Tis the Season to Be Merry… with a Cocktail!
Hello 2021!
Despite the dreariness of this year, I’ve definitely been in the holiday spirit these last few weeks. Maybe it’s because everyone seems to really be going all out with their holiday decorations this year. Not leaving your house anytime soon? Might as well make it festive and cozy! One way to really spice things up: trying different cocktails!
I know I can’t be alone in having taken bars and restaurants for granted back in the olden days- i.e. pre-COVID. Going out and being treated to a favorite meal and fancy drinks, all without having to clean a single dish, sounds like a fantasy world these days. Making our home spaces more special is a great way to combat this sense of loss. Rethinking home bar supplies and zones is becoming a new trend in the back-half of this pandemic, and I am so on board!
I think that every home needs at least one corner that houses barware. I love these bright and light corners because they can be such a callback to the boisterous, Prohibition era 1920s (Art Deco, anyone?!) and can really liven up an otherwise somewhat dull area. I especially love them this time of year when you can dress them up for the holidays. Despite not having our usual gatherings this year and being apart from extended family decorating the bar for our small group get togethers I do think helps make things more festive.
At-home bar setups are great in any season, but there is just something about holiday bar carts that are so festive. Source here
What’s the Best Fit For Your Home?
Rethinking and glamorizing the at-home cocktail hour has been so fun these past few months. We’ve gone from the ritual of just having a cocktail to the ritual of making a cocktail (and having it too!). I have a college friend who has posted a new crafted cocktail in a special glass every day since March---apparently The Savoy Cocktail Book is quite extensive.
Love being able to use Bombay Sapphire!
Depending on your home, there are several different ways to style your bar area. From a mobile bar cart, to an entire barroom in a basement, there is a solution for everyone, and each of these can really be spruced up (see what I did there?) for the holidays.
Bar Carts
These are the most simple solutions and a great place to get started while you’re planning your future, full-blown at-home bar. Bar carts have been a staple for decades, and this awesome article by Hunker traces its origins back to tea carts of the late 1800s. They are so convenient and, really, just cool. I mean, who doesn’t immediately think of “Mad Men” when they think of bar carts these days?
Forget milk and cookies, I’ll take champagne and pomegranates! Source here.
The mobile nature of bar carts make them extremely convenient if you spend your time in different rooms or if you have a small home and need to adjust furniture often. It’s also a great place to stick some of your holiday decorations that are small and could get lost in the fray. Finish off with some garlands or wreaths, and you have the most festive small party in town!
Bar carts are appropriate any time of day! This cute “warming station” is great for those cold days spent outside at socially distant get-togethers or hanging up decorations. Source here.
One of my favorite things about bar carts is how quickly you can change their “look.” From a coffee station in the morning, to a lunch cocktail in the afternoon, to party time cocktails in the evening, to even a nightcap area after a long day of holiday festivities, the bar cart can hold it all. It only takes a few minutes to switch out the liquors, glasses, and decorations to suit whatever time of day it is and whatever you and your family are craving.
My bar cart at home isn’t really a cart since it doesn’t have wheels, but I love it. It sits up high and with it’s mirrored top creates a bit of glamour year-round by brightly reflecting the polished crystal barware. I keep a photo of my son on it dancing at a dear friend’s wedding years ago which I think adds a party atmosphere to the whole set up.
Adding Christmas ornaments in a crystal bowl and cheery red champagne flutes create a holiday feel to my small bar.
This bar cart has storage solutions within storage solutions. A small home’s dream! Source here.
Wet/Dry Bars
Wet or dry bars (only difference being whether or not there is a sink present) are great in-between solutions if your space allows for more than just a simple bar cart. You only really need a short wall or small corner of a room to create a bar nook.
I created a dry bar from a dead-end space in the back of the kitchen. The ladder makes use of all available wall space to display and store glassware. Source.
The counter space is great for all of the citrus slicing, mint muddling, and garnish prep you might have to do, and it also offers a place to create some cabinetry and storage solutions to show off all of your accoutrements.
Wet/dry bars are so fun because you can stick them in almost any corner of your home. Office? Sure!(It was good enough for Mad Men afterall!) Living room? Why not! Game room in the basement? Absolutely!
This cozy living room scene makes me want to get under a blanket and never leave the room. The warm lighting in the cabinet makes this corner wet bar stand out but not be the entire focus of the room. It’s a beautiful way to display glasses and more holiday decorations. Source here.
Wet bars are also a good idea for spaces that otherwise go slightly unused, like short hallways or small pantries. Sort of like the kitchen, if you have a wet bar in your home it’s likely that your guests are going to gather there. So, it’s never a bad idea to tuck that area off to the side and a bit out of the way of the main thoroughfare of a home.
This gorgeous wet bar transformed a hallway into an awesome usable space. Enough room for a few people to squeeze in and toast the night together. Source here. Photo by Trevor Tondro.
Doing Double Duty
One of my favorite design puzzles is working with small spaces. While it can get challenging, there is always a solution that works for all spaces. You just have to work with it for a bit! And it’s no different with small homes or spaces and barware.
As I detailed, bar carts are a great solution for small corners or rooms -- especially since they’re typically on wheels and can easily be moved out of the way if need be. Another favorite solution of mine is to take a console cabinet or a bookcase and make it do double duty. Make space on some of those shelves for books, but also for glassware and perhaps a shaker and a jigger!
In designing this bar I took an extra-wide doorway and created a bar nook in the new dining room. The antiqued mirror tiles backing the cabinetry add just enough flash to a bar that has top-notch storage. Source.
This sleek black cabinetry (that’s a fridge in there!) makes the books pop and the stemware look extra elegant. Source here. Design by Leanne Ford.
In small spaces, it’s extremely important to use all the space efficiently. Creating a corner that serves multiple purposes but also looks great is a fun challenge and always something to brag about!
Shoe and bag storage accompanied by a quick drink. Works for me! Source here. Photo by Read McKendree
Not all “double duty” solutions have to be about storage! All furniture is art, in my eyes, but some furniture is more art-like than others (see: Lalanne sheep!).
Of course, all bar carts/cabinets serve as a decorative piece, but this one is so unique and a focal point of the room. It’s not only a piece of art, it’s also a side or coffee table that is now serving as a small bar table with glasses, etc., stored in a separate space just off to the side. So innovative! Monkey Shoulder anyone?! Source here Photo by Emily Gilbert.
These double duty solutions are easy to dress up for any holiday, too! Choosing bold colors and then decorating as appropriate makes it easy to keep your barware relevant in any season.
I love how this cabinet was transformed into a dry bar rather than keeping it as a storage space. The gold leaf really makes a statement, and the pop of red in the interior of the cabinet is perfect. How clever to create that layered corner shelving? Wouldn’t it be great if those letters weren’t permanent and were something you could change to fit each season or holiday?! Source here.
And finally, it’s important to remember that the rule of thumb for bar spaces should be: classy not cluttered. Not all tools and glasses and liquors need to be on display! If you have a double duty bar cart, then it actually looks much cleaner and more sophisticated to just have a few choice barware on display.
The combo of that cool side table with this mobile bar cart (with record player underneath!) is a fantastic double-duty solution that looks interesting while staying clean and simple. Source here. Photo by Michael Wells.
The Importance of Accoutrements
Delicious drinks aside, the most fun part of building your at-home bar is all of the glassware, tools, and pretty trinkets you can get to really build it out. While the goal of any bar space should be classy and not cluttered, there are a few things that are absolute staples of any cocktail hour. Martha Stewart outlines this quite simply here, and my own recommendations are below.
Glassware
Whether or not you’re a cocktail fanatic or prefer a classic wine or beer, glassware is arguably the most important element. Can you imagine drinking a martini from a tumbler?! The glassware makes the drink, so it’s a good idea to have a solid variety in your own at-home bar.
My bistro-designed bar filled with my client’s beautiful barware-- #barwaregoals
Here are the basics that I recommend. Typically these come in set numbers of 2, 4, or 6. Make sure you’re consistent!
● White wine glasses
● Red wine glasses
● Champagne flutes
● Pint/beer glasses
● High balls
● Low balls
● Martini glasses
● Shot glasses
Source here.
Depending on who you are, you might add some margarita glasses or coups, perhaps, as some “out of the norm” choices. But I find that we typically use the ones listed above the most for any party (remember parties?! Now they’re just parties for two and they’re called Friday nights!).
Tools
There are some tools, like a jigger, that can be substituted for by a shot glass. However, there are a few bar tools that are pretty essential if you want to have a complete barware set. Here are a few:
● Shaker/Mixing glass
○ Essential that this is separate than the glass you’re actually enjoying the cocktail in!
● Muddler
● Strainer
● Citrus reamer
● Ice maker/Ice trays/Ice bucket
● Cutting board and paring knife
Here is a nice graphic from Diego Bar Academy that lists a few other tools that every good bar has:
Source here.
Garnishes
The citrus reamer and the cutting board/knife are essential bar tools because not only do cocktails require plenty of fresh fruit juice, but they also require beautiful garnishes!
Some drinks really are just works of art. Source: Cody Chan, Unsplash.
From lime, lemon, or orange slices in summer-y drinks to herbs and spices in winter-y drinks -- or all of the garnishes required of a Bloody Mary -- there are very few limits to what can be considered a garnish. Most important of all? Olives in those martinis!
A classic. Source here.
Bits & Bobs
There are a few specific things that I include in every bar set up that I have, whether it be for just me and Ernie (as it always is these days…), or for a small or large gathering of friends and family.
While we’d all love to believe that we are perfect and never spill or need a quick clean up, I find that cocktail napkins are essential to any cocktail hour. Plain cocktail napkins are just fine, but I love to find unique and funny cocktail napkins to display amid the appetizers I lay out during cocktail hour. Not only do they make the spread look more unique, but they make almost everyone laugh and are great conversation starters!
Opening my mother’s refrigerator I would see jars of olives without the olives. She saved the brine for her martinis. My sister and I used to make fun of her for that --- how important can the brine from a jar of olives be for a cocktail? When I found my own brine jars in my refrigerator I knew I had a problem! Luckily we don’t need to be so frugal with this necessary martini ingredient---I discovered someone else had thought of the obvious and you can buy olive brine on it’s own to outfit your bar.
The only thing better than a good appetizer to complement a cocktail is a good book! There are so many books about cocktails out there, but there are a few tried and true ones that should be staples of any bar library.
First is the book my college friend recommends: The Savoy Cocktail Book. Since the start of the pandemic, they’ve gone through this book A-Z and then back again from Z-A with little to complain about.
Another pandemic concoction from my friend. Aren’t these pretty? I love all the different bottles too!
One more book to consider is The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails. Again, thinking of “Mad Men,” cocktails really do go hand-in-hand with New York City. This book provides some delicious (and some questionable) cocktail recipes and most come with an NYC-themed background story from some notable writers. It’s a classy book that will look great in your classy bar library!
My niece and soon-to-be nephew-in-law incorporated The Essential NY Times Book of Cocktails in their industrial-themed mobile bar car in their small apartment in San Francisco. Those wheels come in handy when rolling closer to this comfy corner seat reading that hefty tome! A recent bi-weekly family trivia night found them reading recipes from this book while we had to guess the name of the cocktail. I can confirm there are some great cocktails in that book!
Another recommendation: Difford’s Guide for Discerning Drinkers. I love it for the title alone! This website is extensive and essential. Any question you have about cocktails will probably be found on this site. It’s all virtual, so jot down a few recipes and assemble your own recipe book of your favorite cocktails. I’ve been loving Mixbook Photo Co. to create photo books this holiday season and creating your personal book of cocktails is a great idea and a good way to keep track of cocktails you want to have again (or give as a gift to your favorite wanna-be mixologist)!
My COVID Cocktail
In our home bar we have an (almost) laminated piece of paper with my sister’s Cosmopolitan recipe. It is definitely our favorite, and most festive, pandemic cocktail. Here’s our tried and true recipe, thanks Patty!:
Patty and I enjoying one of her very special martinis—check out that lemon twist and those olives!
Cheers!
Ready to upgrade your bar cart, wet bar, or go big with a full bar room?! Let’s get in touch so we can get started and toast the space with a cocktail!
Subscribe to our blog to get all future posts straight to your inbox!