The Bar Cart Is Over. Enter the Bar Cabinet.
As drinking culture changes, the furniture around it is shifting too. Showy bar carts are being traded in for more discreet bar cabinets. [...] Read More... The post The Bar Cart Is Over. Enter the Bar Cabinet. appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.
Assembling your first bar cart is something of a rite of passage. Not only does it symbolize the financial security required to display multiple spirits at once, but it signals a move away from alcohol as a means to an end, but rather a pastime to be proud of. The cart encourages spirits and wine to be collected like art, and displayed as such.
The bar cart’s heyday, however, may be coming to an end. Increasingly, people are opting for bar furniture where its contents—the rare wild mezcals, the single-malt whiskeys, the obscure French liqueurs—remain partially, if not entirely, concealed.
Michael Mahal, New York City-based architect and founder of M Design Group, has noticed a huge cultural shift around how his clients are integrating alcohol into their spaces.
“The interesting thing about bar carts is that people have no interest anymore in displaying their liquor,” says Mahal, who designs custom structures like “disappearing bars,” which have no visible handles. “Something has shifted, and it’s a generational thing, as well. When I did my apartment only five, six years ago, I put my liquor out everywhere. Ever since then, the request from clients is that it’s concealed.”
So, what should you do when you’ve outgrown your bar cart? Enter the bar cabinet.
The Anatomy of a Bar Cabinet
Beyond pricey custom structures designed by interior architects, home spirits aficionados are opting for bar cabinets, which conceal one’s collection until it’s time to open the door and showcase it, say, during a party.
Unlike bar carts, cabinets have multiple storage compartments, often including refrigeration and pull-out workspaces for mixing and serving.
“I highly recommend an at-home bar like the Cheverny Metal Inlay Bar Cabinet with Beverage Center. It has many similarities to a functioning bar, which means that it’s efficient and practical,” says Bernadette James, sommelier at Stages at One Washington and The Living Room in Dover, New Hampshire.
The geometric cabinet, which has 24 individual wine bottle slots, is made of solid mango wood, with aged bronze touches on the front door, and it has all the storage you could need for home bartending, without looking bulky.
“Wine bottles need to be stored on their side; beverage mixers, juices and beers need to be kept chilled; and hanging stemware is the safest way to store glasses,” she says. “There’s plenty of storage for liquor bottles and tools, plus having a workspace at a comfortable height is very important.”
Best of all, when the party is over, it all vanishes.
“To be able to close everything up and not have your workspace clutter on display I think is one of the main reasons to upgrade from a bar cart,” says James.
Other trendy bar cabinet options that have made appearances on #HostingCore TikTok are credenzas and sideboards with integrated coolers like this one, which is made of oak but has a stain-resistant quartz top for drink prep.
How to Choose the Right Bar Cabinet for Your Home
Selecting the right bar cabinet starts with examining how much room you have: Can your space accommodate a wide structure (credenzas) or a tall one? The most important thing is to have a workspace at a height that allows you to comfortably make drinks. Then, you have to decide whether you want any visible glasses and/or bottles, some visible glasses and/or bottles or a structure that just looks like furniture unrelated to alcohol.
David Orellana, beverage director at Grand Brasserie, strongly encourages home bartenders to pivot away from the bar cart.
“Though they are often attractive, they only hold a few bottles and for families with small children or pets, that cart might be too tempting, and you’ll find your beloved spirits on the floor,” he says. “I personally love the Ruskin Sideboard with integrated wine and beverage refrigeration.”
Beyond its classic look, the sideboard has all the functionality Orellana needs, without entirely concealing his prized collection. “It displays a spirits collection through the glass doors, it has a 26-bottle wine fridge, and an extra fridge for mixers. The glass bar top offers a practical surface for crafting cocktails and is also a great area to display some barware.”
