Glassware For Your Home Bar

If you're serious about having a home bar, then you really have to be serious about glassware for your bar. You can't be serving wine in a pilsner glass, or a daiquiri in a rocks glass. But what types of glassware do you need for your well-stocked bar? The types of glasses and the number of each will depend mostly on the space you have available to display and store glassware. One of the best ways to display and store bar glasses is to use one or several stemware racks. Hanging stemware racks under a cabinet is a great way to maximize the use of space in your home bar. For other types of stemless glasses, such as beer mugs, shot glasses, hi-balls, etc., arranging the glasses on rubber bar mats is a good way to both display and store the glasses. While ordinary shelf liner paper will work just fine, using authentic rubber bar mats with beer and liquor company logos is a fun way to add some color and character to your home bar. You can find these rubber bar mats and drink rail mats in many antique stores. And there are usually quite a few available at any given time on eBay.

Now what are the essential types of glasses you must have for your bar? Well to start with, beer and wine glasses are a must. Usually one type of beer glass is enough. Many people like to keep beer mugs in the freezer for that "frosty mug" effect. But storing a few pilsner glasses on a bar mat is perfectly acceptable. Wine glasses can be stored in a stemware rack. It's common to have a row in the rack designated for each type of stemware glass you have. So depending on how many rows you have available, you might have a row of 8.5 oz. white wine glasses, a row of 11 oz. red wine glasses, and a row of champagne flutes. Martini glasses would also be considered essential stemware. Other stemware glasses that would be nice to have if you have the space available are the Pina Colada/Daiquiri glass, the Hurricane glass, and the Margarita glass. You should also definitely have some shot glasses and rocks glasses on your bar mat. An 8 or 10 oz. rocks glass can be used for most any standard mixed drink. And the shot glasses will usually not gather much dust between uses either.