Wandering around Sunset Junction in Silver Lake on a recent visit to Los Angeles, I stumbled across Barkeeper, a barware and accoutrement store on Sunset. As a big fan of bar porn, this is my kind of place.
Billing itself as a head shop for alcohol lovers, Barkeeper’s walls are lined with glassware and tools, with tables arranged throughout the store with all manner of accessories, everything you need for a well- (or over-) equipped bar. Our bar at home is at just the right balance between having most everything we need while using the maximum available space, so I managed to resist buying anything on this visit, but they’ve got lots of great stuff available from their web site too, so I can change my mind at any time. We’ll have a bigger place eventually, and at that time I’ll have space for a permanent bar setup instead of just using the kitchen as I do now.
Of particular interest to me was the Schott Zwiesel break-resistant crystal glassware. They’re a little pricey but they sure are nice. We don’t break glasses often but our wineglasses have been slowly decreasing in number over the years and we’re almost ready to buy new ones. I’d really like to get a full selection of these, but they’re just too expensive right now.
Something else I found really neat here is their bitters tasting bar, pictured below. They had a nice range of bitters, including all the Fee Brothers bitters plus Regan’s orange and Peychaud’s. This is an interesting idea, and one I haven’t seen done before. It looks like a great way to help people familiarize themselves with different bitters, plus make a few sales in the process. Also displayed on the bar were a couple varieties of infused simple syrups from Sonoma Syrup Co., the same ones I use at home in place of Rose’s grenadine and lime syrups.
Browsing around Barkeeper for a while gave me some great ideas for a Cocktailia retail store, in the unlikely event I decide to go in that direction. But really, I couldn’t hope to top this place. Be sure to stop by when you’re in LA.
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[...] before heading over to Nathan’s place for dinner. I discovered a great barware store called Barkeeper while walking around Sunset Junction, and Sarai got to browse some vintage clothing, which made us [...]