Bar Cart Essentials: Everything You Need to Host Your Next Event — Madelin Gomez

Whether you’re hosting a dinner party, birthday party, or housewarming party, there has to be alcohol involved if you want to have a good time. There are many things I’ve learned though years of bartending. Rule #1: you need to have all the necessary spirits and liquors to accommodate your guests and make them happy. There’s nothing worse than when you go out to a bar or a party and they don’t have what you typically drink. I just recently moved into a new apartment and the first thing I recently furnished was our bar cart… don’t judge. As a bartender, my bar cart is something I take pride in because I want to make sure I have the best of the best for my guests. Today I’m sharing with y’all all the bar cart essentials you need to host your next get together.

Finding the Right Bar Cart

It took me a while the right bar cart. I knew I wanted something that was spacious enough, had sufficient storage, and could easily accommodate our glassware and bar accessories.

I searched through dozens of websites and found the perfect cart through Wayfair. This cart had everything I was looking for! It has a glassware capacity of 21 and a bottle rack capacity of 14. It also comes with handles and wheel attachments that are optional for assembly. It took less than 15 minutes to put together and is hands down one of my favorite statement pieces at home. This bar cart tends to sell out fast, so don’t hesitate and go for it!

To optimize your space and add more pizzazz to your bar, use a wall-mounted wine rack to draw the eye upwards.

If you’re going to be the hostess with the mostess, you’re going to need a little bit of everything. The four basics to start with any bar are the following: vodka, gin, rum and tequila.

It’s important to have a variety of spirits that speak to who you are, and who you are accommodating. This is where you get a bit fancy and branc out with more spirits such as bourbon, scotch, mezcal, wine, etc.. Our bar has everything you could think of from peanut butter whiskey to elderflower rose cordials.

When honing in on the number of liquors to have, I always recommend having at least two of each style. For example, we have blanco and resposado tequila, bourbon and rye bourbon, and pinnapple and coconut rum. It’s also important to have a selection of red and white wines as they are a perfect staple for dinner parties and celebrations.

Bubbles and Fizz

Your bar is not complete without the necessary bubbles and mixers to complement your drinks. I recommend having a few bitters on hand, vermouths, and syrups to jazz up your bar.

Bitters are my favorite way to enhance cocktails because there are so many flavors and varieties out there. Our bar features a set from Scrappy’s Bitters. They focus on innovative bitters handcrafted in Seattle with organic herbs and spices. Your vodka soda could turn into a lavender vodka soda within a few drops. How cool, right?

When it comes to standard, fan favorite drinks, you’ve got to have the basics:

Ginger beer
Seltzer (flavored and non-flavored)
Tonic water (flavored and non-flavored)
A variety of sodas (coke, diet coke, sprite, etc.)
Juices (cranberry, pomegranate, pineapple)

All of the bubbles and mixers I carry are in 7.5 and 12 oz cans that are perfect to make one drink and two drinks respectively. It’s best to carry mixers in cans because this ensures freshness and high carbonation for each drink.

There are dozens of flavored seltzers, tonic waters and mixers out there. I like to rotate a few seasonal flavored every now and then but will always carry non-flavored carbonated mixers just in case.

Styling Your Bar Cart:

Add color & texture

I personally believe styling your bar cart is the perfect way of showcasing your character and personality. As a bartender, you learn a lot about someone by their spirit of choice. Your bar is a representation of what you love, so make it special.

There are a lot of accessories you can include when styling your bar. My favorites include books, bar tools, plants and fruit. A lot of bar books I’ve found through Amazon, Homegoods and Barnes & Noble. It’s important to add color and depth to your bar and this is where all these accessories come into play.

The best part about styling your bar cart is that as seasons change, and your preferences change, so will your bar.

Whether it be a dinner party or a girl’s night, your bar cart will be fully stocked with all the essentials to accommodate your guests. Check out my cocktail series for more ideas and recipes for your next get together.

As always, please subscribe to the blog! I truly appreciate everyone who’s been on this journey with me.

Much love,

Xo