Amazon announced their online marketplace for wine yesterday. That's great, but there's no shortage of places on the internet to get great bargains on quality beer, wine, and spirits, especially on the cheap. That got us thinking: What do you actually need for a well put-together home bar, and how can you explore without breaking the bank?
Find Out Whether You Can Shop Online or Need to Find a Store
Most online services that sell alcohol, including Amazon's new wine marketplace, only ship to certain locations in the United States. There are detailed and sometimes confusing laws that vary by state, so make sure you look up your location before trying to shop online. If you can't order directly, find and stop into a good, well-stocked local liquor store or wine shop in your community and make friends with the staff. They'll usually accept special orders, and if you make friends with a wine buyer and tell them what you're interested in, they may order it for you (or point you to something better!)
Determine What You Need to Serve the Things You Enjoy
The next thing you need to figure out is what you enjoy drinking. If you like beer and wine, that's great?we'll discuss some services that can help you explore them a little later. Buying liquor can be a little trickier. If you have some favorite drinks you order when you go to a bar, look up their recipes and buy the spirits required to make them at home. If not, or if you're interested in experimenting, there are some basics that every home bar should have:
- Vodka
- Rum
- Whiskey (or Whisky, depending on the style you like)
- Gin
- Tequila
If you have a bottle of each of these, you can make just about anything (we're not including mixers, bitters, and juices, of course.) There are some nuances though: For example, many drinks call for dark or spiced rum versus light and clear rum. Additionally, whiskey is a world of its own worth exploring. Irish, American, or Bourbon Whiskey offer completely different experiences from Japanese, Canadian, or Scotch Whisky, and even those are so different that only reason we grouped them like this is for spelling. We could write a whole article about this, but Chow has an excellent whiskey primer worth reading. Photo by Alper ?u?un.
Depending on what you like to drink, you could do well with a bottle of each of the above, as well as separate bottles of dark and light rum, and separate bottles of different whiskeys you enjoy. I have four different whiskeys in my bar, and I don't drink that frequently, they're all just that different. Photo by Bruno Cordioli.
Don't be afraid to experiment either?get some drinks in mind that you'd like to try at home and buy the ingredients for them. See what you like and don't. I'm a follower of the "if you wouldn't drink it straight, don't mix with it" philosophy, but that can get expensive. In general, stick with the middle of the rack unless there's something you have to have. You'll save money, and get your palate started on a good "normal" you can upgrade or downgrade from.
Shop Wisely, and Buy from Retailers that Educate As Well As Discount
If you're just getting started and don't exactly have a budget just for whiskey, you don't need to buy four bottles like I did. Look for retailers that are willing to help you learn about the spirits and drinks you buy before you buy them.
I mentioned on Twitter that indie wine retailers might be angry over Amazon Wine, but the best wine and liquor sellers will step up to the plate and start marketing themselves on their variety, their selection, and their education as well as price. Here are a few to get you started:
- Spirits
- Caskers offers small batch, craft spirits at discount prices. If you're looking to explore all of those whiskey varieties we mentioned earlier, they're a great first stop. The bargains don't stop with whiskey though?right now Caskers has deals on small-batch tequila and gin, and I've seen vodka in the store as well. Best of all, they sell at prices that won't break the bank and are low enough to keep you from just buying whatever's in the plastic bottle at the bottom of the liquor store rack. Before you buy, you can read up on the history, flavor, and suggested uses of the bottle you're interested in.
- Amazon Marketplace is a surprising place to buy spirits, but there are dozens of retailers at Amazon selling hard-to-find liquors at great prices, and many of them do a better job of describing what you're in for before you buy than you'd get standing in front of a rack at the store wondering what's good. Plus, you can reach out to the seller before buying to get more information, or do your own research before pulling the trigger.
- Wine
- Club W has one of the best educational programs I've seen. When you sign up, they help you nail down your palate and the wines you'll enjoy with an interactive quiz, and before they send anything to you, you can watch short videos that describe the taste, look, and the type of foods to pair with. They are a monthly subscription service though, so keep that in mind before signing up.
Invino offers "insider" deals every week?or in some cases, every day?where limited supplies of specific wines are available at ridiculously low prices. It's a buy on-demand service, so you log in, shop around, read reviews and tasting notes, and decide what you want to buy. They tend to have some exclusives as well, and it's a great, affordable way to try new things without spending a lot of money.
We've focused on places that have great prices as well as give you a chance to learn more about what you're buying before you buy. Once you get more comfortable, wine lovers will love spots like Wine Library and its daily-deal site, Cinderella Wine, as well as Wine Woot! as spots to get great bargains. Spirit drinkers (especially Scotch lovers) can check out Love Scotch. If you don't live in a place that allows direct shipments, hit Yelp and Foursquare to see which liquor stores in your area are highly rated and well regarded. Odds are you can head there and make some friends that will help you save a few bucks (by buying Saint Brendan's Irish Cream instead of paying extra for the Bailey's brand name, for example) and educate you in the process.
Expand Your Horizons: Go to Tastings and Festivals
By now you should have a shopping list of things you want to buy, places you can shop online (or in person) to buy affordably, and even a list of drinks you want to make. Take your time and look for deals, on and offline. The next step is to expand your palate, and the best way is to try as many new and different things as possible. Check out to beer and wine festivals in your community and try something you haven't tried before. Plus, that way you can taste different things, form opinions, and talk to the people who make the beverages you're drinking.
Spirits are the same way, but keep your eyes on services like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Google Offers here: I've had great luck finding fun events like whiskey tastings and tequila tastings through them, and they're usually affordable considering you get to try a lot of things, learn from an expert, and sometimes?just sometimes?take some home with you. The more you explore, the smarter you'll buy, and the smarter you buy, the better your at home bar will be.
Title photo by Ryan Lackey.
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