We have been reviewing drink gear on this site since 2008, which means we have owned every gimmick the industry ever shipped. The margarita machine that made juice. The 24-piece bar kit where 19 pieces never left the stand. After seventeen years, we can tell you exactly what a home bar needs, and it is a shorter list than the internet wants you to believe.
Here is the buying order that works, with real prices.
Start with tools, not bottles
Everyone does this backwards. A hundred dollar bottle of bourbon poured over cloudy freezer ice through a pasta strainer is a sixty dollar drink experience. Buy the tools first.
The essential five:
| Tool | What it does | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| Boston shaker | Shakes everything, never clogs | $15 to $25 |
| Jigger | Drinks taste right every time | $8 to $12 |
| Hawthorne strainer | Keeps ice out of the glass | $10 |
| Bar spoon | Stirred drinks, layered shots | $8 |
| Ice cube tray, 2 inch | Slow-melting ice, better drinks | $10 |
That is about $60 for everything, and it fits in a drawer. A Boston shaker (the two-tin kind bartenders use) beats the three-piece cobbler shaker that comes in most gift kits, because the little strainer cap on a cobbler freezes shut mid-shake and the built-in strainer clogs. Ask us how many cobbler shakers we have thrown away since 2008. The answer is four.
The six bottles that make ninety percent of drinks
Skip the wall of liquor. Six bottles cover almost every cocktail a guest will ever ask for:
- Bourbon or rye. Old fashioneds, whiskey sours, manhattans.
- Gin. Martinis, gin and tonics, negronis.
- White rum. Daiquiris, mojitos.
- Blanco tequila. Margaritas, palomas.
- Sweet vermouth. The supporting actor in half the classics. Refrigerate it after opening. Yes, really.
- Orange liqueur. Margaritas and about forty other drinks.
Spend $20 to $30 a bottle. The $60 stuff is for sipping, not mixing, and nobody in seventeen years has ever noticed mid-margarita.
Glassware: two shapes, that’s it
Rocks glasses and coupes. The rocks glass handles whiskey, sours, and anything on ice. The coupe handles everything served up, and unlike a martini glass, it does not launch the drink onto your rug. Four of each from a restaurant supply store runs about $40. Skip anything that comes in a set of sixteen.
What to skip
- Novelty shot kits and party funnels. We reviewed them all back in the day. They were fun for one party and then they were landfill. We would rather you buy good ice trays.
- Electric cocktail makers. A $300 machine that makes a worse margarita than a $20 shaker.
- The 32-piece mixology kit. You will use five pieces. Buy the five pieces.
- Flavored everything. Whipped cream vodka does not age well on a shelf or in life.
The quick answers
- Total starter budget: about $250: $60 tools, $150 for six bottles, $40 glassware
- First tool to buy: a Boston shaker, $15 to $25
- Bottles that cover most cocktails: bourbon, gin, white rum, blanco tequila, sweet vermouth, orange liqueur
- Glassware needed: rocks glasses and coupes, four of each
- Biggest waste of money: multi-piece gift kits and electric cocktail machines
Next up: put the shaker to work with our cocktail guides, or if you have people coming over this weekend, brush up on beer pong rules before someone invents their own.