Your home bar is your temple, your place to really show off what you know about...bars. So, to help show all of your future party guests just how knowledgeable you are when it comes to running your own bar, take away some nuggets of knowledge from my two part series: How To Update Your Home Bar. Part Two- Bar Tools!
Welcome back to Part II of our two-part series on how to update your home bar. Last week’s edition on updating spirits was a great place to start, but now it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of your home bar: the tools. There are a variety of different tools that are essential to having a well-functioning bar. Just like updating your spirits, you don’t need a whole lot to get where you need to be. The essentials can be whittled down to a few basics, leaving your home bar ready for anything.
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When it comes to bar tools, it can get a little tricky to define what exactly is needed. What makes a tool a bar tool? The answer to this question can vary based on the types of drinks you hope to serve to your guests. For the most part, these tools are interchangeable based on what you plan on serving. While you may wax nostalgic for the wine key that you’ve had since college, perhaps it’s time to kick it up a notch with something a little more modern. With that, let’s kick it off with the tools for beer and wine service.
For Beer:
Wall-Mounted Bottle Opener: These bottle openers are a revelation to any and all bartenders. If you are a frequent bar-goer like myself, you know that the basic tool you’ll see coming out of most bartenders’ waistbands is a metal bottle opener. You may even have one that hangs off of your keys for easy bottle opening. However, with a wall-mounted bottle opener, the chances of losing that portable bottle opener move to zero. Just nail it into your wall or part of the bar and you have a bottle opener at the ready.
Find One Here
For Wine:
Portable Electric Wine Bottle Opener: Perhaps you’re accustomed to the old school wine key, where you screw in the corkscrew and then pull the cork out without it breaking in the neck of the bottle and without hurting yourself in the process. With this electric opener, you can open a bottle of wine with ease. It may seem a little fancy for your home bar, but when you aren’t pulling out cork after cork for a party at your house, you’ll be thanking your lucky stars that you went electric.
Find One Here
Wine Glass Cleaning Brushes: Unlike your typical water glass, a wine glass has a very defined shape that can make cleaning in the sink with a standard sponge or in a dishwasher much more difficult. With brushes that are specially shaped to get in those awkwardly shaped glasses, the problem is solved!
Find Them Here
Portable Wine Cooler: A very popular item on the market right now is the wine refrigerator, which keeps wine at a specific temperature at all times. This is a great product to have, but the fridges are often a bit on the pricey side. How can you achieve the same goal without breaking the bank? A portable wine cooler will keep your bottle chilled without ice and without having to buy a mini-fridge.
Find One Here
Now that we’ve tackled beer and wine, the fun can really start. As delicious as they are when in the glass and ready to drink, cocktails can take a lot of preparation. A stir and shake here, a fizz there, these are elements that will make your cocktails really pop, and that poppage won't occur without the right gadgets.
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