This summer, set up a swanky bar at home

RAISING THE BAR

From a sheesham bar closet and a bespoke designer cabinet to quirky accessories and must-have bottles, Avantika Bhuyan tells you how to set up a swanky bar at home this summer.

Home is where the bar is

Yash Bhanage

Partner, The Bombay Canteen

When Yash Bhanage set out to design the bar at home, he was clear that he didn’t want go down the conventional route. He browsed through several images on Pinterest and saw a lot of people using pipes in the bar design. “But we wanted to use pipes in a way that would seem they were originally a part of the house,” says Bhanage. This quest took him to Chor Bazaar in Mumbai where pipes were sold by the kilo. “We then drew the design on the wall and got the pipes fitted accordingly,” he says. “Luckily, because of The Bombay Canteen, we travel a lot. So, I pick up a lot of my accessories from JB Prince and Cocktail Kingdom in New York, which is a bartender’s dream,” says Bhanage. In India, he gets his barware and accessories from Stec and Junta Steel. “Recently, I also got a nice carafe from the brand Nicobar,” he says.

Maneesh Baheti

Gurugram-based hospitality consultant and founder of SAAG Food for Thought fest

An avid traveller, Maneesh Baheti has collected barware and accessories from his trips around the world. “For instance, I picked up a temperature gauge from Hong Kong and jewels from wine glasses from elsewhere,” he says. Being a founder of a hospitality consultancy, Haute Services, has its perks, one of those being aware of the best suppliers of bar accessories, cocktails, shakers and muddlers. “In India, I get my supplies locally and while travelling abroad, I usually buy products from Alessi, which is a premium Italian brand, with the best bar accessories in the world,” says Baheti, who likes to decant his red wine in an Alessi decanter for half an hour. “It releases the wine bouquet making it ideal for consumption.”

Bottle it up: Ten liquor bottles that spell luxury for your bar

Recommended by Shatbhi Basu, beverage consultant and director, Stir, an academy for bartenders in Mumbai

Absolut Elyx: A luxury vodka, manually distilled in a copper still.

Elit by Stolichnaya: This premium vodka is created using the patented “freeze-filtration” technique. 

1800 Anejo Tequila: Using 100 per cent Weber Blue Agave, Anejo is aged in French Oak barrels for a minimum of 14 months.

Tanqueray No Ten gin: It has been crafted for the perfect martini, with beautiful notes drawn from the citrus fruits abounding in the facility.

Caorunn gin: It has been handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands and infuses five locally foraged gin botanicals.

Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Rum: It’s one of the smoothest rums available and the ultimate name in luxury. 

Maple Wood Finish by Woodford Reserve: This is the fifth in the series of limited edition bottlings and is one of the first bourbons to be finish-aged in a barrels made from sugar maple wood. 

Jack Daniel’s Silver Select Single Barrel: This Tennessee boasts of a high intensity experience

Single Malt Talisker 25: According to connoisseurs, this scotch stands out for its flavour development and balance of notes.

Richard Hennessy Cognac: The unique complexity of notes, with undertones of candied fruit, nutmeg, pepper, delicate flowers and blanched fennel, make it one of the most coveted cognacs in the world.

Accessorise it

Crafted to perfection
 

Opt for exquisite handcrafted bar cabinets or bespoke trunks that promise to display your collection of accessories and bottles in style. While Fabindia offers a range of cabinets and stools made from sheesham wood with ample surface and shelf space to store your bottles and glasses, Trunks Company Jaipur, known for its made-to-order trunks, allows you to make a style statement with the dramatic interplay of light and colour, handcrafted leather, suede detailing and vintage metal fittings.

Perfect conversation starters

For years now, Happily Unmarried has been picking up products, which were not inherently considered funny such as wine and beer glasses, and infusing them with desi humour. It has come up with the Bed Breaker/Palang Tod mugs and cool Whiskey Drinker’s Glasses, which act as perfect icebreakers and amazing conversation starters. You could also pick up quirky guitar and horse carriage wine holders by Bent Chair or a Beehive table wine and bar rack from Natty.in, a curated marketplace of unique products. And to add a fun twist to the party, you could introduce the “Shooters and Ladders Shot Glasses Drinking Game”, a board game which gets everyone involved and in high spirits.

Where each piece tells a story
 

Elegant and luxurious, with a delicate combination of patterns and colours, accessories by Good Earth don’t just allow you to entertain in style but also weave in stories of India’s rich heritage and culture. Each product tells a story of confluence of traditional craftsmanship and modern sensibilities. To add yet another sophisticated touch, opt for bar accessories with moulded floral accents and flowing metallic lines by Michael Aram, an award-winning metalware, home accessories and jewellery designer. Or you can make a statement with chillers, shakers and dispensers from Stable Design. Another piece, this time on ShopClues, showcases that good design need not just be sweet on the eyes but high on utility as well. It features reusable ice cubes, made from high-quality stainless steel and filled with food-grade, nontoxic chilling liquid that reaches optimal temperature after a mere four hours in the freezer.