The Best Spirits To Stock Your Home Bar With

I am a huge advocate of the "spring cleaning" mentality. Out with the old, in with the new. And while most people would associate spring cleaning with clothes and shoes, it's important to consider your liquor cabinet in this as well. If you've been pouring yourself the same old drinks with the same old ingredients for too long, perhaps it's time to do a little spring cleaning of your own.

Last year, we gave you a guide on how to update your home bar with new spirits, and as the seasons change, so do the basic necessities. The types of spirits are the same; you should always be in possession of quality vodka, tequila, gin, rum, and some brown spirits as well. But with new brands constantly being released on the market, it's important to keep up with what basic spirits to have on hand, and what specialty bottles can be kept in house for that frequent mid-week fun cocktail. Did someone say Avion Espresso Liqueur?

Read on for tips on how to update your home bar with new spirits as well as the staples that you shouldn't live without. Get a head start on your boozy spring cleaning now, and you'll be sure to have the best bar on the block! Cheers!

Vodka

Having a solid vodka selection at all times is really important for the home bar, especially with the warm weather well on its way into our lives. I'm not of the school of thought that several different types of vodkas are needed; in fact, having any more than two or three bottles is a bit excessive. Since these are your go-to vodkas, you'll want them to be of the best quality, not only in terms of taste but also value. If spending $40 on a bottle of triple-distilled vodka from France is your idea of the best vodka on the market, then by all means invest, but there have been a multitude of new vodkas released in the last year that are of superior quality for half the cost.

Three to Try: Punzone Vodka, Reyka Vodka, 42 Below

Gin

Gin, to me, is the warm-weather spirit. It's refreshing, crispy, and incredibly easy to mix with a bubbly soda, some ice cubes, and a few wedges of fresh lemon or lime. In the last several years, gin has seen a renaissance of sorts, with new brands coming out that pay homage to the traditional London Dry style, but bring in some new flavors and styles as well. With gin, your best bet is to have one London Dry and one of these new modern-style expressions.

Two to Try: No.3 London Dry Gin, Junipero Gin

Click here to find more spirit recommendations for building the home bar.

— Sara Kay, The Spir.it