Here’s to your new home bar!
And the best thing is: We reveal insider tricks from the pros, offering all knowledge to mix the perfect cocktail. Cheers!
Whisky - one classic, three recipes
Gin - one trendsetter, three recipes
Rum - one all-rounder, three recipes
Tequila - a touch of Mexico, three recipes
Sparking WIne - countless bubbles, three recepies
These are on us: 10 pro tips for your home bar!
1) Where is the best place to set up your bar?
It’s easy: your bar should always be where the crowd is. Otherwise you’ll be standing in the kitchen all evening and won’t enjoy being with your guests – and vice versa. A professional bar cabinet is great, but for now a shelf or sideboard where the alcohol is protected from sunlight is sufficient. Serving trolleys are also trending right now and will give your bar some mobility.
2) Which glasses for which drink?
There is always room for improvement when it comes to glasses. But for starters, we recommend tumblers for iced drinks and highball glasses for long drinks (four to six of each). Expand your range gradually – for instance, with Martini or champagne glasses. Rule of thumb: the more delicate a drink, the more delicate the glass.
3) What kind of equipment do I need?
Again, there are no limits in terms of equipment. But with this basic set, you can easily prepare a variety of drinks: measuring cup, cocktail shaker, tall mixing glass plus stirring spoon, bar strainer, ice bucket for ice cubes and an ice cube maker (edge length of ice cubes at least 4 cm). If not already available in your household: citrus press and peeler.
5) How many ice cubes do you need?
Fact is: You’ll always need more ice than you think, because you need it for chilling, shaking, stirring and serving. By the way, a professional ice cube is square and its edges are at least 4 cm long. Ice cubes that are too small melt quickly and dilute the flavour. Clear ice cubes are particularly chic. They are made using boiled water (less oxygen = fewer bubbles).
6) Are ice cubes enough to chill the drinks?
Most drinks are served ice cold, as they taste best that way. If you have enough space in the fridge, it’s worth chilling the glasses. This will keep your drinks fresh even longer and the ice cubes will also last longer.
7) What other ingredients should you have on hand?
Soft drinks like soda, cola, tonic, ginger ale and bitter lemon are part of every good bar. For mixing (and decorating), we recommend the juice and zest of fresh limes, lemons and oranges. Buy special ingredients such as herbs, cream, milk or coconut milk only when needed – they may go bad quickly. Sugar syrup lasts longer and makes your basic set perfect.
8) How to shake a cocktail properly?
You’ll have to shake a drink if it contains ingredients that can’t be mixed by stirring, such as cream or fruit juices. Our recommendation for a three-part shaker: put in the ice cubes and ingredients, make sure the lid is tight when closing it and then always keep one hand on the lid. Shake briefly and vigorously, usually up to ten seconds. The longer you shake, the colder but also more watered down the drink will be.
9) Which ingredients don’t belong in a shaker?
It should be obvious, but we’ll mention it anyway: carbonated liquids don’t belong in the shaker. Shaking creates a “champagne cork effect” and the contents will come out at you when you open the shaker. As a rule, only drinks with heavy components such as syrup, juice, cream or egg white are shaken. Clear drinks are stirred in a tall glass.
10) How do you decorate cocktails like a pro?
You can give your drinks some extra pizzazz by adding a fruity touch to the rim of the glass: wash an untreated fruit (lime, orange or lemon, depending on the recipe) with hot water, pat dry and cut off a thumb-sized zest (only the coloured peel; not the white, bitter part). Rub the peel over the rim of the glass, twist or bend the zest over the glass so that the essential oils are released, and then add to the glass.
