How to Stock a Bar Cart From Scratch, by Budget

For this budget I recommend investing in three different base spirits (choose your favorites from Whiskey, Vodka, Tequila, Gin and Rum). If you aren't sure what you like yet, Google some of your favorite cocktails to see what they are made with. I also recommend one bottle of bitters. Start with Angostura or any aromatic cocktail bitters, because you can use them in a huge variety of drinks.

Here are a few recipes you can make with my choice of base spirits pictured above (Vodka, Gin & Rum) and common kitchen staples (like juice and club soda!): With Gin you can make a Tom Collins, a Gimlet or a Gin Sour. With Rum you can try a Mojito, a Hurricane and a Painkiller. With Vodka you can make a Bloody Mary, a Screwdriver or a Salty Dog. See? The possibilities are endless!

For this budget I recommend purchasing 5-6 bottles of base liquor. You can also get two bottles of bitters. Or you can swap out one of the bitters for some dry and sweet vermouth (this needs to be refrigerated after opening).

A few recipes you can make (in addition to the recipes above!): With Whiskey you can make a Whiskey Sour, a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned. With tequila you can make Margaritas (in about 1 million different flavors), a Tequila Sunrise and a Bloody Maria.

I know it's unlikely that many of you will want to spend this much on bar cart supplies in one day, so just think of this as planning for the future! You can build it up over time. For this budget I recommend 9 base liquors (you can branch out/upgrade as shown below), 6 bitters (I use Fee Brothers Celery, Bitterman's Elemekule and Hellfire bitters most, in addition to the Angosturas) and 3-5 Liqueurs and Mixers (I love St. Germain, Benedictine and Cointreau).

Also at this stage it's a great time to branch out and invest in some good bar tools and different types of glassware. We'll talk more about that stuff below.

I spent the past year collecting different bottles and pieces a little bit at a time. The best part is that now no matter what recipe I want to try I usually don't need to spend too much money, because I have so many basics. Plus it's great for parties! We have a couple friends who geek out for hours mixing different cocktails.

After you've collected the basics you can branch out and collect different types of your favorite spirits. Whiskey, Gin, Rum and Tequila are really diverse, and it's fun to collect different types from different regions.

There are so many special bottles that you may want to eventually collect. I love this Japanese Whiskey for hot toddys. And Absinthe is something I rarely use, but it's fun to have for special recipes. Since liquor lasts forever-ish, it's ok to buy things you won't use as often. Although, every time I buy a special bottle I inevitably start searching for more ways to use it!

These are SO fun! I love trying different liqueurs and mixers! They aren't as versatile as the base liquor, which is why it's important to collect those first, but they often come up in cocktail recipes and will add lot of flavor to your drinks!

Tools are usually inexpensive and you'll get a LOT of use out of them. Plus, they are just fun because they'll make your at-home-cocktails feel more legit! The tools I use the most are my muddler (for any drink with muddled fruit or mint leaves) and my fine mesh strainer (great for straining homemade simple syrups into mason jars). A jigger is nice for measuring, but you can use any measuring cup! Having a cocktail shaker is awesome, but you can use anything that seals (like a mason jar) if you don't have one. You just need to be creative when you're pouring, so the ice stays in the container.

Pictured: julep strainer, citrus juicer, muddler, jigger, fine mesh strainer.

Some classic cocktails are served in special cups. It's fun to collect copper mugs for Moscow Mules and silver cups for Mint Juleps. I collect cocktail shakers at home and I love using them at parties and for special dinners.

There are endless varieties of glassware you can collect. I'm planning to write a whole post about just glasses eventually. To get started, the most-used glasses in my collection are a simple cocktail glass, a rocks glass and a collins glass. So basically, something pretty, something short and something tall! You can always branch out from there. I love collecting random vintage glassware from flea markets.