Finding the right woman took oodles of charm followed by plenty of determination. After weeks of wooing and drinking glasses of the finest wine at restaurants well beyond your budget, it?s finally time to bring her home for a drink within the comforts of familiar territory.

Nothing spells success like a well-stocked bar. And the finest brews in the world deserve ambience to do them justice. Remember, it won?t impress her much if you serve your most prized vintage in a coffee mug.

So, make sure you leave her shaken and stirred with the right glasses and accessories. Here are some basics of setting up a bar at home.

Drink decor

Start off with the practicalities of light fixtures, under-bar storage cabinets, a sink and a freezer. Then proceed to decorate the back bar for an attractive display of bottles.

Entrepreneur Rony Ray, who has an exquisitely decorated bar at his Alipore residence (pictures by Pabitra Das), has put many hours into his pride and joy. ?The walls of my bar are made of broken floor tiles. There are solid wood pillars and just enough bar stools to provide the not-too-cluttered feel.?

After you?ve got the bar standing in its designated place, personalise it with whatever you wish to display. Ray has decorated his bar with collectibles from all over the world. Some mugs, lighters, a hog from a pub called Hog in the Pound, London, an old brass phone, a small standing fan from an auction house, a gun and a mirror from the Spanish Riviera, a travel iron from the 1920s in its original tin box, Commemoration plates of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, numerous odds and ends from a junk shop in Grasmere...

?My bar is on the lines of an English pub, and no English pub can be complete without something of The Beatles and British royalty,? says Ray. While the Beatles smile on the top rack, a cosy cricketer?s corner, with specially autographed bats by British and Indian cricketers, sits on a little table away from the bar.

Coasters collected globally adorn a part of the wooden structure, a specially ordered dartboard from The Pub with No Beer in Covent Garden is placed against a granite slab. Paintings add style to the walls, while books on wine and cocktails sit quietly on table tops.

Music is an essential feature in a bar room. Ray has his own home theatre, on which he rolls out tracks from the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

Spirit stock

Then, it is on to the essential element. According to Ray, a must-have bar list should include whisky, vodka, beer, brandy, rum (black and white), gin, tequila, sherry and a few varieties of wine including Champagne. A few basic liqueurs like Campari, Cointreau, Drambuie, Tia Maria, Kahlua, Bailey?s Irish Cream and Creme De Menthe are also necessary.

?You have to allow your bar to grow with time,? says Ray. He has a formidable collection of 60 different varieties of malt whisky and vodka and 32 varieties of premium-blended scotch. One of the most interesting items here is a bottle of Chinese wine with a real cobra in it, preserved with ginseng roots and herb.

Creating a personalised liquor menu could be a fun idea too.

Mix mantra

If you are an amateur mixologist, along with the basic liquors you would need mixers like tonic water, juices, soda and bitters, a potent ingredient that sets off the flavour of many cocktails.

Garnishes such as cherries, lime and olives might add class points.

ways make sure the ice cubes in your freezer have not picked up flavours from stored food.

Glitzy glasses

Most glasses used for cocktails have distinctive shapes for different reasons. Some essential ones for your glassware collection are the cocktail/Martini glass, highball glass, Collins glass, shot glass, Pilsner glass, beer mug, Champagne flute, Irish coffee glass, wine glass, Margarita glass and the liqueur glass.

These are not at all hard to find at superstores and specialised crockery shops.

Tool talk

A well-stocked bar won?t help much if you don?t have the supporting tools. The must-haves are a bar spoon, cocktail shaker, cutting board, juicer, strainer, ice bucket, ice crusher, ice tongs, jugger, knife, measuring spoon, pour spout and corkscrew.

Tip top

Having a bar at home is a passion which you must nurture. And the least you can do is keep the place clean.

?Just as I enjoy having my evening drink, I also like cleaning the bar. It?s my passion and I don?t allow anyone else to touch anything, knowing people are bound to say that they accidentally broke something or the other,? shrugs Ray.