The Basics

From the best bottles, tools and techniques for building your home bar to the history of classic cocktails and the best bars for drinking them, these are all the basics you'll need.
A bottle of Green Chartreuse is centered on an orange backdrop with white, squiggly lines behind it. Flanking the Chartreuse are other bottles, their labels darkened out
What the #$@! Do I Do with This? Green Chartreuse: What It Is and How to Use It.
A frothy Mudslide cocktail in a glass coupe
6 Things You Should Know About the Mudslide
Rum bottles
5 Essential Rum Bottles You Need for Your Home Bar
Bottles
american vermouths
6 Great American Vermouths to Try Now
Sancerre bottles
Sancerre: What to Know and 5 Bottles to Try
Basil Hayden's Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Review
Johnnie Walker Double Black
Johnnie Walker Double Black Scotch Review
Bar Tools
french-press
The 8 Best French Presses for Cocktails in 2021
shaker-mojito
The 8 Best Cobbler Shakers in 2021
serving-grapefruit-sodas
The Best Zesters for Your Home Bar in 2021
garnishing-tool
The 9 Best Garnishing Tools in 2021
Tips & Tricks
Spiced Hibiscus Margarita created by Jamie Dodge at Barrio Costero in Asbury Park, New Jersey
How and Why to Use Salt in Your Cocktails
zero proof bar books
3 Zero-Proof Bar Books Every Bartender Should Read
Bar books
3 Bar Books Every Bartender Should Read to Brush Up On the Classics
Cocktail syrup
How to Use Alternative Sugar Syrups in Cocktails
History & Trends
Liquor bottle illustration
Scotch and Bonds: How to Invest in a Liquor Collection
New York City’s Compagnie des vins Surnaturels transformed an empty B&B in Cayuga, New York, into Supernatural Lake, a hotel complete with cottage rentals, a wine bar and a full restaurant on the shores of a lake.
8 Trends That Will Define How We Drink in 2021
To-go cocktail prep at The Snug in Sacramento.
7 Trends That Defined How We Drank in 2020
Channel Orange cocktail
Why Aperitivo Hour Has Taken Over America
Drinking Out
The backbar at 400 Rabbits
Seek the Holy Spirit(s) at This ‘Mezcal Church’
Death & Co's Low Tide Beach Bar at the Sound View hotel in Greenport, N.Y.
Are Pop-Ups Saving Bars?
Hotel Distil in Louisville, Ky.
This Hotel Is All About Bourbon
The bar at Rye Street Tavern at Sagamore Spirit in Baltimore. A blond wood bar, enormous windows and bartenders in bowties
5 American Distilleries Where You Can Also Dine