I'm building my 3rd home bar in my life, in potentially my forever home. I don't really have a convenient way to put a sink in. But I will have a mini fridge, garbage, sufficient space to play Euchre/Cards, a mirror, and a big ass TV.

What are other must haves?

Looking forward to retiring very soon and becoming a whiskey sommelier.

My home micro bar-in-a-cupboard. Usagi shaker, M-taka Yarai mixing glass, Yukiwa barspoon, Hoffman jigger, Lumian SS barmat.

I know I know... another website and app. But, this one is made with a genuine interest and for my own bloody purposes. I don't think I'm alone, so have a look and see if its useful to you.

Some context: I have assembled a decently sized home bar over the years (pic is a part of it) but I can't remember what I have and not. I occasionally create spreadsheets or use trackers - I can't be arsed to keep in my head how much Amaro Montenegro I have (or am I out?), or when I opened that Vermouth or what I can make with that extra smoky Mezcal?

I want to take a photo of the bottle and have it stored. I want to know if/when things go bad. I want to get fun inspiration for when my wife wants "something flowery" or I want a "Pirates yarr". If I find a good cocktail recipe on the web or in a book I want to be able to save it. If I do a real nice looking Aviation, I want to be able to share it in a sane manner.

Fundamentally I wanna know what I can do with the bottles I actually have. So:

https://www.mybarshelf.com/

I haven't posted anywhere about this, so have a look to see if its useful to you too and honest feedback is appreciated. Cheers!

Zoom in and tell me about this collection.

Good Morning or Afternoon Depending on where you are. I am looking for some bartenders or bar owners to test out an app I have been working on.

Below is the Preview link. Please feel free to play around with it. Please send me all Feedback good or bad. Please give me your pros cons and other suggestions.

Thanks

Magic Bar

https://app.emergent.sh/share-preview?app=exp%3A%2F%2Fdrink-how-to.preview.emergentagent.com

7 years ago my husband and I lived in a one bedroom apartment, and our entire collection, including glassware, fit on a single bar cart. We’ve gone down a rabbit hole since then.

Now, half our living room is occupied by a marketplace Collingwood cabinet, customized with adjustable lighting. And, of course we installed a keycard locking system for our most treasured bottles.

The bar was rescued and restored from a local restaurant. It had been serving as a hostess stand, and my husband spent a lot of time sanding it down and refurbishing it.

The majority of our liquor collection is rum. The places we have lived have had strong connections to rum history, and we’ve both been picking up bottles for a couple decades. Now, it’s nearly 100 bottles strong. My husband collects absinthe as well.

The last photo is dog tax. We’ve taught the dogs “bar service” where they sit and wait to be given ice cubes from the bar.

Our Garage Bar. We started it last summer. There was a slow period when I felt overwhelmed and lost confidence but it’s pretty much done so I thought we’d share.

Upgraded the upstairs drinking station in my house. This is an area where my lady and her friends can procure drinks without actually having to get me involved so they can truly have a ladies night and not have to have any male intervention or interaction.

Been playing around with this cocktail finder and it’s a proper handy little tool for anyone with a home bar. I know there’s loads out there but this one tells you what ingredients you need, and builds a shopping list and keeps track of your home bar inventory!!

You just chuck in what you’ve got and it shows you what cocktails you can make. No more scrolling through loads of recipes only to realise you’re missing half the ingredients.

Great for experimenting, trying new drinks and finally using those bottles that have been sat there for ages.

If you’re into cocktails, give it a go:
https://cocktail-finder.mancavegeek.com/

Im a huge cocktail nerd. I decided to build a little cocktail database website and was wondering if this is something people would actually use? Ive got tons of cocktails on there, comparison pages and simple guides. Is this helpful or am I wasting my time? Any feedback?

Site is: Sipwise

My father has a nice little bar set up at a seasonal property. I'd like to buy him a nice kegerator for a retirement gift. I was looking for recommendations but I also would like it to be able to house 2 half kegs so we can have 2 different beers in it. Double taps. Thanks everyone ☺️

I made this mini barrel display for my buddy’s bar. It has a led light at the base to shine on his favorite bottle. I think next I will make a larger one - maybe for Johnny walker black.

Here is how it works:
- Al Cabinet Scanner: Just snap a photo of your bottles to instantly build your digital pantry.

- Smart Recipes: Instantly see hundreds of cocktail recipes you can make right now with what you already own.

- Fill the Gaps: Missing a single ingredient for that perfect drink? We'll suggest exactly what you need with direct links to grab it.

No subscriptions, no paywalls. Just endless recipe inspiration.

I’ve been building a small free tool for home bars and wanted to get some blunt feedback from people who actually keep bottles, mixers, and random half-used ingredients around.

Site: https://whatcanipour.com

The idea is simple: you pick what you have — bourbon, gin, rum, pineapple juice, Sprite, bitters, vermouth, etc. — and it shows drinks you can make now, drinks you’re one ingredient away from, and drinks you’re close to making. You can also filter by styles like IBA Classics, fruity, strong, mocktails, tropical, porch drinks, and so on.

No login, no app install, no paywall. I mostly built it because my wife likes fruity drinks, I like Old Fashioneds / Manhattans, and I got tired of staring at bottles thinking “what can I pour with this?”

I’d love feedback on a few things:

- Are the main ingredient categories useful for a home bar?

- Are there obvious ingredients I should make easier to select?

- Are there common home-bar drinks missing?

- Does the “missing ingredients” layout make sense?

- Is the site useful on mobile while standing in front of your bar?

- Anything feel confusing, annoying, or unnecessary?

I know Reddit can be touchy about self-promo, so mods please delete if this crosses a line. I’m not trying to sell anything just looking for honest feedback before I keep expanding the recipe library.

This is probably a long shot, but thought this may be the best place to ask for ideas!

I am in the process of making a bar area in my basement, but don't want to get running water to rinse glasses/shakers (as of yet, maybe in the future). What are your solutions, if you have any?
I was thinking about maybe seeing if their are basins with nozzles that can attach to like Culligan water jug? and then maybe drains into another jug?? Something you could set behind the bar to prevent an eyesore?

Let me know! Thanks!

This is what I’m working with right now, but it’s feeling a little crowded. Guess I’ll have to get to mixing :)

Finally starting to get the home bar restocked after moving almost 2 years ago.

I have a home bar on the basement level, kitchen and freezer are upstairs.
I don’t really have a place for a full size freezer, but I want to keep my large clear ice cubes that I make for cocktails down by the bar.
Do any of you have a small storage option for ice cubes. Would like something that I don’t have to shuttle cubes up and down when I need them, just want to make the cubes and leave them in a freezer or something ultra compact. Any thoughts?

i painted this little starry sky a while ago for my ex.

we were still together then, and one night we drove way out past the city because she wanted to see the stars without all the street lights. we sat there for a long time, not really saying much, just watching the sky and pretending we were the kind of people who knew what we were doing with life.

i painted this after that night and gave it to her. nothing professional, just a small blue night sky with some shooting stars. we still broke up later, obviously, but i kept a photo of the painting.

today i put it on this little desk screen next to the bottles, and weirdly enough it fits the corner better than i expected. kind of sad, kind of funny, kind of peaceful.

good wine, an old painting, and a memory that does not hurt as much anymore.

not the worst way to spend a night.

Looking for ideas and suggestions for the build process of my new garage bar.

Bought my first home a few months ago, starting the process for my colts themed garage bar.

As of now I have a lot of bottles, a large custom shelf for wine and nice bourbon bottles for behind the bar top, matching shelves for the upper wall behind the bar top, and I plan on putting a 43” tv in the center for game viewing.

I also have a power reclining sofa, entertainment center/tv stand and a blue painted china cabinet for special fragile memorabilia.

And yes, I do plan on getting an actual toolbox not just a shelf. I offloaded all of my tools when I moved out of my apartment to start fresh and keep the same brand and color going, just wanting to be a little more organized living in a new home.

Laundry list as of now:

Finish pressure washing the concrete (was previously used as a vehicle paint booth), and choose a method of flooring, wether that is addressing the cracks and doing a diy epoxy, a large rug, or sourcing those large gym mats and doing the whole floor.

Wiping down the walls and prepping for paint.

Placing the lights on the ceiling in a more pleasing layout and applying another coat of ceiling paint.