For those who entertain often a well stocked bar is a must. Making your guests feel welcome while impressing them with a drink mixed at home is the perfect way to add personality to your event. Having key pieces in your bar gives delight to your everyday. Whether you have a designated cabinet or simply a buffet table to use and stock as a bar, stocking the right supplies is crucial.

Pair your William Yeoward glassware and Match pewter with Caspari napkins for perfection in home entertainment.

Essential Glasses

The first step in stocking your bar is choosing what kind of glassware to keep on-hand. The five essential glasses are first, the Double-Old Fashioned glass for all your spirits and cocktails you serve with ice. Second, a tumbler slightly smaller than your Double-Old Fashioned for spirits to drink at room temperature. Third, a highball glass for spirits mixed with tonics or sodas.  Fourth, a martini glass to use for your martini and cosmopolitan-like cocktails. Finally, a small cordial or shot glass for dessert wines and cognac-like spirits.

Here at Ampersand we recommend William Yeoward’s American Bar Collection.for all the glassware listed above for its exquisite simplicity.

Essential for Serving

Not only is the right glass important for stocking your bar, but basic serveware pieces will make for the utmost functionality and ease in serving your guests.  The essential serving pieces to keep in your bar are: ice buckets, ice tongs and scoops, (we favor a scoop) a wine and a champagne cooler, coasters, a bottle opener, a corkscrew, a martini shaker and cocktail napkins.

If you’re making mixed drinks in large quantities use a mixing pitcher to pour the mixed drinks into glasses of ice. A long handled stirspoon is very useful for the host. If you use a favorite spirit more often than when entertaining, fill a decanter with that favorite. A carafe for decanting wine and allowing it to breathe for an hour adds fullness of body!

Match’s Pewter Barware brings heritage to your stocked bar along with elegance. Ampersand also enjoys Julia Knight’s Barware Collection for its color-uniqueness and coordinating colorful food serveware.

Organization

For a functionally stocked bar organization is key. An organized bar separates barware and serveware. Within barware you should organize by stemware for wine and glassware for other drinks. If you have limited space store your wine glasses in another place. Choosing items for your bar should also be personal. Select pieces you know you will use for either entertaining or your own use or both!