If you want to become a skilled bartender at home, the first place to start is not buying

out the liquor store. It's about mastering basic techniques and having the right gear. If you can't measure alcohol correctly or know how to shake a drink right, your drinks will never taste like they do at the local bar. Here's the lowdown on what you need to start your bartending journey.

Hit the Books

If you want to mix good drinks, you will need to study recipes. If you want to mix great drinks, you'll need to understand flavor combinations and bar techniques. There are three books that will start you off on the right path. The Joy of Mixology by Regan will teach you drink families and the history of cocktails. The Art of the Cocktail will teach you bar techniques and give you even more recipes. Finally, move on to The Ultimate Bar Book by Hellmich. Skip the specific recipes for now and focus on everything else.

Make the basics

The most important tool in any bar is not booze. It is ice. Skillful manipulation of liquors and temperature is what sets bartenders apart. Learn the basics of ice, how to take cube ice and turn it into cracked, crushed, and shaved ice. Discover from your books and on your tongue how water affects the flavors of cocktails. Try using the wrong ice in a recipe and find out why it's wrong.

The next thing to learn is how to make syrups. Many recipes call for simple syrup or gomme syrup. They are very easy to make. Your books should have recipes. Once you have syrups down, move to garnishes. Learn how to cut a peel and twist it. Make citrus slices. Understand why different garnishes go with different drinks.

Learn the foundational drinks

From your reading, you should know that cocktails are organized into families. Slight variations on a recipe can make a new drink, but you can trace where it came from. Begin your liquor collection by learning how to make the most basic cocktails:

• Old Fashioned
• Sazerac
• Manhattan
• Martini
• Whiskey Sour
• Sidecar
• Margarita
• Daiquiri
• Negroni
• Bloody Mary
• Mai Tai

Now turn to your recipes and learn how to perfect these ten. You can go a very long way with home bartending by just focusing on these. Learning these basic cocktails is like learning how to make sauces in a French kitchen.

Throw a party

Once you have your ten basics down, throw a cocktail party to see how well you can mix drinks under pressure. Start small, around five other people. You'll quickly learn how well your bar workflow works in the real world. You can even try selling your party-goers on certain drinks.

After your first party, refine your methods and throw a second, a little larger this time. Take notes and refine again. Continue this until you can comfortably throw cocktail parties for as many people as you like.

Expand your knowledge

From here, go back to your books and re-read them with new eyes. Look at all the recipes now and let your wheels spin. Try an unusual alcohol like ouzo, or learn how to set a drink on fire, or go look at some bartending flair videos to see some crazy tricks. You have your basics. The sky is the limit from there.