Here's what you need in a your bar starter kit

The Lucai Cocktails Starter Bar Set

You don’t need dozens of bottles and lots of expensive equipment to begin experimenting with cocktails. In fact, you can make a large number of classic cocktails with just a few different spirits and the most basic equipment.

THE LUCAI COCKTAILS STARTER BAR SET

We created the following list to help you begin your own cocktail journey.

First, your spirits:

• Gin: We love gin.  Each distiller employs a unique blend of botanicals to create distinctive flavors for your experimentation.  Our favorites are Plymouth, No. 3 London Dry, and The Botanist 

• Bourbon: You can choose what you like here.  It doesn't have to be a super expensive brand for mixing in cocktails.  If you have plans on drinking bourbon straight, you should invest a little more money.

• And maybe a small bottle of cheap vodka for adding to your simple syrup to keep it fresh or for that friend that insists that a martini shouldn't have any flavor.  

Next, the bitters, fortified wines, and other mixers:

• Angostura Bitters

• Sweet Vermouth- we recommend Noilly Prat, or Dolin Dry.

• Dry Vermouth- again Noilly Prat, or Carpano Antica

• Tonic Water or Tonic Syrup + Club Soda

• Simple Syrup- you can easily make it  at home; here's the recipe.  

With those ingredients and a piece of fruit or garnish, you can make many impressive cocktails.

• Old Fashioned: orange peel

• Manhattan: a good cherry, like Luxardo

• Martini: some crazy people put olives in this, we prefer a lemon twist

• Gin & Tonic: a lime

• Whiskey Sour: a lemon

• New York Sour: needs a lemon and red wine

• Southside: a lemon & fresh mint

• Gimlet: a lime

• Tom Collins: a lemon & club soda

Lastly, your bar tools:

You can do most any cocktail with

a simple shaker set:

• a shaker

• bar spoon

• strainer

• a jigger

We love a beautiful set from Cocktail Kingdom, but a less elegant set will do to start.