I love your post! I made the same discovery a few months ago when I ran out of foil and wanted to line my baking sheet for baked chicken strips, not from a bag or box ;-). Since then I have been lining everything with it and am so happy. If I could just find a roll that is as narrow as foil I will be in parchment heaven.

Very interesting and a great idea, Tim. My list just got a little longer. Thank you.

I just ordered the pink onion glasses. I must admit, I have been using my swim goggles for as long as I can remember. These will be much kinder to my hair. Thanks for the link.

I love this thread.

http://www.cocktail.uk.com/shop/products/strauss-glassware.asp

http://www.lockhartcatering.co.uk/glassware/old-fashioned-whisky-glasses/c1319/inverness-spirit-glass-12-1-4oz/

http://www.barmans.co.uk/products/product.asp?ID=4260&title=Sterling+Old+Fashioned+Tumblers

Orrefors made a fantastic square based glass with a good weight to it, but I believe it has been discontinued. It is quite pricy on eBay (£25.92/glass). It's called Orrefors Odyssey. My parents have this as their barware and I love it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orrefors-OD...

Great list of recommendations! I'm missing La Guerrerense now!

Where's the "like" button when we need one? I want to be in New Orleans with a Pimm's Cup in my hand.

Good tip. Thanks for sharing.

It's funny how quickly I have migrated from setting up a starter bar to wanting a better bar. I am a collector by nature and I appreciate the craft behind most things that I am interested in. The good thing is that there is no due date and this can grow over time. It will be fun trying new things.

Thanks for the Falernum tip and recipe. That sounds good. Tiki hour will be on soon. As for my daughter, she'll have to stick with ginger beer on it's own since she is way too young to have an adult beverage. She does love to put umbrellas in her glass to feel a little fancy.

Well, it looks like I'll have to make another trip to Hi-Time. When I was there the other day I had my 2 boys with me. I'm sure that I looked like the mother of the year with a 2 year old, a 6 month old, and a cart full of booze. This time I will go it alone ;-).

I have Sailor Jerry's on hand just because I ran out of Gosling's and haven't replaced it. I do like rum, so I will grab a couple of bottles. I will also give Fever Tree a try. $6 for 4 is about what I pay for Bundaberg.

Wow! Thank you! Fantastic advice and solid choices. I will add many of your suggestions to my wish list of completer stuff to get. I just ordered the Hess book on Amazon, thanks for the recommendation. I do want to explore more drinks rather than sticking to my limited go-to cocktails. I always have ginger beer on hand, my daughter loves it and I love a dark and stormy. I am partial to Bundaberg, but with your recommendation will pick up some Jamaican.

Good advice, thank you. It seems that most of the time I am missing one thing to complete the request. Someone may ask for a gin and tonic and I am missing the tonic or a Manhattan and I don't have vermouth & bitters. Just basic stuff like that. Until I started this little project I didn't realize that we had so much on hand. I don't have the list of what I purchased with me, but off the top of my head, I picked up El Dorado 3, Makers Mark, Dolin, El Ultimo. Pimms, Cointreau, Campari, bitters, and maybe a couple of others. I also ordered some tools online (shaker, bar spoon, etc.).

I set up the bottles and put a big red bow around the cabinet. My husband was thrilled. I've been meaning to attach a photo. I'll do that soon.

I don't know if you'll be in New Orleans on Sunday, but I love Sunday lunch at Galatoire's.

http://www.galatoires.com/

If you're going to Magazine St, Lilette is a must do. It is fabulous. Saturday shopping followed by lunch would be nice.

http://www.liletterestaurant.com/

What a pleasant surprise. I love finding treasures at home.

I agree, pinehurst, it is a good question. Here is my response that I posted above:

"This is all relatively new to me. My husband is usually beer guy in the hotter months (Newcastle, Canadian honey browns, etc) and Laphroaig in the evenings and during winter. I enjoy wine and have a few hundred bottles in our small cellar. As far as spirits go I usually order a vodka on the rocks, gin and tonic, spiced rum cocktail, margarita on the rocks, etc.

Basically what I am looking for is to have a good enough stock on hand for entertaining. I find that we are having more parties after our recent move to a new home and never seem to have the right stuff on hand to make what our guests ask for. Budget is not a huge concern. I will go high end when it makes sense, but don’t want to overspend on a name when a mid-range bottle is fine. "

Our biggest issue is that we entertain family, friends, and clients in our home. The requests are all over the map. I just want to be prepared with enough stock on hand to handle most of the requests and be able to provide a good substitute when we don't have exactly what they want.

One other thing is that I just love they way a good bar cabinet looks. I love the bottles, the silver tray, the glasses, etc. In addition to eye candy, I want the bar to make sense in what I stock it with. This will also give me a chance to play around and try some "new to me" drinks.

I love this board and am so thankful for the posts. Everyone has been so helpful. I feel that I owe you all a cocktail.

When I transferred our stock on hand to the cabinet, I found an unopened bottle of Flor De Caña Centenario 12. I am not familiar with it. Is it a good rum?

Hmmmm, I stand by my original thought...you are the tequila master. At least to this uber novice. Thanks again.

Yes, Hi-Time is fantastic. I have literally spent a whole day shopping for wine. I get lost in the underworld there. I always end up chatting it up with their knowledgeable staff. I have learned to go there alone. I'm by no means a wine expert, I tell them what a like and they come through with some great suggestions. Fun stuff.

Ginger beer shandy! Now, that is a flashback to my childhood. I can't think of ginger beer these days without craving a dark and stormy. Yum.

Thank you! I think that I will always have Laphroaig on hand. I love the smokey smell even though I don't drink it.

Thank you for the response. My mistake, I just looked at the bottle and my Don Julio is reposado. You really are the tequila master.

I've added your suggestions to my shopping list. This is a fun little project for me. I made a spreadsheet to take with when I go shopping. I'm heading to Hi-Time, I figure if I stock my husband up with his bottles, I might as well reward my efforts with a couple bottles of wine.

Actually he's a Canadian with Scottish roots. My mother is an ex-pat Brit from Newcastle. Thank you for the suggestions. I will modify my list a bit. I like Pimms No 1 cup. It's the first drink that I ordered in a bar when I was on holiday with my family in England.

Yum!

Thank you so much for the suggestions. Good tip on vermouth, I would have let it go back without knowing it.

I sure hope that he enjoys the surprise. His trip was just extended to Saturday so I have an extra day to get this done. I'll post a photo when it is complete.

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate the solid recommendations. I actually found Kindred Cocktails yesterday printed a list to take shopping with me.

This is all relatively new to me. My husband is usually beer guy in the hotter months (Newcastle, Canadian honey browns, etc) and Laphroaig in the evenings and during winter. I enjoy wine and have a few hundred bottles in our small cellar. As far as spirits go I usually order a vodka on the rocks, gin and tonic, spiced rum cocktail, margarita on the rocks, etc.

Basically what I am looking for is to have a good enough stock on hand for entertaining. I find that we are having more parties after our recent move to a new home and never seem to have the right stuff on hand to make what our guests ask for. Budget is not a huge concern. I will go high end when it makes sense, but don’t want to overspend on a name when a mid-range bottle is fine.

Here’s what we have on hand now. It’s a bit haphazard as we didn’t put any thought into putting it together.

Hendricks gin
Tanqueray
Laphroaig 10
Sailer Jerry
Kettle One
Jack Daniels
Crown Royal
Bombay Sapphire
Don Julio gold
Patron silver
Johnny Walker Blue (for my Irish dad).

Thank you for the reply, David. I searched the board and don't know how I missed that thread. It has some great info.

My husband is on a business trip and as a surprise for him I have purchased a bar cabinet for his study and I want to stock it for him before he returns. I am looking for good quality essentials with the tools and glassware to go with them. A shopping list with brands would be great. I do have some stock on hand, but kind of want to start fresh with all new bottles. Any ideas?

Wow! I wasn't in the market for new mixer, but after watching a youtube demo, I am now. I just put the DLX on my wish list and sent a link to this thread to my husband. With 2 boys under 2 and the most incredible husband (wink wink), I'll put it to very good use for many years.

Great advice, Scott.

Thanks for the tips. This will be a fun little coffee adventure.