The Home Bar According to Facundo Bacardi

I ran across this article the other day in the Wall Street Journal and found it to be very interesting.   It is my belief that a well equipped and stocked "home bar" is an essential item and part of a nice home.   Facundo Bacardi airs his views on the subject.

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

By CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN

Dec 26th

 

"A Rum Scion Tells How to Gin Up a Home Bar"

As cocktails have become more popular in bars and restaurants, so has the practice of mixing drinks for guests at home. When doing so, Facundo L. Bacardi believes in having just the right setting for shaking up cocktails.

"Having a bar in your home makes it seem more of an event, as opposed to you just pulling bottles out of a cupboard," says Mr. Bacardi, chairman of the board of Bacardi Ltd. "Once I get back behind the bar, making things, it's a great place to sit and talk without the distraction of everything else in your home. It feels much more intimate to me."

In that vein, Mr. Bacardi likes having a home bar that feels like a destination. In his Coral Gables, Fla., home, the bar is located within a library-like reading room. "It looks like a club, almost," says Mr. Bacardi, who is the great-great-grandson of Bacardi Ltd. founder Don Facundo Bacardí Massó. Having a bar that is away from the hubbub of the living room or kitchen makes the time he spends with his friends focused, he says.

A traditional full-scale bar isn't necessary; a piece of furniture or some shelving can work just as well. Either way, Mr. Bacardi likes having the bar's décor blend in with its surroundings. His bar has dark oak paneling to match the walls of his reading room so "it all flows together." With a seamless look, the bar area ends up being comforting to the eye instead of jarring. An incongruous look, he says, may give off the air of "you've hired a bartender to come to the house and they're bringing their own stuff."

Although the bar counter itself is fairly small-about 4 feet across-Mr. Bacardi has it equipped with items he believes all amateur mixologists should have: a measuring cup, chopping board, a serrated knife for fruit, peelers for garnishes, a small juice press and a shaker. "There's a big difference between when you stir something versus when you shake something," he says. "The ingredients come more alive when you shake them."

Read more :http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20000872396390443507204578022483598866880.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp

 

The idea of a home bar goes right to the basis of rumstylin and is always a fun place to hang out.  ;o)