Going to the bar to enjoy drinks with your friends or someone you’re seeing romantically can be a lot of fun, but it can also be costly. Bars have to make their money of course, and your cocktail budget is a good source of income for them.

An occasional night at the bar is all well and good, but wouldn’t it be nice if you and your guest can still enjoy delicious drinks while unwinding in a more relaxing location such as your home? Maybe it’s time for you to create your own liquor cabinet.

If you’ve been thinking about investing in your very own liquor cabinet, then you need to know about which items to reach for. We can help you out there as we’ve highlighted the liquors, liqueurs, and mixers that every man needs for entertaining guests who swing by his bachelor pad.

The Essential Liquors

Start by stocking your liquor cabinet with some brandy. Admittedly, brandy is not a spirit that everyone will be fond of. Its strong alcoholic profile and lingering sweetness can overwhelm some palates.

Still, it’s worth having some good brandy around. As noted by The Spruce Eats, brandy is a staple of early bars, and if you plan on mixing up classic cocktails, you will need some of it on standby.

Next up, you can go for some rum, although you may end up having to purchase more than one variant of it.

Spiced rums are wonderful on their own, but when paired with citrus flavors, they can become components of full-bodied drinks that are capable of refreshing and satisfying at the same time. Light rums do not offer the same robust flavors as their spiced counterparts, but they do possess a distinct sweetness that can be utilized for the creation of numerous cocktails.

You also need to have vodka in your liquor cabinet. Think of vodka as this kind of blank canvas that can support any creation of yours. Because of its neutral flavor, it can work exceptionally well with just about any type of liquor, liqueur, or mixer.

Expand what you can do with your liquor cabinet by making sure you have vodka in it.

The Essential Liqueurs

Following a hearty dinner, people tend to prefer ending their meal with one of two drinks. They may either go for some coffee or some liquor.

Coffee liqueur brings the best of both worlds together. This particular liqueur is also great to use in dessert cocktails because of its inherent sweetness, though you may be best served to tone down that flavor to some degree.

For people who prefer bright and acidic flavors in their drinks, you can serve them cocktails made using orange liqueur. You can make use of orange liqueur’s tanginess to cut through the richness of other ingredients.

The Essential Mixers

Last up, you need to keep some mixers in your liquor cabinet. These will effectively expand the array of drinks you can offer to your guest/s for the evening.

Grenadine is a must-have mixer as it is often found on the ingredients lists of popular cocktails. In case you’ve been wondering about what this mixer made of, its signature flavor is the result of pomegranate extract and sugar being combined, according to Spoon University.

Don’t forget to add bitters to your liquor cabinet as well. These mixers are great for bringing complexity and nuance to your favorite cocktails. Plus, since you typically don’t have to use a lot of them when making drinks, they can stay in your liquor cabinet for a long time.

The truth is that you can add numerous other liquors, liqueurs, and mixers to this list to create a more comprehensive selection. However, if you’re just starting to stock your home bar and you want to stick to a budget, the items above should be enough to meet the many drink requests that come from your guests.