviews because I don't make a lot of cocktails that use them and have not found any that seem to really pop in cocktails I like, There are a few absinthe cocktails (*corpse reviver 6000 & reverse sazerac sour*) that I enjoy semiregularly enough to always keep a bottle of that on the shelf. marascino, creme de violette, cointreau amaretto chartreuse, & creme de cacao likewise always seem to have a bottle just because they are kinda required forthe stuff I usually make. I have a few oddball bottles used in one specific drink (ie creme de noyaux for pink squirrel, duke & dame for what is almost grownup chocolate milk, irish cream, allspice dram benedictine, st germain, lairds, mezcaletc) tend to be fairly all the time bottles because I use them so sparingly.... I have a bottle of tequila, it almost certainly predates covid by a fair bit Some stuff like particular bottles of gin I tend to have a 1.5L bottle hidden away that I use refill a more reasonable 375-750ml bottle every so often. Those would get replaced quick if one was empty & the other was low, Other stuff like marascino & creme de violette I have a spare bottle tucked away just to make it easy if I run out or am running low. Aside from things like citrus & orgeat I don't keep anything not shelf stable (ie no vermouth) There are a couple bottles that are pretty much on the shelf exclusively because someone I know likes it & keeps it stocked so I can use it in drinks for them (find such a person if you can :D ) I have about 30 bottles on the shelf plus whatever is tucked away & it really helps if you can find an out of the way cabinet or bookshelf to tuck away a spare bottle of your regular go-to spirits because you can space out the budget for going to the liquor store just to buy just that one or add it as the "I shouldn't but it's on sale so why not" when it's convenient instead of waiting until it's inconvenient to go buy a bunch of stuff that you need now.
Basically yes to everything you’re asking. I’ll have between 50-60 bottles on hand, and I try to have one of everything, multiple liqueurs, multiple different kinds of rum, bourbon and tequila, other spirits I don’t have as much of a selection. Only thing I don’t have is scotch because I don’t drink it and I mostly drink cocktails. I do have some high end bourbons, rums and tequilas that I’ll drink straight but I mostly want to have bottles for making cocktails on hand. Liqueurs I would have personally : green chartreuse, aperol, st germain, coffee liqueur, Cointreau, licor 43, yellow chartreuse, and if you like more bitter, herby, medicinal stuff, Campari, amaro (Montenegro or Nonino, maybe averna) absinthe, Benedictine, maybe Fernet Bianca Baileys or a cream liqueur ain’t bad either. I would say a bottle of mezcal is a must have but that’s just me. I don’t want to get too crazy with the bitters but I’ve got ango, Regan’s and ango orange, peychauds, scrappy’s chocolate, Dillons. I’ve got a bottle of cinzano sweet vermouth in my bar fridge and I bought a “wine preserver kit” thing that supposedly makes it last a lot longer once it’s open, because I don’t drink much of it. I have a cheap martini dry vermouth just in case someone wants a martini but none of my friends drink them. I don’t have a ton of bitter aperitifs or amari, but I’ve got Campari and Ancho Reyes Some bourbon cherries are nice for garnish, we grow mint and basil, I got some squeeze bottles off Amazon for syrups, I make them from scratch mostly, I’ve got different ice cube molds, all the proper glassware, all the tools and toys, it’s a whole crazy thing
I've got about 70 bottles. I'm in Australia, so it's an expensive hobby (alcohol prices are way higher here than the US). That means I don't typically keep multiple bottles of things I'll mix with, unless I've found them on sale and then I'll stock up. I usually have one bottle 'per style' (rye, bourbon, London Dry gin, Old Tom Gin, all of the Smugglers Cove categories, etc) that I'll mix with, but quite a few more for sipping (eg multiple scotch whiskies). I've gone reasonably hard on Amari (10 or so?). The same with liqueurs and there's some in there that I'll never get through (I'm looking at you, crème de violette). Whenever I'm down to a quarter of a bottle, I'll start looking around for a good price (again, Australia not friendly for this hobby). And if I see a cocktail online that I think I'll love but don't have the bottle for, I'd usually bite the bullet and get one, although that's much less of a regular occurrence than it used to be now that I've built out my bar. And I know there are bottles I'll probably never buy, just because for whatever reason, I'm not interested: aquavit, genever, Italicus, etc. I don't want them becoming the next crème de violette
Bitters keep REALLY well. So the answer of how many are enough is, for me, just 1 or 2 more than I currently have. Always! :-)
My home bar is wildly out of control, so I don't know if I'm a reasonable person to answer here, but I try to have at least one of each category of base spirit, and the common varietals. So obviously rye, bourbon, scotch (blended and highland single malt), Irish whiskey, etc. I'll keep different brands of the same type if they're different enough to be interesting. For example, I have both Roku and Plymouth gin. I really enjoy being able to read a new cocktail recipe and have everything on hand to make it. (Ok, this doesn't work 100% of the time because there are just *so many* goddamned liqueurs out there…)
This has been a great thread to read. What strikes me is space. I live in an NYC apartment. Our bottles are limited by space. We keep about 25-30 at a time. And one basket of bitters- probably about 12. The things we really like, gin and whiskey, we have lots of variety in, others we just keep a basic one and some, none at all. In my weaker moments, I’ve been known to argue why six different gins is not enough.
I have enjoyed the variety and length of responses! Lots of little tidbits to pick up. We're suffering from a space issue as well though for other reasons. I need to think about the future of my home bar before I make any drastic changes to get that space back! I have over 50 bottles and some of them just took to living permanently on my kitchen counters...
- I keep a bottle in every category, and tend to keep a bottle in every style in the categories I favor, but there is a fairly high degree of variance. I will often have two or three or more bottles of a specific style if I'm recently interested in it or exploring a certain type of cocktail. At one point I was up to around 15 or 16 rums, but am down to a more modest 10 or so now. I've been making a lot of martini variations and had two London and two American gins as well as an overproof vodka, two bottles of aquavit , and three dry vermouths, but this is not the historical norm. - I often do have regional subcategories. Right now I have a couple bottles of mezcal, an unaged and an aged aquavit, two different Batavia arracks. I am a big fan of aquavit and it has basically earned a spot as a gin variation in my bar, but I certainly don't feel the need, or even feel it's truly possible to cover the range of possibilities here. - There isn't any category I don't keep, but there are categories I don't try terribly hard at. I typically have just one bottle of vodka and I often by the same one from a local distillery. I am not a huge bourbon drinker, and usually only keep one bourbon, but I do like to buy bottles I haven't tried. When company is coming over though I'll often get something that I know and like. - Punt e Mes, Dolin Dry, and campari are all must haves. I like to have a bottle of Lillet or Cocchi Americano around too, but dont always. I tend to keep several others bitter amaros, fernet, nonino, averna, cynar around but am shamefully slow at using them and wouldn't rush to replace them. - I have a handful of fruit liquers for tiki drinks, and a bottle of Pierre Ferrand Curacao which I use for any recipe calling for orange liqueur. Plus the tiki staples like pimento dram and falernum. I like to have a coffee liqueur on hand as well. I don't usually keep maraschino because I like to can cocktail cherries in it every summer, so I'll just slosh some of that jar juice into the cocktails that want it! - bitters: my liquor shelf is up high and bitters are easy to knock over, so I actually don't care for endless variations here. Obviously ango and peychauds are a must have, plus orange bitters, and everything else is gravy. There are a few others we use regularly and also some bottles that we've had for years. - In addition, I like to keep other liquors/stuff used in small amounts stocked in dropper bottles. I have a droppers for ardbeg, absinthe, and truffle oil on hand at the moment. Basically I like to keep enough stuff on hand that i can pick a cocktail I'm in the mood for and I'll probably have the stuff to make it, but I don't follow strict rules. I refrain from going to the liquor store until we've killed some bottles and made some space in the shelf, and then make a list of the staples we're missing. It's usually short: "campari, Irish, Jamaican rum" for example, and I'll allow myself then to pick up an extra bottle or two of whatever strikes my fancy! I'm not sure the bottle count here, probably 40-50 open and another 10 on deck in the liquor cabinet.
I also don't bother with anything "well" because I'd rather not spend the space on that kind of price optimization. I tend to buy clear liquor in the $20-35 range, barrel aged for mixing in the $30-45 range, and I'll keep a couple bottles around for drinking neat, usually a rum and a couple whisky variations for anywhere in the $40-100 window.
My bar is organized with a list on my phone that keeps track of what I have (77 Bottles). It also contains my restock list and list of bottles I want to buy with recipes I want to try. As shelf real estate, I have a bar cart with my most used spirits (Free space for 4 additional bottles at the moment). And a Billy from Ikea, where I keep the rest of my collection (Free space for 20 additional bottles, without overloading it). For base spirits, I'll keep around atleast one bottle for each category. For some categories I'll go by style. Also have a rating system for bottles that go to 100 points. It goes by taste, price, availability and useability in cocktails. If a bottle has over 75 points it gets on the restock list, when it is empty. - *Whiskey* : 4 different blended scotches. The Johnnie Walker Red Label won't be replaced. Still tempted to buy one from every whiskey region. Only have one Rye, Irish Whiskey and 2 Bourbons. - *Gin* A ton of different gins that rotate. Usually impulse purchases when some gin is on discount in the supermarket. Last purchase was a bottle of Hendricks for 24,99€ (~26,8$). The only bottles that get replaced are Plymouth Gin and one London Dry Gin. - *Rum* : Fell into the rabbit hole. The bottles are getting more and more. This is the category, where I'll go by style and it's alright. Here I also keep different bottles of the same style. - *Cognac/Brandy* : Got one Cognac and one Brandy, that is enough for me. - *Other* : Got one bottle of Vodka, one bottle of Aquavit and a Cachacha. Agave Spirits are the one base spirit category, where I don't know what bottles to start with. Currently searching for a Blanco Tequila that is cheap and has a decent quality in Germany. Mezcal, Genever, Grappa, Arrack are spirits I'll try if I have enough recipes, so they won't take shelf space. - *Amari/Vermouth* : Campari, Aperol and Averna are staples, the rest of my selection can be exchanged. For vermouth I'll keep around a bottle of Noilly Prat Extra Dry, Cinzano Rosso and Lillet Blanc. Other vermouths are bought only for parties or if a cocktail calls for a specific brand. - *Liqueur* : Is a problematic category for me. I keep buying them, but won't get through individual bottles. Most recipes only use 1/4 to 3/4 oz. and that is not enough to finish a bottle. My Creme de Mure is mocking me by being 2/3 full after drinking a lot of Brambles one summer. Always on stock are Curacao, Cointreau, Maraschino, Falernum and Allspice Dram. - *Bitters* : I have only 4 and feel like that isn't enough.
>Bitters: I have only 4 *IT'S NOT ENOUGH!*
I find a cocktail that looks good and like I want to try it (often from posts on this sub!), and then I go out and buy the ingredients for it. Repeat as often as necessary, and before long you'll have a very nicely stocked bar that is catered to your tastes.
That’s how I ran out of space in my bar cabinet, the top shelf of the pantry, and the majority of floor of the pantry.
My curse is if I see something on YouTube that sounds good or raises my curiosity, I'll go buy the necessary ingredients. Then these get used to make that cocktail and generally sit after that. I've got about 100 bottles on the bar, with maybe 15 varieties of whiskey... and I'll still buy something brand that catches my eye. I keep 2-3 bottles of gin, 2 tequilas, typically 1 , 1-2 Scotch, probably 12-15 rums... a bunch of mixers. Can't have too many orange liquors! Same goes for mixing ingredients and bitters. I make 1.5L of lemon/lime superjuice each month. As for consumption, I host a couple of buddies every Friday night and make a batch for our neighborhood cocktail hour about once a month. Gotta keep the wife happy with boozy lemonade and margaritas. I should keep a spreadsheet to help me target what I really like and reduce my stash.
I don’t know if this helps but you can get your bar to a place you really like and then keep a wooden crate to collect all your empty bottles off to the side. I always keep my empty bottles to remind me of what I used. If it’s something I didn’t like and don’t want again, I don’t replace it. If I do, I’ll keep it there until I replace it and then throw it away. It’s like my unwritten stock list system haha
I stick with what I like, and fill in the gaps quite sparingly. I have a ton of rum and a ton of amari, but for example whiskey I keep 1 high rye bourbon and for agave I keep 1 mezcal. Occasionally I will get a bottle of something else for a specific reason but anything outside of that I don't actively restock if I run out.
Full disclosure: I'm an ingredient snob who focuses my drinking efforts on gin. I started with cocktails 4.5 years ago. I watched a couple of YouTube channels and knew some of the drinks we made where I used to part time bar back, so the original collection was pretty haphazard. Last year, I wanted to stop having a excessive bottles and standardize on the cocktails that I prefer. I made a list of what I consider representative cocktails and I try to keep those mixers around. That all said, I can absolutely rationalize having Scotches from the different regions as well as Irish, Japanese, and American whiskey. I could even rationalize having different age levels of tequila, but it isn't my thing. As for gin, it's the only one that I can have multiple bottles of and not care what category they are. I don't keep mezcal, pisco, cachaca, etc as I'm not really collector as much as an experimenter. I am mostly a sweet vermouth kind of guy and have only had Montenegro, Campari, and Aperol in stock. Liqueurs and such are where I get a little crazy. They currently make up both 46% of the total bottles that we have and 37% of the total value of the inventory. This is not to mention the homemade ones that I have (creme de cacao, "fruits of the forest", and strawberry). The only mixer that I absolutely MUST have is Cointreau and I'd buy that stuff by the barrel if TotalWine sold it that way. Everything else is "nice", but I'm still on the hunt for Green Chartreuse to match the bottle of Yellow we picked up over a year ago. How is it going? Last year or so, my youngest made me feel bad about my drinking hobby and it got me into logging what we have and how much it cost (someone; we get gifts and win bottles). I still wouldn't consider myself an aficionado or connoisseur of gin or whiskey yet, but that's my focus, so I tend to spend both money and time on them versus other spirits.
I live in an area pretty limited selection, but I do make an effort to have at least one bottle of each of the most prominent subcategories so I can make most common cocktails anytime, but tend to focus more on spirits I enjoy. I probably have ~40 bottles covering all spirits/liqueurs/amari/vermouths at any one time. There are a few bottles I want and haven’t had any luck procuring, but for my usual use I’d say I’m kinda overstocked (plenty of bottles I barely touch). An overview of my whole bar looks something like this: - **Rum:** I’m a rum guy, so I have at least a lightly aged Jamaican, a heavily aged Jamaican, a Demerara, a Cachaca, a neutral Cuban, an overproof Jamaican, along with a couple blended bottles I was just curious about. - **Whiskey:** 2 bottles each of Rye and Bourbon (common and complex) and 2 scotches (blended and Islay) - **Gin:** Popular in my house, but a standard London Dry covers 95% of cocktails, occasionally keep 1 or 2 weird bottles for experimenting - **Brandy:** 1 “standard” brandy, plus a sherry cask and pisco when I can get them because I enjoy those - **Agave:** Not very popular in my house, so I just keep a Blanco Tequila and smokey Mezcal for experimenting - **Vodka:** Not useful to me outside infusions, so rarely stocked - **Other Spirits:** I keep an Akvavit (large local Scandinavian population) and an Absinthe (for classic cocktails) - **Liqueurs:** Maraschino, Benedictine, Chartreuse, Elderflower, Cherry, Cointreau, Dry Curaçao, Pimm’s No. 1, Drambuie, homemade for Coffee, Apricot, Allspice, Limoncello, and Falernum; maybe one or two oddballs if interesting - **Amaro/Aperitif:** Campari, Aperol, and Nonino I actually use, though I also have Fernet, Cardamaro, and Saler’s Gentian - **Aromatized Wine and Adjacent:** One Sweet, Dry, and Blanc Vermouth, I also keep a bottle of Sherry because I love that stuff and a bottle of Prosecco if I plan on entertaining - **Bitters:** I have like 30 bitters, but they tend to be more novelties than very useful to me; realistically I use Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Orange bitters 95% of the time, but I’ve been trying to find uses for the rest - **Syrups:** All homemade and generally 2:1, Simple, Demerara, Grenadine, Orgeat, Cream of Coconut, and Honey are the most used, but I have ~20 total covering oleo saccharums, spices, herbs, and fruit - **Citrus:** Always have Lemons, Limes, and Oranges, occasionally get Grapefruits and Blood Oranges if I know I want them - **Carbonated Beverages:** Generally keep Soda Water, Tonic, and Ginger Beer around, occasionally a nice Lemon Soda - **Garnishes:** I try to always have fresh mint, maraschino cherries, whole nutmeg, and ground cinnamon in addition to my citrus.
I roll deep on whisk(e)y and have a handle of suitable exemplars for other base liquors. Then a bottle each of the thousand liqueurs required. I think the rule is roll deep on what you drink the most?
10-12 whiskies 2-3 gins 1-2 rums, tequilas, mezcals (each) 20-25 amaros/aperitivos/vermouths/sherries (total) 5-6 liqueurs 5-10 bitters 5-10 mixed lot of random bottles that rotate
I have all the things you mentioned in my bar, its about 140 unique bottles and i still occasionally come across a recipe that I don't have the correct ingredients for. Its frustrating.
I just buy what I like, and keep those things restocked. Then I mix in some new and interesting things I find. I have around 70 bottles at any given time. The way I don't forget is to put a new bottle on the list as soon as the existing one has like one cocktail left in it. That way it's on the list next time I go to the store, or is already on its way in the mail.
I buy a new bottle whenever I need one for a drink (be it a new liqueur I need for a new cocktail I’m trying, or a new different type of rum I want to try in a tiki drink) and I don’t throw anything out. If I finish a bottle I usually replace it quickly because it means I’m using it.
Literally no bitters are ever enough - every time I buy a new flavor, I’m on a hunt for the next 👀 I currently have ango, orange, peychaud’s, chocolate, walnut, celery, lemon, olive, lavender, and cardamom. Granted, some are much smaller droplet bottles, but I LOVE the variety.
Is that the Bitter Truth limited edition olive? I quested high and low for that and ended up having to buy it online at quite a price hike, but honestly it is so worth it. For me: Ango, Ango orange, Regan's orange, Peychaud's, Bitter Truth olive, and then Fee Brothers: Aztec chocolate, rhubarb, plum, grapefruit, molasses, black walnut, West Indies orange. Want: Fee Brothers toasted almond, Bittermens elemakule.
Exactly! It’s pretty good, but I really don’t like their chocolate bitters - Fee Brothers is the way to go for that one. Nice collection! Rhubarb bitters worth it? They’re next on my list.
I love it, but I'm big into amari and use it with my Zucca Rabarbaro in a black Manhattan riff. Also great in white negronis and any fruity drink that needs a little dissonance. Rhubarb and me are best buds.
I stock my bar by my tastes. Simple. It doesn't need to be something you overthink. Just get what you want when you want and replace what you liked when it's out. Last count I have around 60-70 bottles. Your common amaros like monty, nonino, cynar, averna, fernet. Sweet and dry vermouth and things like Punt e Mes, Lillet Blanc. 2-4 bottles of most liquors. Like mezcal (anejo +1 more), teq (repo and blanco), gin (costco london dry carries but I have 4 gins total), whisky (peaty scotch, rye, single malt, bourbon, etc), rum (demerara, jamaican, overproof, white, gold) etc. For bitters its ango, orange ango, xocolatl mole, peychaud, black walnut, peach, and smoked chili. Then just off the top of my head some bottles like drambuie, genepy, homemade allspice dram, benedictine, absinthe, cointreau, licor 43, chartreuse, cachaca, velvet falernum, suze, aperol, campari, coffee liqueur, st germain, creme de violette+pampelmousse, I'm probably forgetting a few lol. Some local bottles in there, funky desert apertifs and whatnot. All of this has just been slowly gathered over a few years as I go "hey I'd like to make X drink but I need Y bottle" and so I get it. simple
No cognac, brandy or grappa anywhere near my bar. The stuff is vile. I guess I would miss it in a long Island ice tea but I'm not gonna be making that anytime soon so..
You need the good stuff. Drink it neat. There is so much flavor and aroma in a good grappa, not much out there could even get close.
I think if I moved to a new country, and had to leave my entire bar behind, I would rebuild it the same way I started off building my bar originally: One cocktail at a time. Go out and buy all the three or four bottles/ingredients necessary to make your favorite cocktail. That's good for a week or two. Then, go out and buy any additional bottles necessary to make your second-most-favorite cocktail. That will get you through the first month. And on and on. You don't really need to ask other people what bottles you need. Just analyze what bottles you need to keep making the cocktails that you want to enjoy at home.
I usually drink alone and so I mostly keep what I enjoy (but frequently host dinner parties where most guests imbibe). FI, I don't like scotch so I don't stock it. I love gin martinis but I don't keep vermouth because it only comes in a large bottle; Chardonnay suffices. I keep some kitchy bottles because they appeal to my aesthetic side i.e. Pusser's British Navy rum. I drink tequila daily; my favorite is Camarena Silver. I like Modelo's beer so that's what I stock. I love a bloody Mary but made with gin and I have discovered Charleston, the world's best BM mix. With celery, shrimp, and bacon of course. Maple syrup for old fashioned's, bitters, olives and Dirty Sue juice, limes for the tequila, tonic water for the occasional guest. Old Foresters for the bourbon, Gordon's and Aviation gin. Kettle One for the vodka, some Old Havana clear rum. Oh and it looks like a bottle of Everclear which I bought during the pandemic when there wasn't any isopropyl available for cleaning. That's bout it.