Home bar essentials and the new rituals of drinking at home

Home bar essentials have quietly become a marker of how most urban Indians entertain. What began as improvisation during the pandemic has evolved into a culture of intentional cocktail-making, curated glassware, and design-led bar spaces. Cocktail culture in India today is about more than just access to recipes via Instagram. Drinkers aren’t just recreating recipes—they are building rituals around how drinks are prepared, presented, and shared. 

With the rise in the number of Indians experimenting with making cocktails according to their own unique tastes, there’s also a demand for and easier accessibility to bar equipment. 

“For many people today, making drinks feels similar to cooking—getting into a good mood, making something delicious for yourself, and enjoying it your own way,” says Guruprasad Tripathy, head mixologist, Slink & Bardot, Mumbai.  “The process itself becomes part of relaxation and self-expression, not just drinking.” 

Premium barware and home bar essentials for experimental drinkers

Indians today are experimenting with advanced cocktail techniques like milk washing, fat washing, home fermentation, and carbonation. According to Tripathy, curiosity around flavour and process has expanded what people expect from home bar essentials, with some even trying probiotic-style drinks like tepache and kanji. Basic bar equipment, he says, now includes a Koriko two-piece shaker, bar spoon, jigger, hawthorne strainer, fine strainer, muddler, a small digital scale, ice bucket and tongs, wine chiller, and highball glasses depending on the drinks being made. 

Classic cocktails like Old Fashioned, Picante, Margarita, Paloma, and Espresso Martini remain staples of the modern home bar setup, but drinkers are adding personal twists. “People are using different flavours, spices, or seasonal ingredients because the focus has shifted from simply mixing alcohol to actually creating an experience,” says Tripathy. He admits that practicality often wins. “Sometimes I even use my gym shaker to build and shake cocktails with ice. It’s surprisingly convenient for a home setup,” to be honest.” His own glassware collection focuses on functional, old fashioned glasses and highballs.

How much do home bar essentials cost? 

A basic home bar essentials setup costs around ₹10,000. Luxury at home is less about equipment and more about presentation. “The biggest luxury upgrade usually comes from glassware and bottle collections. Premium glassware can easily cost up to ₹2,000 per piece,” says Tripathy. Building a full range—highballs, rocks glasses, coupes, and champagne flutes—can push the total glassware investment to ₹25,000–₹30,000. A quality bar cabinet in India typically ranges between ₹30,000–₹50,000, similar to a dedicated cocktail-making counter. 

Best brands for home bar essentials in India

1.Haus of Bars by SpeedX

Specialising in luxury and ergonomic home bars, this brand was rebranded and launched in 2023, along with the dedicated home bar line developed in 2020.  The brand makes bar cabinets with bar fridge, bottle displays, ice storage, a fully functioning cocktail station, bottle opener, and towel holders, besides bars with a dedicated coffee concept, and bar equipment. 

Their sleek, functional designs are emblematic of tasteful luxury; the Home Bar, for instance, comes with a 30L thermoelectric refrigeration system with energy-efficient silent operation that holds 20 pints of beer, a bar display cabinet with space for 20 bottles, a bottle opener, an ice chest (5 kg), and four inbuilt garnish trays. They also have an option without the fridge, an assortment of portable trunk bars, and equipment like a glass hip flask bottle, cocktail shaker, hawthorne strainer, wooden muddler, tall stirrer, opener, ice tongs, and a mini ice bucket. The brand also makes glassware and grills. 

Website: hausofbars.com

Price: ₹10,599 (trunk bar) onwards 

2.The Bar Collective

Founded in 2022, this Mumbai-based online platform focuses on curating and making high-end bar tools, barware, and glassware available to Indians. The platform offers glassware from the Bavaria region of Germany, wine tools from France, and handcrafted metalwork from India. It shows how premium doesn’t just translate to fancy-looking but something that enhances your senses. Take their Glencairn Whisky Glass for example, manufactured in Scotland but packaged in India, where the wide crystal bowl allows for appreciation of the spirit’s colour and the tapering mouth focuses the aroma on the nose.

Their range includes specialised glassware for beer, brandy, champagne, cognac, dessert wine, gin, a Highball, margarita, martini, Moscow mule, sake, shots, wine, tequila, and whisky, besides decanters. Their equipment includes aerator pourer, aerators, atomiser, bitter bottle, bottle caddy, champagne stopper, ice bucket, ice stamps, liquor aging disc, pourer, pourer stopper, whisky stones, and portable bar options. They also have ice makers, cocktail sets, bar trolleys, and bar cabinets on wheels. 

Website: thebarcollective.com

Price: ₹6,835 (cocktail set) onwards  

3. Nestroots

Founded in 2016, Nestroots is known for designing and manufacturing its own range of home décor, furniture, and dining products, including bar tools like cocktail shakers besides wine coolers and bar sets such as one comprising a jigger, bottle opener, cheese knife and tong hang, and glassware apt for the respective spirits: fluted Scotch glasses set of six. Their USP is their wine racks that are relatively cheaper yet look sleek. 

Website: nestroots.com

Price: ₹4,190 (fluted Scotch glasses set of six)

4.Bar Box

Founded in 2022, Bar Box (Barbox Studio Private Limited) focuses on cocktail kits and bartender tools, including whiskey-chilling cubes or whiskey stones, though they also make premium bar stands for homes.

Their 14-piece bar set with a wooden display stand includes a stand, cocktail shaker, double- sided jigger, muddler, corkscrew opener, bar blade opener, ice tongs, strainer, bottle pourers, bar spoon, and metal straws. They also have an insulated wine basket, travel kit bags, wall-mount bars, leather bar cabinets, and a wide range of glassware like the moon- or horn-shaped wine glass. 

Website: barbox.in

Price: ₹1,999 onwards (whiskey stones, pack of six) 

5. Angie Homes

Angie Homes is an extension of a premium luxury home brand specialising in curated furniture, decor and interiors. Besides bar furniture like bar stools, their USP is their luxurious bar cabinets, also available in portable options, which comprise shelves, drawers, wine holders and an in-built fridge. They also specialise in bar accessories made using silver, boosting its premiumness. The brand has a range of luxury glassware besides offering interior solutions for bar spaces. 

Website: angiehomes.co

Price: ₹6,800 onwards (deluxe champagne glass set)

6. Spacio

Spacio Collections is a Kolkata-based premium brand that brings together luxury furniture, decorative lighting, and decor besides accessories crucial to bars. Founded in 1995, the barware collection is curated from international brands, making them more accessible in India.

The brand makes ice buckets, decanters and glassware like the BenShot  Shotgun Shell Rocks Glass, each of which has a real 12-gauge shotgun shell embedded in it, made in Wisconsin in the United States. Also on offer is the Maleras crystal champagne glass designed by artist Mats Jonasson and made in Sweden. Spacio also consults on styling bars at home. 

Website: spaciocollections.com

Price: ₹3,000 onwards (rocks glass shotgun shell)

7. Ek Do Dhai 

More playful than luxurious, this brand caters to a younger demographic. Ek Do Dhai makes ashtrays, beer mugs, shot glasses, and glasses for other spirits. They also have quarter bottles (180 ml) with inscriptions like “Sharabi” and “I love getting drunk” , or a whiskey glass with a Godfather poster on it, and shot glass holders shaped like a colourful handcart. They also offer bar basics like pourers, juggers, openers, and bar tool kits.  

Website: ekdodhai.com

Price: ₹350 onwards (set of two shot glasses)

Essential ingredients and spirits for a home bar 

Among ingredients, bitters are essential because they open up flavour possibilities even in simple cocktails. Tripathy recommends Angostura, Luxardo, and The Bitter Truth. Other staples include flavoured syrups from Monin, fresh mint, basil, jalapeño, coriander, curry leaves, tajin spice, salt, Indian spices, lime juice, and fruit juices. For mixers, he uses Amalgama cocktail mixers, costing around ₹180 for three cocktails, with flavours like mango and jamun. 

“Excluding bitters, a well-stocked ingredient setup would cost approximately ₹3,000-5,000. This would include about 6-10 Amalgama bottles, 4–5 small Monin syrup bottles, and some basic ingredients,” says Tripathy. A balanced list of spirits for a home bar, he adds, should include versatile bottles, an accessible whisky like Jameson or Paul John, a premium option such as Weller or The Macallan, a strong gin like Tanqueray No. Ten or Hapusa, and bitter aperitifs like Campari or Aperol. Add a dependable vodka, a tequila, and a digestif, and the bar becomes flexible enough to make most cocktails.

“In the end, remember that a home bar setup isn’t about creating a fancy display. It’s about practicality,” concludes Tripathy.