Home Bar Basics (And Not-So-Basics)

"Sazerac" ©Dave Stolte

Jason and Rebecca Schiffer are dedicated to quality cocktails, but not just at the 320 Main bar. They believe quality cocktails should be a reality for everyone, even if they are making them at home. Dave Stolte shares this belief, which is why he wrote Home Bar Basics (And Not-So-Basics), a 112 page pocket sized guide to the art of the cocktail. Stolte covers it all in this little gem of a book - from basic bar setup, to the history behind it all, to recipes checklists, guides and execution. How did he gather all his knowledge? By 20 years of studying the craft of mixology, pilgriming from bar to bar across the country, collecting recipes and tricks of the trade, creating his own variations and hours of research through the history of it all. The result is a book that addresses everything you need to get started, even delving into the more complex cocktails and how to make your own ice. It also includes clever illustrations by Stolte himself (see above). Don't let its compact size fool you, it's concise yet thorough. 


“There’s nothing like this out there at the moment," says Stolte. "It seems there’s three kinds of cocktail books: huge encyclopedic cover-everything doorstops, intro-to-drinkmaking books full of bad advice and mediocre-at-best recipes, or niche specialty books that are well-written with great recipes, but don’t cover the foundations. Home Bar Basics (and Not-So-Basics) aims to fill that space on the bookshelf in an approachable way.”

"I wish this book was around when I was learning how to bartend,"says Jason Schiffer. Schiffer's not the only person backing Stolte's guide. Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, mikeroweWORKS.com), Eric Alperin (The Varnish, Milk & Honey, Little Branch), and Paul Harrington (Cocktail: the Drinks Bible for the 21st Century) also endorse it. With this handy guide you'll be slinging drinks better than Tom Cruise in "Cocktail" before you know it. Don't worry if you drop a bottle or two, the pages are water and tear-proof. We told you Stolte thought of it all.

To get your hands on a copy head over to HomeBarBasics.com or pick up a copy at 320 Main. It's only $12.99 and it's printed in the USA.