So you’re in your favorite watering hole on Thursday night and, while there’s a decent mix of regulars and fresh faces, the overall energy level is about what you’d expect during morning bingo at the retirement home. What to do? Well, you could go up to the most beautiful woman in the place and declare your undying love just to see what happens. But if she’s the girlfriend of the biggest guy in the place, you may need a couple of copper mugs to collect your teeth afterward. A better idea is to save yourself a trip to the dentist and simply roll out some nifty bar tricks.

Awesome Bar Tricks to Impress Your Guests

Turning Whiskey into Water

Fill 2 shot glasses to the brim: one with water, one with whiskey. Bet your friends you can turn the water into whiskey (or vice versa). When they balk, take a playing card and place it on top of the water-filled glass. Turn the glass over making sure to hold the card firmly in place. Some water will spill but keep it to a minimum. Place the overturned water glass onto the shot glass full of whiskey and pull the card a tiny bit to the side. The whiskey being lighter will migrate slowly upward into the water glass displacing the water which will sink into the whiskey glass. In a few minutes the contents of the glasses will have switched. Amazing!

Remove the straw without touching it

Take a short straw and put a toothpick through it about ⅓ of the way from the end. Then place this cross-shaped straw into an empty beer bottle. The toothpick will prevent the straw from falling into the bottle. Challenge your buddies to remove the straw without touching it or the toothpick or knocking over the bottle. Tell them if they can you’ll buy them a set of Moscow Mule mugs for their next party. After they fail it’s your turn. What you didn’t tell them was that you put a tiny bit of Sambuca into the bottom of the bottle. You now light a match and drop it into the bottle which causes the Sambuca to flare up and push the straw out of the bottle! And you get to keep the Moscow Mule mugs for yourself!

The Quantum Olive

With this trick you’re going to pull some fancy quantum junk on your bar buddies by making an olive leap from one napkin to another. Ready? Place 2 napkins on the bar about a foot apart. Place an olive on one napkin and ask the assembled skeptics to move it to the other napkin using only a snifter. No touching the olive with their hand, no blowing on it and no moving the napkin. After they fail, flip the snifter over and, holding it just a fraction of an inch above the napkin (so as not to move it), start twirling the snifter around the olive. The centrifugal motion will force the olive up into the snifter. Keep twirling the snifter, lift it slowly and deliver the olive to the other napkin. Viola!

Remove the Dime

Set 2 shot glasses on the bar upside down. Place a dime under one of the glasses. Take a match and place it between the 2 glasses so that the force of the glasses holds the match up. Now challenge your barmates to remove the dime without causing the match to fall to the bar. But they can’t touch the match in any way. Give them all a chance to fail. When it’s your turn take another match, light it and hold it under the sulphur end of the match between the glasses. Let that match flare up and then blow it out gently. The burnt sulphur will fuse to the glass so you can lift it and remove the dime without the match falling to the bar.

The Incredible Moving Straw

Take a bottle of beer and a plastic straw. Challenge your friends to lay the straw across the open beer bottle and make it spin without touching it or blowing on it. When it’s your turn take the straw and rub it on your clothes for a few seconds to create static. Then place the straw across the top of the bottle and move your finger around it. The static charge will cause the straw to be attracted to your finger and it will follow your finger around and around.

Drop a Dime

Take an empty beer bottle and place a business card over the top. Then place a dime (or any coin that’s small enough to fit into the bottle) on top of the business card above the opening of the bottle. Bet your friends some copper mugs that you can get the coin into the bottle without grabbing the card or touching the bottle. Let them try it. After they fail set it up again and just flick the business card from underneath with your finger. The card will fly away and the coin will fall into the bottle. The smaller the coin and the larger the opening on the beer bottle the easier it will be.

The Alternating Shots

Line up 6 shot glasses. The first 3 in line will be full, the other 3 will be empty. Challenge your friends to create alternating full, empty, full, empty, full, empty glasses by just moving one glass. 99% of them will just scratch their heads and give up because they don’t know the secret. But you do and here it comes… Of the 3 full glasses lift up the middle one and empty the contents into the middle ‘empty’ glass. Then set the formerly full glass back down between the other two full glasses. You’ve only moved one glass and you’ve created the alternating full, empty pattern.

Remember: everybody loves a trick. What they don’t love is feeling like you made a fool of them. So keep everything light and never give anyone a hard time for failing. That way the biggest guy in the bar won’t take offense and you won’t need emergency dental work.

Must-Have Accessories for a Great Home Bar

There’s nothing like having a wet bar in the home. Whether your focus is fun or sophistication, you’ll need the right accessories to really bring it to life. We’ve included fifteen ideas for the ultimate home bar below.

The Soda Siphon

Nothing endows your home bar with old-school charm quite like a soda siphon. Turn your tap water into a must-have cocktail component with one tug on the handle. Your guests will want to hold it, you’ll want to use it and everyone will love the sparkling results.

Artificial Ice

Something tells us that when people warn about the dangers of AI they’re not talking about artificial ice. Because, unlike computer-based AI these soapstone cubes aren’t out to enslave the human race; just to cast a chill over your drink without watering it down. Pick some up. Purists may scoff but everyone else will recognize them as a great idea.

Copper Mugs

Ramp up the ambiance of your home bar with the timeless beauty of Moscow Mule mugs from Paykoc. They’re not only the perfect vehicle for your Moscow Mules, Holiday Mules, Kentucky Mules and more they also look great hanging from the glass rack over the bar or stacked in a pyramid against the backsplash.

Barware Essentials

It’s the little things that make the biggest difference and when it comes to the perfect home bar. That means having all the tools of the trade on hand - including the cocktail strainer and shaker, jigger, stirrer and and more.

Glass-Door Refrigerator

Every home bar should have its own mini fridge and if yours has a glass door it’s even better. Guests can see exactly which beers and soft drinks you have available and you don’t have to keep opening the door to check. You can also use those cans and bottles behind the glass to add subtle color to the space.

Wine Rack

Whether your bar is intended to impress the boss or impress your neighbors you’ll still want to have a selection of first class wines on hand for special occasions. Having them displayed on a wine rack in many ways completes the look of the home bar. Go for an innovative design to ramp up the visual interest.

Bottle Opener

Anyone can have a bottle opener. You want one that stands apart from the crowd either because it’s an antique you picked it up at Clignancourt Market in Paris or because it commemorates your favorite team finally winning it all. The bottle opener is another of those little touches that make all the difference.

Striped Paper Straws

Your guests will sometimes need straws, why not make them fun and environmentally friendly? Old-school striped paper straws add a light-hearted touch to the proceedings and send a subtle signal that you care about the world you live in.

Ice Maker

While some will embrace artificial ice with both arms others will want to stay the course with traditional ice which means they’ll need an ice maker. Install it under the back counter next to the glass door fridge and you’ve got a dynamic duo of functionality that will separate your bar from the ordinary.

Quality Barstools

Make sure that when your guest are enjoying the perfect mule in their Moscow Mule mugs that they’re also sitting on first class bar stools. They should be tall and comfy and stable and sturdy. Other than that the details are up to you.

Coasters

“Make sure you use a coaster!” Your mom was right. If your bar top is made of wood or natural stone you’re going to need coasters under those drinks. But far from being kill-joys they can reinforce a theme, add color and visual interest and be as formal or playful as you want.

Champagne Bucket

When there’s something special to celebrate or the countdown is on for the New Year you’re going to want to have plenty of chilled bubbly on hand. Whether lacquered wood or mirror-finish stainless steel the champagne bucket is a must have.

State-of-the-Art Corkscrew

Your 1985 Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux won’t be much good if you don’t have the perfect corkscrew to open it with. Put a few extra bucks into getting one that is both beautifully functional as well as innovative in its design.

Moscow Mule Placemats

Spend a little time in Photoshop creating your own Moscow Mule placemat designs and then have a bunch printed up. They’ll add a one-of-a-kind touch to your home bar and you might even catch a guest or two taking one home.

Martini Pitcher

You’ve got the copper mugs, you’ve got the champagne bucket and the soda siphon. All that’s left is the martini pitcher. Don’t let your home bar be caught one vital component short. Pick up a martini pitcher and complete the picture.

Turn your home bar from a curiosity into the talk of the town by paying attention to the details. Don’t forget to pick up a 25 pack of copper mugs from Paykoc Imports to tie it all together.

One of the best ways to make your home bar totally unique to you is to get your glassware engraved with your initials, your favorite quote, or just something fun that you and friends can laugh about for years. At Paykoc Imports we offer individual glassware engraving or engraving in bulk. For more information - and to order your own custom-engraved products - visit our custom product designer.