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Home Bar Gifts Under $50
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items Gifts for a home bar under fifty dollars, which is a narrower brief than it sounds. Nothing here needs a bottle opener or a decanter, and nothing assumes the recipient has a bar cart or a spare shelf. The first two sections are the equipment: glasswa...
Sections
4
Glassware That Survives a Party
Tools for One Good Cocktail
Low and No Alcohol
Things to Serve It On
Glassware That Survives a Party
Glassware first, because it is what people actually lack. Four sets between eighteen and thirty-six dollars, all of them four glasses, all dishwasher safe. Pick the boxed set if it is a gift and the plain set if the recipient will use them daily. Two...
Four lead-free rocks glasses, eleven ounces each, for twenty dollars. It is the set to buy when someone's cupboard is still full of mismatched tumblers. They are dishwasher safe, and that matters more than the shape.
GLASKEY Whiskey Glasses Set of 4, 11 oz
Four old-fashioned glasses with two ice ball moulds in the same box, eighteen dollars. It is the cheapest way to give a drink rather than the equipment for one. The moulds are the reason to choose this over the plain set.
Whiskey Glasses Set of 4 with Ice Ball Molds
Four heavy ten-ounce tumblers in a presentation box, thirty-six dollars. The box does the gift work, so there is nothing to wrap. They are thick enough that a dropped one survives a party, and heavy enough to feel borrowed from a bar.
KANARS Old Fashioned Whiskey Glasses Set of 4
Four ten-ounce rocks glasses, twenty-five dollars, weighted at the base. It is the set that looks like it came from a bar rather than a supermarket. Buy two if the recipient entertains, since four empty quickly.
Whiskey Glasses Set of 4, 10 oz Old Fashioned Tumblers
Tools for One Good Cocktail
The tools for one cocktail made properly, rather than a drawer of gadgets. Four sets between twenty-six and forty-three dollars, each with a shaker, a jigger and a strainer. The bamboo stand is for a cart and the plain set is for a cupboard. The insu...
A shaker set with a jigger, strainer and bar spoon in one tin, thirty-seven dollars. It is the set for someone who has decided to learn one cocktail properly. Everything fits inside the shaker, so it stores in a drawer.
Highball & Chaser Cocktail Shaker Set Silver
The same idea with a bamboo stand, thirty-two dollars, and that is the version for a bar cart. It shows the tools rather than hiding them. The stand is the only difference, so pick it if it will be visible.
KITESSENSU Cocktail Shaker Set with Stand
A ten-piece stainless set from Amazon Basics, twenty-six dollars. It is the plain option and the one to buy for a first flat, where the tools will be used rather than displayed. Nothing in it is beautiful, and nothing needs to be.
Amazon Basics 10-Piece Stainless Steel Cocktail Shaker Set with Bamboo Stand
An insulated shaker that does not sweat on the counter, forty-two dollars. It keeps the ice from melting into the drink while you work, which matters when you make two at once. The double walls are the reason for the price.
Insulated Cocktail Shaker | Vacuum Double Wall Stainless Steel
Low and No Alcohol
For the guest who is not drinking, which is now most December parties. Four low and no options between twenty-five and forty-three dollars, two of them bottles and two of them cans. Bitters are the useful buy, since a bottle lasts months. The spritz ...
Three non-alcoholic bitters, thirty-six dollars, for someone who is not drinking but still wants a drink. A few dashes in soda is the whole recipe, so the bottles last months. Cherry, orange and one more to work through.
Bab Louie & Co. Non-Alcoholic Bitters Set – Cherry, Orange, Aromatic – 30ml Each
A twelve-pack of non-alcoholic cocktails in eight flavours, twenty-five dollars. It is the easy version of the same gift and needs no glassware. Cans rather than bottles, so it posts, and it keeps until spring.
Naked Life Non Alcoholic Cocktail Variety 12pk
A sampler of twelve zero-proof cocktails, thirty-eight dollars, for a household where one person has stopped drinking. It covers the December parties without a second trip to the shop. Check the flavours before buying a case.
Recess Zero Proof Mocktail Sampler, 12 Pack
A twelve-pack of spritz-style non-alcoholic drinks, forty-three dollars. It is the one to bring to a party where you do not know who is drinking. Serve it over ice with an orange peel and nobody asks what is in it.
Saint Spritz Non Alcoholic Drink Variety Pack
Things to Serve It On
The finishing pieces, all under twenty-five dollars. Four things that make a drink look deliberate: large ice, barrel coasters, a volume set for a host and one joke mould. The ice moulds take a day in the freezer, so give them with that warning. The ...
Two silicone sphere moulds for large ice, eleven dollars. A single ball melts slowly enough to keep a drink cold without watering it, and that is the whole trick. They take a day in the freezer, so plan ahead.
Tovolo Sphere Ice Cube Molds Set of 2
Six coasters cut from whiskey barrel staves, twenty-five dollars. They are heavy, they smell of oak and they stop rings on a wooden table. The set is the whole gift, so no bottle is needed with it.
Whiskey Barrel Coasters Set 6 Non-Slip Rustic
Six glasses and six ice moulds for twenty-three dollars, and that is the volume gift for a party host. It is not the set to give someone who already has glassware. The moulds are the part that gets used afterwards.
12-Piece Whiskey Gift Set with Glasses & Ice Molds
A dachshund-shaped ice mould, fifteen dollars, four dogs at a time. It is the joke card in the list and it works because it makes one drink. Buy it for someone with a dog rather than for a serious bar.
3D Dachshund Dog Ice Cube Mold, 4 Hole Tray