The Liquor Fairy brings me many things, not just booze. But his little wings were beating mightily this week as he flew up with a box from Air & Water, Inc. The box contained a new model portable ice making machine called the NewAir Portable Ice Maker.

The current model is more sleekly trimmed than pictured here.

Among my most important rules for a successful Basement Bar setup is the importance of a ready supply of fresh ice. Cocktails and Ice are inseparable items, like chickens and eggs. One of the more popular posts I’ve ever written was my discussion of ice making options for your home bar. Therein, I strongly encouraged people, for a variety of reasons, to consider adding an automatic, stand-alone ice machine to their setup. I got two objections from most readers to this advice: the expense of the machines and the expense or sheer impossibility of plumbing them.

The NewAir holds at least the possibility of an answer to their pleas. I’ll talk about the machine, how it works, the ice it makes, who will want this machine, and who won’t.

The unit itself is fairly large, 17 inches by 17 by 15, and weighs about 45 pounds. It is a bit large to set on a countertop, but it really is fairly portable. It has well-placed handles, large, sturdy feet, and seems pretty durable. While it is actively making ice, you can hear it but it is not obnoxiously loud.

The way it makes ice is actually pretty ingenious. I made a YouTube video so you can watch it work.

The refrigerant is pumped through pipes connected to twelve vertical cylinders. The little bucket revolves up to contain those prongs and fills with water from the machine’s internal reservoir that doubles as a drip catcher below the finished ice bucket (not seen in the video). The NewAir holds enough water to fill its ice bucket several times.
The ice forms around the prongs. There are three ice size settings, and these merely determine how thick the ice is allowed to form. When the ice has reached the desired size (about seven minutes for the smallest setting), the bucket rotates away from the prongs and the remaining water flows back into the reservoir. You can see in the video that the refrigerant goes from cold to warm, and the ice slides right off the prongs.
After a moment, the bucket rotates back into position for the next round of ice, and the attached flipper shoves the new ice over the edge to fall into the ice bucket.
The machine is not designed to be on and running full time like a built in version that costs five times as much. The ice turns into a glob of merged pieces after a day or so, rather than cleanly melting away and being replaced. This isn’t a problem if you are using the ice all the time, but if you make a drink or two a day, take advantage of the automatic timer to ensure you have fresh ice ready for you at cocktail hour. On the other hand, it is very easy to maintain, with a swift and effective self-cleaning mode.

So what is all this ice like? Each piece is a rounded, hollow cone, about an inch and a half long. It is also filled with microbubbles so it’s white rather than clear. Finally, it is pretty warm ice, coming out of the machine right at 32 degrees. As an aside, the little flanges you see in the video on the top of the ice are due to leaving the door open while videoing the mechanism. The actual ice produced is much cleaner in appearance. The ice has a large surface area to mass ratio and is warm. This means it will start melting pretty quickly in a glass or mixing tin.

In short, the ice geeks and cocktail showmen are not going to like this ice.
But then, mostly they don’t like any ice from a machine, preferring to fill a freezer with all manner of fancy ice trays and molds, or hack away like Sharon Stone on a huge block of the crystal clear stuff, so the Camper Englishes of the world really aren’t the issue here.

First off, I think the ice is just fine in the tin for shaking and stirring. I know some mixers swear by “super cold” ice, but the science (and my own experimentation) says that most all of the chilling from ice comes at the moment it melts. Using cold ice may make your drink at most a degree or two colder, but actually takes longer to get there. “Warm ice”, especially with lots of surface area, can chill a drink faster than anything else, with only a very little more dilution.
Additionally, unlike with plumbed-in ice makers like mine, you can be as big a water snob as you like with the NewAir. Use Fiji water or even Perrier I suppose. I use water from my Brita filter and the ice tastes great.
For serving in a glass, the NewAir’s ice is less ideal. It really isn’t a pretty as cubes, and its propensity to melt quickly makes for dilution issues if you are a slower drinker.

OK, who would find this machine a great buy, and who won’t?
I see two main categories of buyer who will be happy with the NewAir. The first is a lot of the people for whom I’ve been writing my Basement Bar Design series. If you are putting together a bar for your home, don’t have a massive budget and/or can’t get running water into your chosen space, the machine will get you plentiful ice for everyday use at a great price. Home bar builders who have available plumbing and sufficient budget will be much happier with a built-in system.

This guy needs a NewAir….

An even better buyer for this machine is the mobile mixer. If you like to tailgate, camp out, or own an RV, a continuous supply of fresh ice will save you from the utter barbarity of no Martinis. Of course, if you want to run the NewAir in the woods so you can sip a Pegu while fishing in that remote stream, you’ll need power. The machine takes 400 watts, and most trees don’t have electrical outlets. Ditto for stadium parking lots. If this is your desired application, be sure to purchase a power inverter so you can run it off your car. Be sure to get one that wires into your battery directly, as the NewAir draws too much power for the inverters that just plug into the cigarette lighter.

The NewAir doesn’t make perfect ice. If you enjoy being persnickity about your ice, or view it as a garnish, this machine will likely not meet your needs. If you need a lot of fresh ice for mixing cocktails, or chilling juices, sodas, or basic mixed drinks like Rum and Cokes or Screwdrivers, it will provide plenty of the cool stuff fairly conveniently and for a very reasonable price. I like the machine. It is an ingenious design, the maker has a number of previous models, so they have had the chance to refine and improve what they are doing. I haven’t had it long enough to really vouch for its durability, but as I mentioned before, both the stainless steel case and the mechanism seem pretty sturdy. If you need what a portable ice maker can give you, I can definitely recommend the NewAir. UPDATE: If you decide to get a NewAir directly from the company, you can get an extra 10% off the price by entering the discount code: “PEGU” at checkout!

The Liquor Fairy Was Here!
The following product, NewAir Portable Ice Maker, was recently provided to me as promotional consideration to encourage me to discuss it.
For a complete disclosure of my policies regarding promotional items and all other financial interests, please click this link, or follow the Liquor Fairy link in the header of this page.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

OK folks, I’m going to take the risk of starting a series of posts that will stretch out over a series of weeks before it goes anywhere. I’ve always avoided multi-part posts because, well, I always assume I’ll wake up one day and start forgetting to blog.

I just went through a Winter of not enough herbs in my bar, especially mint. Even though it is Spring now, and my unkillable mint is returning to entirely too many parts of my garden, I’m going to blog the prgress of my new Basement Bar essential. I stole my wife’s AeroGarden and set it up as a now permanent fixture at the end of the Pegu Lounge.
I planted lemongrass, basil, and two kinds of mint. At each stage of it’s progress, I post again until I’m getting lots of delicious fresh herbs for my drinks and you have to start suffering through posts about Basiljitos and endless mint juleps.
Cheers!

Another distiller is sponsoring a home bar contest I thought you might be interested in. Grant’s Whisky is a maker of blended scotch whisky, and they are sponsoring a dual contest.
The Grant’s Home Bar Experience offers an anyone can enter sweepstakes. Simply go to the website and enter your particulars. Oh, and be a US resident over 21. The five top prizes here are hardwood bars, with other prizes including 42″ HDTVs and large mirrors for behind your bar.
The second contest, for my fellow Basement Bar owners, is a judged contest. Upload up to three photos of your cool Basement Bar setup for the judging. The winner here wins $10,000 and further, about half that in home theater equipment. I invite you to enter.
Of course, I entered too, so what good is it gonna do you? (click to enlarge)

My!
You are cocky, aren’t you?

Yes. Yes I am. But I’m pretty damn proud of my bar, so the smack-talk will continue!

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

First, the latest episode of one of my favorite online comics:

I’d love to use this as a seed to riff off of about building your own Basement Bar, and choosing to do it all yourself, versus hiring contractors. But in all honesty, the characters here are renovating and opening their own bar and restaurant.
So instead, I’ll use this moment to point out that cocktail-blogging elder, Michael Dietsch is deep into similar work on his new labor of love, Cook & Brown. Cook & Brown will soon(ish) open in Providence, RI, so if anyone there wants to do a murder mystery party, I’ll give you a discount on travel expenses if you book your party for after Cook & Brown opens! I want to see the place.
Careful with those complicated hammers!
In the meantime, I’ve updated the BlogBarCrawl with all the Dietschian particulars.

I have a cocktail call to arms! It is time for all good culinary and cocktail enthusiasts to flex their consumer muscle to try to bring back a truly essential product.
Via the comments in a thread at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, I learned that OXO has decided to discontinue what is perhaps the most essential bar accessory out there, the OXO 2 oz. mini measuring cup!

This little measuring cup is simply the best jigger out there. If you are making cocktails that require precision, or you are cooking and use small amounts of ingredients, these little cups, with markings as low as 1/4 oz. or 10 ml, are a very valuable tool. Tiara asks in her post what everyone’s favorite jigger is, and the hands down winner is the OXO. But Jim of Vessel alerts us in the comments that OXO has discontinued them!
I immediately called OXO to confirm this. The lady I spoke to had no explanation but did confirm that OXO no longer makes the mini measure. She also said that they had received a surprisingly large number of complaints, especially from bartenders and other cocktailians, about the move.
I think we need to encourage everyone we know to contact OXO and ask that they return the cups to production. They are tracking the response they get.
To contact OXO, you can email them at info@oxo.com, call them at (800) 545-4411, or use their web contact page.
There are still some of the cups out there in the supply chain. Amazon has two links to the plastic version (here and here) and one for the stainless steel. As of this writing, there was still stock left at each. But it would be a shame if this product stays out of production. Contact OXO and save the world’s best jigger!

Welcome Bostonist readers! While you are here, please look around. It is Tiki Month here at the Pegu Blog (thus the weird theme), and I have some more thoughts here about the Cocktail Apocalypse as well.

More: Down in the comments, I am reminded that these mini measures really are useful for cooking, too. And for those with dexterity issues, they may be easier to manipulate than standard measuring spoons. Why then are they being discontinued? One, I think OXO missed the boat on marketing the cocktail angle, and two, I think they are just too darn cute to be taken seriously by a lot of cooks.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Six Glasses Gleaming,
Five… Golden… Rums!
Four Cocktail Books,
Three French 75s,
Two Jars of Olives,
And a Shaker Full of Martinis!

You probably get as many emails as I do about Black Friday sales. But this year brings the first I’ve seen for a bar products company.
BarSupplies.com is running a series of specials for your home bar, or for the real bartender in your home. They have lots of gift packs, including ones for guys who are into drinks, girls who are into drinks, and for either sex who is into wine.
They also are touting a lot of specialized bar equipment, some of which I had not seen before. Much of it is “for the trade”, but there is a lot that could interest the obsessed amateur like myself as well.
And as a centerpiece for all their specials, BarSupplies has put together this YouTube video, with your host “Lindsay” (whose name is in quotes for some reason), in which she demonstrates the products on special and allows you to benefit from her vast… experience.

I actually did learn of some things I’d like. For those of you on the building a basement bar odyssey, the video and the site are worth a look. They have good entries in the basic glassware category, as well as fun stuff to augment your decorating choices.
In conclusion, while Barsupplies may not be a blog, I will say that they understand Rule 5 quite well.

Here’s an idea that isn’t new. I’ve heard of these things in movies for a long time, but I had not seen them in the real world until now. I am referring to small liquor cabinets that are shaped like free standing antique globes.

{Click on pic for larger image}

To be honest, these accessories are not so much for your Basement Bar as they are a way to extend your cocktail domain out of your bar, or simply have a small such domain if your house (or spouse) won’t allow for a full bar. There is room inside most of these globes for a number of glasses in a ring around the outside ring, and a small selection of bottles in a center compartment. If I had one of these, I’d prep it for company with cut crystal tumblers, a bottle of Dalwhinnie, an appropriate humidor, and a small vase to hold ice.
Put one of these globes in your living room or den, or near the back door, wander by it after dinner, tilt open the top and you’ll be quite the lord of the manor, Hugh Laurie as Bertram Wooster impression, optional.
I found a source for these globes that carries a large variety of models, 1-World Globes. They have them in a variety of sizes and styles, at prices between $300 and $1500. The one pictured above is about $500. I contacted these guys and asked a few questions to clarify how the globes work. There are definite pluses and minuses to these little barlets.
First off, they do not spin or rotate. You probably would not want them to anyway, but FYI…. Second, they are only available in antique cartography (17th Century). 1-World still shows a modern cartography globe on their site, but the manufacturer says, there ain’t no more, ain’t gonna be no more. Third, the styling is very classic as well on all models. For my house, I’d need a modern-looking steel or black enamel look in one of these.
On the plus side, however, they seem quite well constructed. I love globes in general, as they convey a sense of worldliness and education through your home’s decor. (Readers of this blog of course need no reinforcement of their obviously vast cosmopolitan intelligence, but what the hey.) Finally, they are just practical enough to make you feel justified in a little extravagance like this.
While I stated earlier that this is not primarily an item for a Basement Bar, there are some applications there as well, especially in facilities with specific themes. A British Isles themed pub might find a design like this to be right at home. I might also find it cool if you have a poker table, especially since you could put it at hand by your favorite chair, and you wouldn’t have to leave your chips at the mercy of your thieving friends while you refill your scotch or theirs. If you still want to keep all your booze in your central bar, this could still be a good storage place for such exotica as a larger humidor, or such mundanity as your twenty remotes.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

I have said on numerous occasions that you need a featured time-waster in your Basement Bar. You know, something to discuss while you and your friends enjoy your cocktails. Alternatively, it should also be a way to distract that annoying guy, Geoffrey or whatever his name is, who otherwise always monopolizes the conversation with tales of his band back in high school. One great device, especially for those of us of a certain age, is a stand-up, arcade-style video game. These usually have two problems associated with them: They take up a lot of space, and they take up a lot of your pocketbook.

I have also already written specifically about kegerators, for those of you with friends uncouth enough to want to drink beer, instead of fine cocktails. Possibly you yourself are so uncouth….

Most beer dispensing options also have two problems: They take up a lot of space, and they take up a lot of your pocketbook.

But what if you could provide both of the functions in one, apparently well-engineered, very cool-looking, customizable product? Behold, the Arkeg!

Via Uncrate, we discover the programmable classic game arcade machine with built in beer kegerator! Awesome, no?

The Arkeg uses the home brew-friendly Cornelius keg, with built in tap and digitally controlled temperature. I’d strongly recommend the optional drip tray, though.

The cabinet and controls look to be every bit as good as the arcade games of our youth, and the 24 inch LCD screen (with beer-proof cover) should be a heck of a lot better! You can customize the backlit screen atop the machine as well to reflect your favorite team or just make it in keeping with your Basement Bar’s own specific design.

The machine comes pre-loaded with 69 games, including some of my favorites, like Battlezone, Centipede, Defender, Joust, Missle Command, Tempest, and the greatest arcade game of all time, Spy Hunter. Furthermore, depending on your resources or your willingness to circumvent certain copyright laws that you really should not, there are thousands more out there that this machine can run for you. Arkeg calls it an in-home iPod for your video games.

Like a regular arcade machine, or a regular kegerator, the Arkeg still takes up a lot of room, and still costs a lot of cash ($4,000 plus shipping). But it performs two functions in one! That makes it a perfectly reasonable purchase, right honey? Think of what we would “save”! It would be irresponsible for you not to get one of these.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

Every year, builders in cities around America get together in new neighborhoods and construct a cluster of show-off houses. Maggi and I go just about every year to the one in Columbus, and this year was no exception. And no, we are not in the market for a new house, but we do find it interesting and a source of good ideas for decorating. The number and over the topedness of the homes in each year’s Parade is also a good indicator of the state of the general economy. (Don’t tell anyone, but the economy sucks right now.)
For the last several years, one feature that many of these show homes have boasted is a Basement Bar. There weren’t as many as in years past, but the ones there were ran a gamut of ideas and I thought I’d run a quick discussion here of the Basement Bar design themes that they illustrate.

First on the list is a house by Kevin Knight & Co. The whole house is built with materials like reclaimed cedar planking and has a huge Westchester or Martha’s Vineyard summer home vibe about it. The Basement Bar is mostly a wine room, but it possesses the most useful element, running water. You could mix a cocktail or two down here for guests who don’t like what you are tasting. Just beyond the counter-style bar is a lockable glass room with tons of shelving and climate control.

The coolest feature of the space, one I’ll employ should I ever get around to constructing my own cellar, is the small table in the center. It’s big enough for a foursome or so to stand around while showing off like the nouveau-riche tasting a special bottle. There is space for a favored work of art, and for a cheese board. I snark a bit on this, but a cellar like this really is meant to be shown off. You need a facility for accommodating friends, but not necessarily one designed for long term comfort.

Lakewood Builders constructed a very well designed Basement Bar. It has plenty of bar seating, a sink, a microwave, and a wine fridge. There is plenty of storage space and display shelving for all your prettiest bottles. The only thing this bar is missing from a functional standpoint is some facility for making ice. The only design element this bar lacks is some pizazz. It’s a great place to mix and enjoy drinks, but there is nothing to make people talk.
Fortunately, the decorator addressed this shortcoming with a suit of armor….

The next house, from the Stafford Group, has two semi-bar areas.

The house does not have a finished basement, but it has a large recreation room that would make a fine mantuary, if your wife doesn’t appropriate it for a sewing room first…. You reach said room via a small hallway, and they have installed a little snack area/wall bar in that space. This kind of bar is a decent place to store your booze and mix cocktails, but it isn’t designed as a place to hang out in and of itself. If you make a bar like this, do it someplace convenient to where you will be drinking, as is the case here. Also, a bar like this out in an open traffic area will require a neater personality than I have, as well as some facility to discourage teenagers who may be running around.

The second space is an outdoor bar. Depending on where you live, this can be a lot of space and investment for a seasonal facility. This one is well laid out for both drinks and cooking out, as you can see.
What you can’t see in this picture is the cautionary tale here. This bar top is a very expensive natural stone. If you decide to go with granite or marble for your bar top, be sure to ask your fabricator very specific questions about where they intend to put the seams in the stone. If you don’t, you may end up with a terribly obvious seam like the one on this bar top. It is directly in the center of the surface, and screams for attention.

Not every Basement Bar is a success. This one, to be found in the basement of the Duffy entry, is about as practically useful as the suit of armor shown earlier.

The stools are too small and rickety to comfortably sit on, and there is not enough space behind there to get in and do anything, much less mix a complicated cocktail. In fairness to Duffy, just like the suit of armor in the Lakewood Basement Bar, this bar is actually a decorator tchotchke. There are plenty of small bar-in-a-piece-of-furnitures out there that are very practical, though. If you want to go this way with your bar, just spend some time behind it pretending to mix, and see if the one you are looking at is ergonomically sound.

Now, Romanelli & Hughes has built themselves a serious drinker’s house. I’ll focus on the magnificent pub in the basement first, but it’s not the only booze room in the house.
There is a massive amount of (expertly seamed) stone countertop here. The material chosen looks great in the low light of the basement too. The flatscreen is placed well to be seen by everyone at the bar, and the rest of the room (equipped with poker table) too. There is a wine fridge, dishwasher, and microwave too, in addition to the sink. There is still no ice making device, even in this tricked out facility. Get with the program people! There is ample cabinet storage here, enough that you could easily give up some of it for a built in ice maker.
But aside from the general attractiveness of the bar, and its commercial quality pub stools, the thing to look at in this design is the back wall. Besides the TV, take a good look at the lighting. If you can’t afford a builder making you quite this level of bridge for your good ship Mancave, you can still get a lot of this look fairly easily and cheaply in a do-it-yourself endeavor. Most of it is done with cheap and simple to install puck lighting. The shelves for the liquor bottles were what really caught my eye, and taught me a little something.

I always thought to get this kind of look with shelves that you had to make them out of plexiglass and light them from below—a complicated process. But as you can see, you can simply place low profile rope lighting at the back of each shelf and get just as nice a look. Lighting through, instead of under, your bottles in this fashion will save you mucho dinero and lots of time as well.
Besides this bar, which dominates the basement, there is a very interesting wine cellar just off of the kitchen on the first floor. It has a designer window that lets you see right in from the kitchen and great room. It has lots of shelving, as well as a climate controlled wine cabinet appliance. The only problem with this design, and it might just have been temporary with the Parade going on, was with the overall air conditioning of the room. With that wine cabinet running in the confined space, the air in the room itself was way too hot to store good wine for any length of time. The lesson here is to remember that if you put in an expensive wine cabinet, remember it will heat the room it is in pretty thoroughly.
Sorry, no picture. All mine came out too blurry.

The last bar design, and another instructive one, is in the New England Homes house. This small, but well appointed, little bar is actually the nicest closet bar I’ve ever seen. A closet bar is sort of a glorified butler’s pantry for the cocktail enthusiast. It is a bar set up in a closet, into which you disappear when guests are present, returning with conversational lubricant. The wall bar I detailed in the Stafford house above is another form of closet bar.
The above picture doesn’t show how small this set up is. The next picture better shows the scale of this little gem.

Most closet bars don’t have seating. Those three sturdy stools are a neat addition, and allow the space to do occasional mancave duty. Note all the storage, wine fridge, and mini beer kegerator, as well as the sink. Since it’s right off the kitchen, the lack of an icemaker is no big deal.

I have one final picture to show you.

The last thing anyone wants is people using the bathrooms in all these homes during the parade, so there are portapotties set up in a muddy vacant lot to accommodate the guests. This is a portapotty, folks. If you are holding an event that requires such facilities and want me to come, please hire these guys!

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Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....