Mix it up with Stock the Bar

Some people say you become an adult when you turn 18. Others say it isn’t until you land your first real job. But for us, we think the real marker you’ve made it is when you move on from pooling your cash with your roommates to buy a handle of vodka, and get serious about starting your very own home bar.

Why are home bars so awesome? Because they turn your house into the place all your friends want to hang out. Look, going out is great. Bartenders have never been more creative, more passionate, or more serious about making fantastic cocktails. Bars are more beautiful, more stylish, and more fun than ever before. But there’s something magical about getting to enjoy those very same craft cocktails from the comfort of your own living room, complete with the satisfaction that you made them yourself—no suspenders or mustache required. (Or go ahead, put your suspenders on, we hear it helps.)

Trouble is, you need a lot of different kinds of spirits to make cocktails—gin, bourbon, tequila, vodka, Scotch, rum—and in today’s market, there are hundreds of options in each of those categories to choose from. We’ve all made that “quick” trip to the liquor store just to grab a bottle of gin for Saturday afternoon rickeys, only to end up spending an hour wandering the aisles before going with that same old London Dry we always buy. Making a decision can be tough—but it’s only by branching out that you become a better bartender.

Don’t worry. We’re going to do the work for you. Taster’s Club is excited to announce a brand-new club specially designed for aspiring mixologists and home bartenders: Stock the Bar. It’s 6 or 12 awesome months of adding a brand-new spirit to your home bar every single month. Unlike our regular clubs, you’ll get something different in each shipment—one month it might be a silky potato vodka, followed by smoky single malt Scotch, followed by an exciting new rum from Central America. Just like our other clubs, you’ll never know what you’re going to get ahead of time—only that it will be delicious, exciting, and awesome in cocktails. You can expect a mix of things like:

• Gorgeous gins, including classic London Dry styles perfect for martinis as well as lush new botanical styles that elevate gin and tonics to a whole new level.
• Super-premium vodkas, including American craft vodka, European vodkas, and (tasteful) flavored vodkas—think tarragon and blood orange, not cupcake and whipped cream.
• A range of Scotch whisky, from smoky Islay malts that add a peaty tang to any cocktail, to smooth and sophisticated Speyside whiskies finished in sweet, nutty sherry casks.
• American whiskey like bourbon, rye, and experimental craft whiskeys made with everything from wheat to quinoa. Your Manhattans will never be the same again.
• Rum from around the world, including funky rhum agricole from French-speaking parts of the Caribbean, heavy-hitting Jamaican rum, and sippably sweet Spanish-style rums from Central and South America.
• Luscious agave spirits, including traditional blanco tequila (margaritas, anybody?), mellow reposado and añejo tequila, and even trendy mezcal.

Every Stock the Bar shipment also comes with our in-house 101 content. You’ll learn everything there is to know about each month’s spirit, from the history behind the brand, to the best cocktails to show it off. More than any other of our clubs, Stock the Bar gives you a real spirits education. One month you’ll be doing a deep dive into the nitty gritty of single malt maturation, and the next, you’ll be learning about the history of agave cultivation in Jalisco. We’ll also offer suggestions for great cocktails featuring each month’s shipment, from pre-Prohibition classics to quirky new concoctions that show off the current wave of craft spirits.

But wait? Why do you have to commit to 6 or 12 months, you ask? Good question. Anything less, and it’d be more like a minibar, only you wouldn’t have to pay $10 for a can of Pringles. You deserve better than that. You deserve a truly stocked bar, and to get there, you need at least 6 months. And after 12 months, your home bar will include every basic building block you need to make all your favorite craft cocktails at home.

How it Works

Our Stock the Bar works just like our Whiskey, Tequila, Rum, Gin, Vodka, and Bubbly clubs. First, choose between a 6- or 12-month membership. Once you sign up, you’ll get a bottle of spirit in the mail each and every month. We’ll also send you a lively digital “101” that tells you everything you need to know about each month’s bottle, from the history of the producer to the best ways to drink it. Impress your friends by knowing the difference between Island and Islay Scotch, or use your new bottle of añejo tequila to confidently riff on the classic Old Fashioned cocktail.

There’s no contract. Just the sheer joy of getting a party-in-a-box delivered right to your door, every single month. We don’t tell you what you’re getting ahead of time—that would spoil the surprise!—but we can tell you we work very hard to select unusual, distinctive, and just plain delicious spirits that you often can’t find anywhere else.

Want to up your bar game? Sign up now! Our first bar-stocking bottles are shipping in December, just in time for holiday entertaining. Plus, what better present could you possibly send than 6 or 12 months of home bar happiness? It’s a gift that keeps on giving—and if you’re lucky, you might get invited over to help taste-test your friend’s latest mixology masterpiece.

We make it really easy to give a Taster’s Club membership as a gift. Sign up online, and we’ll send you, the purchaser, a slick certificate emblazoned with the member’s name so you have something to wrap and deliver with love (maybe alongside a shiny new cocktail shaker or slick new ice mold?). Then, we’ll send the first bottle directly to your recipient.