Which bottles do you need for a basic home bar?

Start with four spirits: gin, vodka, white rum and whisky.

Gin is found in, among others, the Dry Martini, the Negroni, the Gin Fizz, the White Lady, the French 75 and the Bramble. Vodka is found in the Bloody Mary, the Moscow Mule, the Cosmopolitan, the Black Russian and the Espresso Martini.

White rum carries the Daiquiri, the Mojito, the Cuba Libre, the Pina Colada and the Mai Tai. Whisky carries the Old Fashioned, the Manhattan, the Whiskey Sour, the Boulevardier and the Rusty Nail.

A clear orange liqueur and a red herbal bitter together open a whole series of recipes.

Orange liqueur is in the Margarita, the Cosmopolitan, the Sidecar, the White Lady, the Corpse Reviver number 2 and the Long Island Iced Tea. Herbal bitter is in the Negroni, the Americano, the Boulevardier, the Garibaldi and the Spritz.

With the orange liqueur, choose a clear bottle, so the colour of the drink comes from the other ingredients. With the herbal bitter, the percentage determines how heavy the drink turns out; that ranges from around 11 to over 25 percent by volume.

Vermouth, fresh citrus juice and sugar syrup make the difference between a cabinet with bottles and a working bar.

Red vermouth goes in the Negroni, the Manhattan and the Americano; white, dry vermouth goes in the Dry Martini. Vermouth is wine and deteriorates after opening, so that bottle belongs in the fridge.

Nothing from a bottle replaces fresh lemon and lime. You make sugar syrup yourself from equal parts sugar and water; that way you dose sweetness without grains in the glass.

Six bottles of spirits and liqueur, plus two vermouths, bring you to eight bottles for the base.

You can do with less. Anyone who mainly makes sour cocktails gets far with gin, white rum, orange liqueur, lemon and sugar. Anyone who prefers stirred, bitter drinks needs gin, red vermouth and herbal bitter and little else.

Then expand to what you actually pour. A second bottle in a category you use often yields more than a seventh category that just sits there.

With a shaker, a strainer, a measuring cup and a bar spoon, you can get a long way.

Add a muddler for the Mojito and the Caipirinha. For glassware three shapes are enough: a coupe for shaken drinks without ice, a tumbler for drinks on ice and a highball glass for everything with bubbles or juice.

Ice is the thing most often underestimated. Large, hard blocks melt more slowly and dilute the drink less than small flakes.

Under the Alcohol Act, an alcoholic drink is anything above half a percent by volume, and it may only be served from the age of 18.

Een thuisbar staat vaak in de woonkamer. Zet de flessen op een plek waar ze niet zonder meer te pakken zijn, en schenk niet aan wie onder de 18 is. NIX18.

A good alcohol-free option in the cabinet helps with that. Fresh lemon, sugar syrup and sparkling water together already make a proper drink for anyone who does not drink.