Liquor Cabinets

I finally went and built myself a liquor cabinet. It’s not anything fancy, but I’ve always wanted one. I think they look nice, and I like the idea of being able to mix up a cocktail on a whim, without having to go to a bar. The walking distance bar is a sports bar above an ice rink. You look out of place drinking a gin and tonic there. The expensive part is stocking it up. Canada has a lot of taxes on alcohol so I’m going to slowly add to it as the weeks go on. The picture is pretty crumby, but you can see I have something poured. For my first drink I went with a vodka martini, shaken not stirred. Now I’ll need recommendations on how to add to it. I’d prefer flexibility in my stock, to begin with. Fewer purchases to make a wider selection of drinks would help keep me on budget.

for those interested, here’s a more complete discription. Total cost for the cabinet, glassware, and ice machine for me was about $400, if you’re interested in building your own. Then a little bit here and there for some brackets, screws, and wood.

I used a “kitchen centre” from Canadian Tire. Ikea has something called a “Leksvik,” but I think it may be discontinued. The Ikea one is probably a little more robust, but is a little bit more expensive. If you’re savvy, it’s easy to beef up the Canadian Tire piece. It’s important because liquid and glass are heavy, and this is going to be packed full of it.

The top shelf of the top cabinet is where I keep the glassware, but I wanted the more frequently used stemware to be accessible, so I built a rack to hang it from. I used four lengths of half inch diametre wood dowel and two pieces of wood to fit into the recess below the top cabinet. By flexing the dowel just a bit, the stems lock into their hanging position.

I forgot to picture it, but in the lower cabinet I’ve fitted an ice machine with a sliding tray to sit on. I need it to slide out so that I can access the ice, it opens from the top, and to ensure proper cooling while in operation. Choosing between an ice machine and a mini refrigerator was a big decision. I went with the ice machine because I wouldn’t have to leave it on all the time. The ice machine can make a shaker’s worth of ice in about 15 minutes. Above the ice machine, in the lower cabinet as well, I have a wine rack. It currently holds 4 bottles, but at some point I might add to it. I think I can get 8 fit in there.

Great Idea. and a very nice cabinet.

The way i stocked mine was to concentrate on one spirit like Vodka, and learn how to make several cocktails with it, of different kinds.
this will get your cabinet stock with the proper mixers and other things for the cocktails you know how to make.
then move onto a Rum or whiskey… it’s all fun… and it’s all good.

I did get to watch a series called Great cocktails on Hulu. but it seems to be undergoing some change in hosts. i did find it’s link but they don’t have any video loaded yet.
but it is a fantastic series about serving cocktails at home.

http://www.tv.com/shows/great-cocktails/

i would be more then happy to come over and put your skills to the test . :slight_smile:

good luck.