Making the perfect bar cart.

Today we are going to talk about booze. 

Last year my husband (Ryan) and I decided we needed to have our things to make drinks upstairs where we host our parties. We had a full bar in the basement but it did not make sense for people to go into our basement to make a mixed drink and then have to come upstairs again. What is a girl to do to fix this you ask? I have a wonderful family and my mother supplied the cart minus the glass that was in it originally as that had long ago broke. My father in law makes butcher blocks and he made me two custom pieces to fit perfectly in the cart. We then proceeded to stain them in the bathroom since it was winter and I swear I almost died from the fumes. I also hand painted the cart itself and wheels because the cart was chipped/aged from sitting outside on my mom's porch for years. I think the cart itself turned out fantastic. 

But onto the booze!

Now that I had this amazing cart I had to stock it with everything you need to make some excellent drinks. 

 Here is what you need for staples-
Vodka- Smirnoff is a good option that is not crazy expensive. 
Southern Comfort- I use this to make my old fashions and add to hot drinks like cider. 
Gin- You need a good quality gin do not skimp and get the cheap stuff. Tanqueray is my favorite and I can buy a giant jug (seen here) at Sams Club for a decent price.
Whiskey- Our whiskey in this picture is wearing a packer cheese head. Can you tell we live in the land of green and gold? People will drink this on the rocks or with coke a lot of the time. We have a bottle of Kessler's currently. 
Brandy- I have a bottle of honey that I add to punch. 
Rum- This is a staple for people to mix with coke. 
Things not shown that you should think about having-
Tequila- People love this with juice or for shots. I am not a big fan so I do not regularly have it. 
Bourbon- Did you know this goes fantastic on ice cream? 

 Utensils that you will need-
Shot glasses- You may think you can make the perfect drink without it but some people need these to measure. (cough cough) me.
Shaker- My shaker works double time to hold all my mixing spoons when not in use. If you want a solid martini you need a good shaker. I have a great one that allows you to measure based on the drink you are making and has a built in strainer. 
Straws- I found this little gem of a straw holder at an antique show. 
Mixing spoons and stir rods- As you can see I have a bunch that I have accumulated. I know it is October but my snowmen get used year round. 
Ice bucket- To hold ice. I am not a fan of people digging in my freezer to get ice. I have an ice maker but it is in my freezer which is silly I know. I found this bucket in the same place I got the straw holder. What a steal! 
Wine opener- I have a great electric opener I received as a wine gift. I try to hide it in the corner of the cart because it is boring looking.

 This is an image of my bottle opener and an old school shot measure stick (I am not sure if that is the technical term for that item but I will call it that anyway).

 This is a good image of the total cart. Why is there a sugar bowl you ask? That is for the most delicious old fashions of course. Plus it looks cute on the cart. 

Storage is important on a cart and you want to use the space wisely. The bottom of the cart houses the glasses we use the least. The majority of our glasses are in the kitchen. As you can see margarita glasses take up a ton of space.

I hope if you take the time to make your own bar cart or bar in general this will be helpful to you. 

XoXo Emily