Jordan
With the recent restrictions that the Coronavirus has put upon us, no one knows how long it will be before nightlife normalizes once more, if bars will shut completely, or for how long. The best thing we can do is prepare and make our homes as comfortable and entertaining as possible, as we don’t know how much time we will have to spend in them. Atmosphere is important, and transforming your kitchen into a home bar is the perfect way to change those lazy nights with your partner falling asleep before 10pm in front of a Hugh Grant film into a fun evening or a mini-date night in your home.
Learn Some Cocktail Recipes
Cocktails are delicious, but for most of us, a night drinking cocktails is indicative of a real celebration at a fancy bar, rather than a quiet and relaxing tipple after work. Although most bars offer ‘happy hour’, cocktails are usually a fairly expensive option at a bar.
Learning how to make cocktails is a fantastic way to have some fun during otherwise-wasted lockdown hours, and an impressive skill to perfect! An advantage of making them at home is that you can make them exactly suited to your tastes. Spend some time discovering which of the 8 tastes you most enjoy, whether it’s an astringent Prince Reviver, an umami Bloody Mary, or something completely new!
Decant Your Beer into Steins
Decanting your home beer from a bottle or can into beer steins replicates the sense of novelty that only comes from that hefty clunk as it’s served to you on the bar. It bears just that bit more weight as you lift it to your lips, giving the sense that you have earned this beer and have been on something of a journey to have it – it hasn’t just been sitting in the refrigerator at home waiting to be drunk!
The thickness of the glass helps to keep your beer cold and makes it taste more like it has come from a tap, and what’s more, steins are fairly cheap and less breakable than normal glasses, making them a good investment and a great gift. Encourage your friends to start their own home bar too!
Use Candles to Create Mood Lighting
One of the most marked differences in the atmosphere of a bar rather than a kitchen comes from the moody, dim-lit, flattering lighting, replicating Dickensian public houses. Candlelight adds a romantic atmosphere perfect for first dates, creating the perfect environment for that ‘spark’. The flickering of the candle also creates more movement in the room, allowing the impression of a busier environment slightly less stark than a kitchen.
Lighting your home bar with candles in the right way can transform the reflective surfaces in a clinical kitchen into portals to the front room of an authentic cozy pub, without investing in LED lighting or colored bulbs.
It is both easy and cheap to make small changes in your home which can transport you, even in a small way, to a slightly more exhilarating environment. Spending some time with your friends or partner in your home bar can really help to stop evenings being repetitive and maintain a sense of creativity in your habits.
