Regarding the shelf-life of sake: shelf life
Mixers: Tonic water, club soda, various juices, sour mix, vermouth, Rose’s brand grenadine and lime juice. For starters.
For tequila, if you don’t mind shelling out the dough, Don Julio blanco makes the best margaritas I’ve ever had. The anejo is awesome right out of the bottle and goes down very nicely.
Everybody’s already said everything I could every say about gin; Sapphire is the stock stuff I keep around. I store it in the freezer so it’s always ready to go. 
I prefer Hendrick’s but it’s hard to find in my area.
Myer’s rum is best; for stellar pina coladas, add a splash of dark rum in addition to the white.
Get yourself a decent cocktail set: shaker/strainer, pony/jigger, bottle opener, corkscrew, etc.
You say you don’t really drink hard liquor much; in that case, I recmmend buying the best quality spirits you can get your hands on. With liquor, the phrase “you get what you pay for” is very much true. The difference between a $10 bottle of booze and a $25 bottle is gargantuan.
The suggestions in this thread have been right on…Don’t buy anything less than $20-25 a bottle (750 ml), and you will do all right. It will cost more, but you will have quality alcohol to serve to your guests, and since you don’t drink it that often it will last quite a while.
Or, just duplicate Silenus’ liquor cabinet. 
Silenus, I’ll be coming to your house for the Labor Day barbecue this year! And I’ll bring you a bottle of Tesoro Platinum tequila to round out your selection; I think it’s the only thing missing.
It’s been my experience that after about $25/bottle, the relationship between quality and price starts to get muddied (except with tequila). At that point, you’re paying for something else.
For blends and unaged spirits, yes. For anything that has to be aged, no. Maker’s Mark is an excellent bourbon that sells for a very cheap price (±$25/fifth). Pappy van Winkle’s Family Reserve goes for 4 times that, and you can taste every dollar.
SP, you’re on! Actually, the only reason tequila isn’t in the cabinet is that it makes me stupid. So we stock miniatures for whenever the wife gets the urge for a Margarita.
I’m curious about this comment, silenus. I’ve always been of the mind that alcohol is alcohol and that any alcohol of a certain proof isn’t likely to have more of an effect than any other alcohol of the same proof, yet I’ve noticed myself that I can drink a couple of Margaritas containing an ounce of 80 proof tequila and an ounce of 48 proof triple sec and feel nothing, but a couple of Cuban Breezes containing an ounce of 80 proof vodka and an ounce of 30 proof Creme de Almond definitely leave me feeling like I’ve had some booze even though there is slightly more actual alcohol in the Margarita. Do you have any idea why a certain type of alcoholic beverage would affect a person more than another type of the same proof?
Because they expect it to. From Wikipedia:
What ultrafilter said, although I can tell the difference between a beer drunk and a bourbon one quite easily. My main problem with tequila is the fact that I love the way it tastes. I love Margaritas, I love tequila shooters, I just love tequila. I think you can see where I am going with this. Agave juice just goes down too easy. Be it the residuals in the booze, or the image in my head, tequila in contra-indicated except under carefully controlled conditions.
Our liquor cabinet is kind of crappy and we don’t really have the money right now to improve it, but one mix we have discovered and like is made with Grand Marnier. We were given a bottle for our wedding in October (though we have yet to figure out from who…one of 4 un-identified gifts!) and we recently opened it and found that equal parts Grand Marnier and fresh-squeezed lemon juice makes a damn good Marnier Sour!
I’m enjoying this thread - I’ll remember it once we get the money to improve our cabinet!
Thanks, guys. Maybe I just like the Cuban Breezes too much and therefore drink them more quickly.
Now that I think about it, that’s probably the more likely cause. 
Thanks again.
oh poo. i forgot to mention garnishes.
if you want a real bar-like experience, you can’t forget the garnishes.
most commonly, you’ll need limes, lemons, maraschino cherries & stuffed olives. perhaps also sugar, salt & black pepper. if you will be making caesars / bloody marys, you will also need celery salt, worchestershire sauce & tobasco. and though it will last forever (unless you consume mass quantities of manhattans) a small bottle of bitters on your bar will make you look just that much more professional.
attn: there are right & wrong ways to cut fruit for garnishing. stick to the right way. nobody will say it to your face, but if your fruit looks professional, they will tell others how skilled & brilliant you are (or appear to be – if someone mentions how amazingly perfect your garnishes are to your face, they are either a) hitting on you when they know they shouldn’t, or b) professional bartenders who are embarrassed by their own inattention to detail.)
limes: cut into wedges, 8 per lime. first cut across the body point to point. you want to see seam fat in both halves. then halve each half, leaving a trail of seam at the peak of each wedge. next, slice each wedge perpendicular at midpoint, halfway to the rind, further halving each quarter. this way your limes can grip the edge of a glass firmly, and be squeezed into a drink without unintentional citrus squirts into your or a neighbour’s eye. and, at that size, they rest perfectly in the neck of a corona bottle, so the drinker can choose whether or not to drop the fruit into her beer. note – limes too small to be eighthed should be either avoided or discarded.
lemons: cut into half moons, starting by removing the points of each lemon, leaving a barrel shape. halve the barrel through the mid-seam, then slice halfway to the rind through the seam sections. turn your half-barrels flat side down, then slice into 3 - 6 pieces (depending on the size of the lemon… each half moon should be between 3/8 & 1/4 inch.) you now have lemons perfect for both chasing tequila shots, and clinging to your glassware.
cherries: three to a skewer. no more, no less. (except for manhattans; where a single cherry, and nothing but a single cherry, is the case.)
olives: if queen olives, two per skewer. otherwise, three per skewer. (unless your patron requests otherwise… but never more than five olives on one skewer. ever. your patrons come to you for drinks, not meals.) and never, ever, ever, enter or exit the skewer through the pimento.
for your cherry & olive skewers, plastic swords are most common (both because they are cheap, and because they are sorta expected.) but wooden skewers are not unheard of, and in fact are becoming more common, mostly due to the many many bar tricks & games that can be played with them (especially as a substitute for matchsticks now that non-smoking is becoming the rule as opposed to the exception in bars.)
i won’t get into the more elaborate garnishes (as i said before, if you are going this far, get a pop gun, liquor licence & btw hire a seasoned staff.) but if your are fond of making caesars, keep some celery sticks on hand. this will only make your limes look that much more perfect.
as for preserving your garnishes… keep in mind what you need tonight, and what you may need tomorrow. if your bar has a tomorrow, cut & cup more than a night’s worth; just remember to keep leftovers refrigerated at the end of the night. and for the next day, top up instead of cutting anew. (hint: add a bit of sugar-water to cherries you want to save… a bit of salt-water to olives. and day-old cut lemons & limes can be rejuvenated with a splash or two of soda water. but never, ever, ever, ever, keep prepared garnishes for longer than two days. ever. ever. they may seem fine, they may actually even be fine. but it’s just unprofessional to even take the chance.)
and do not get me started on glassware. that is for a whole 'nother thread.
If you get just one rum, get Bacardi light. It’s what most people expect for mixers. My second would be something like Myers dark, for use in Mai Tais and the like. Only then would I get a third bottle of good “sipping rum”. Most people aren’t into it (yet).
That said, No bar is complete without Jagermeister, Rumpleminze, and Goldschlager.
Mount Gay Eclipse is better.
Learn to live with an incomplete bar, because only drunks, fools and people of low moral character drink Jager, Rumpleminze or Goldschlager. If one of your friends requests one of these, 86 them immediately and permanently. No, seriously. Find new friends if this happens.
Here is the question I’d start with:
What’s your budget? Say you have $100 to start with and want to spend $50 every three months after that just to stock (not to replace) and want to have a halfway decent bar in a year…that’s different than saying you are going out to the liquor store with $1000 in your pocket and want a darn good bar now (and have the space to store the wide variety of liqueurs and flavored vodkas or rums you may end up with). Do you value quality over quanity - and what level of quality - because that makes a difference on what you buy regardless if you start with $100 or $1000. Grey Goose vodka is great if you are making dry vodka martinis for a bunch of vodka snobs - and a complete waste if you are making Bloody Marys for a bunch of people who think a case of Bud is a great thing.
I think you need a decent gin (don’t skimp on gin - can’t stand even the good stuff myself, but my friends drink it and you’ll never get rid of bad gin), a non-flavored rum (if you have to skimp for budget, rum is the place to do it), a bottle of whiskey (bourbon, scotch, or Canadian), a bottle of tequila (Cuervo, unless you are a tequila snob and have a lot of money to spend), a bottle of vodka (Absolut - don’t buy a really cheap vodka, but unless you are a vodka snob, middle of the road vodka is good).
At stage two, round out the whiskey - if you bought Canadian, buy a bourbon and a scotch. (unless you are a Whiskey bunch, in which case, round out the whiskey before you invest in the tequila) Add a bottle of brandy (unless you live in Wisconsin in which case brandy is a bar basic). And start adding the liquors: I’d start off the bat with triple sec because its such a standard mixer. Also, this is the point at which a bottle of things like Vanilla Vodka or Captain Morgans start showing up - or you start realizing you want a dark rum and a light rum…
Oh, a buy a bar book. Because once you start down this path the next question will be “what is in a Tom Collins and can I make it at home?”
Stay away from things like Mr. Boston and the like as bar books. Their recipes are too sweet and unbalanced IMO. Playboy’s New Bar Guide is excellent if you can find a copy.
The Wild Turkey line includes an 80 proof, a 101 and many more. The Kentucky Spirit is a favorite of mine.
Jack Daniels isn’t a bourbon for a couple reasons. The main reason is that nowhere on the label will you find the word ‘bourbon’. It’s not bourbon unless it says so on the label. Secondly, Jack goes through a charcoal filter process before bottling. This is why it is referred to as a Tennessee Whiskey.
As far as my advice for bourbon for a startup bar…get two. One cheap and one for the snobs. Makers Mark is fine for the cheap one. You can drink it on the rocks or mix it with things. Plus the bottle is pretty cool. The snobs won’t like it, but you’ll have something else for them.
For the expensive one, consider something higher proof. Maybe the Kentucky Spirit that Silenus recommended. Anything with Van Winkle on the label is great. I just bought a bottle of George T. Stagg. At 141 proof, it’s pretty hot. It’s a mountain of flavor though. It’s about $40, but you’ll have it a long time, and the bourbon snobs will love you for stocking it.
This bourbon snob loves Maker’s Mark. In fact, I have a glass of it in hand right now. I like to hunt for the special dippings.
You really can’t go wrong with any of the various Wild Turkey bottlings: Russell’s Reserve, Kentucky Spirit, 101, Rare Breed…they’re all magnificent.
When did bourbon get to be “the thing?” Brainiac4s been drinking bourbon for years and people have always thought he’s nuts because it isn’t scotch.
Seriously, when you are stocking a bar starting out, just stock the basics. Someone will be a bourbon snob and want four kinds of bourbon. Someone else is a single malt scotch guy and how many single malts can one person have just to keep their friends happy? The guy next to him wants Irish whiskey,why are you passing off scotch as whiskey? Someone else likes sipping tequila. Another is into flavored vodkas. Your bar can’t be all things to all people (unless you are very wealthy, have lots of room, and are really into it). Someone will think you are lacking for not having Midori and the next person will want to know why you don’t have Campari. So stock whiskey, gin, rum, tequila and vodka to start - then add depending on your tastes and those of your friends.
Wow. Somebody else who drinks rye? You know how hard it is to find freakin’ rye around here? The stuff used to be more plentiful than bourbon back in the day (well, not back in my day), but now you gotta know where to look.
Anyhow, for everyday rye, I actually prefer Old Overholt. Although, to tell you the truth, none of the starter ryes are bad (Jim Beam, Wild Turkey Rye, and Old Overholt). Oh, and it’s cheap to boot. Sam’s Wine and Spirits in Chicago sells Old Overholt for $12 a fifth.
I got a taste for rye as a side-effect of my love for bourbon. I tasted a couple of high-rye bourbons and wondered what the real thing tasted like. I’ve heard good things about Old Overholt, but the Beam was what my local mega-store had in stock. I actually like it as a mixer more than as a sipper. Addicted to corn…that’s me.