Bar Basics - How to Stock a Home Bar

Hi guys! My name is Moe Harris. I am here at the Professional Bartending School in Arlington, Virginia and today, I am going to show you some of the basic alcohols you are going need to throw a great party.

Here is what we have here, we have a basic bar set-up and what you are going to need are some basic alcohols, some basic liquor and some liqueurs. Now, to begin with, just the distinction between a liquor and a liqueur is going to be in the sugar content. To be defined as a liqueur, the product has to have at least two-and-a-half percent sugar. Now, for alcohol, thats a lot of sugar which means your liqueurs are going to be sweeter than your liquors. They are usually going to be thicker and heavier and they do tend to have a lot less alcohol. In this bar set-up right here, weve got our liqueurs in the back and the liquor in the front just to be able to separate them better for you, but again, whatever bar you have, you can make mix things up, however youd like. As far as liquors go, you dont need a billion alcohols, you need a couple of good vodkas, a couple of good gins, a couple of good rums, a couple of good tequilas, a couple of whiskeys and finally a brandy or a cognac. The liqueurs, those two back rows we have back there, you could think of those as a little extra seasoning to a drink. This is the base. This is what makes it strong, gives it most of its flavor; these liqueurs, they kind of compliment it. They range in flavor from raspberry, to banana, to almond, to chocolate, to coffee and throwing these things together with a couple of juices or sodas, we are going to have an amazing amount of drinks.