Essential bar and drink accessories that you should have for a dining room bar.
Setting up
a dining room bar can seem like a complicated, expensive process. The truth is
that is can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. It all depends
on what type of set up you want. There's an endless amount of bar accessories
available for anyone that wants a professional bar in their home. But, if you
just want a nice bar where you can entertain family and friends, there's really
only 5 essential bar accessories that you need.
Bar Ice Bucket and Tongs
While you can always run back and forth to the refrigerator for ice, it's much
easier to have a ice bucket at your dining room bar. Invest in a good quality
insulated ice bucket. A cheap ice bucket just won't keep the ice frozen for
very long. Choose a fairly large sized ice bucket if you do a lot of
entertaining. And, keep some ice tongs close at hand so that you don't have to
handle the ice.
Essential Glassware for Your Home Bar
If you don't already have bar glasses and don't want to purchase them, your
regular kitchen glasses will work just fine. But, if you're going to have a
nice bar in your dining room, you really should have the right glassware. Every
bar needs shot glasses and if you plan on fixing mixed drinks, you really need
some 7 ounce glasses. If you plan to serve wine, you will need a set of wine or
champagne glasses. And, if you love beer, you might want to add some beer mugs
to your glassware collection.
Bar Jigger
A bar jigger is an essential bar accessory if you want delicious mixed drinks.
Even a professional bartender would have trouble guessing at the perfect amount
of ingredients. Choose one that has a 1 1/2 ounce measure on one end and a 3/4
ounce measure on the other end. Although a glass jigger will work, a stainless
steel jigger will provide the best results. Glass jiggers generally hold more
alcohol than the stainless ones.
Drink Shaker
If you want the best tasting cocktails, you are going to need a drink shaker.
There are two different types of shakers, the Cobbler shaker and the Boston shaker. The Cobbler shaker has
three separate pieces, the tumbler, the lid and a cap that fits on top of the
lid with a built-in strainer. The Boston shaker only has two pieces, a glass
container that will hold around 500 ml and a metal one that will hold about 900
ml. Either type of shaker will work just fine for most home bars. However, if
you purchase a Boston shaker, you will need a separate
strainer.
Barspoon
A barspoon does a lot of different jobs so it's very important that you have one
for your dining room bar. Not only is a barspoon used to stir cocktails, it's
also used to measure some of the ingredients. You can also use it to crush
ingredients that you plan to add to the drinks. Barspoons are made of stainless
steel and are generally about ten inches in length. And, they will measure one
teaspoon of alcohol or drink flavoring.
Extra Home Bar Accessories
It's always a good idea to keep a sharp knife and cutting board handy for
slicing fruits and garnishes for drinks. If you plan on serving wine, make sure
that you have a corkscrew and a few extra corks. You will also need a can
opener and a bottle opener. And, depending on what type of drinks you plan to
make, you may want to keep a blender under your bar.
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