Whenever you are forced to stay at home, you might get bored very easily. But rather than spending all day on the couch, you can do something that feels a lot more productive and satisfying–which is practicing the following gentlemanly skills.
Practice These Gentlemanly Skills At Home
Many of these activities cost very little, can be done with things that you already have around your home, or simply take some time and energy to learn.
1. Learn To Appreciate Whiskey
Not every man drinks and some men don’t like whiskey but just like other drinks, it’s an acquired taste. Ordering a dram of whiskey at the bar is usually rather expensive for what you get and so when you have time at home there can be a fun endeavor to test different flavors and it’ll cost you a whole lot less. Doing it from home in a controlled environment is great because it prevents any outside influences and you can fully focus on it, read up about them before and just determine what you would like and dislike about whiskeys.
This Blade _ Bow Whiskey has a subtle aroma of fresh fruit and a taste that includes hints of dried apricot, ripe pear, and sweet roasted grain.
Rather than in full bottles, you can buy smaller sample sizes and their online services out there now that ship them right to your home. Often they’re even curated so you can just pick different sets and just taste along. Before you invest a single dollar though, you can check out our whiskey primer and 101, and more guides on how to taste whiskeys, what glasses and drinkware you should use, the different areas of Scotch, for example, so you get the theory first and then you can start in practice.
2. Learn How To Mix Your Favorite Cocktail
When you start learning to make your own favorite cocktail or just a small repertoire of cocktails, you can easily entertain and impress your guests when you have them over, or you can also just enjoy them yourself. By cocktail, I don’t mean a screwdriver or vodka soda but something more elegant than you would maybe get at a craft cocktail bar. Classics include old fashioned or Manhattan, but maybe you can also experiment with an egg-white cocktail such as a whiskey sour or something that’s a little more elaborate for summer such as a caipirinha.
Experiment and have fun in making your own cocktails; make sure to use fresh citrus fruits such as lemon or lime.
Of course, we suggest that you learn how to make a cocktail from scratch. Sometimes, little things like a simple syrup can be easily done with water and sugar so you don’t need to go out and buy anything. Mixers may be quicker to use but they’re also a lot more expensive and usually they don’t taste as good as a freshly handmade cocktail.
Start with The Right Tools
If you’re new to this, the big question is where do you start? Well, first of all, you need the right tools such as a shaker and a strainer and for a complete list of what you can start with, check out our guide here. I know there are often sets that you can buy but more often than not they’re overpriced and I don’t really perform well so the list we put together is all tested and works really well and it’s relatively affordable.
Essential bar tools and equipment to make cocktails
Get Some Liquor
Once you’ve got those tools, it’s time to buy some liquor. If you want to have a fully stocked bar though, that can be rather expensive. So instead, when you start, I suggest just pick three cocktails that you like and want to mix and then just buy those ingredients that you actually need.
A selection of spirits and mixers
Use Guides to Cocktails
So, what cocktails do you like? Frankly, I don’t know but you can find some inspiration traditionally in cocktail recipe books. Personally, what I dislike about them is when you actually want to mix your cocktail the page doesn’t stay open and it’s just a pain moving around back and forth between wet fingers squeezing your lemon and understanding what the next step is.
Because of that, recently, I’ve really gotten into using an app from a local distillery called Tattersall. It’s free for Android and Apple. This is not sponsored at all and you don’t even have to use their liquor but it really helps you in choosing a cocktail based on the main liquor, based on the occasion, or the level of difficulty of mixing it.
A selection of classic cocktail books
Whenever we have guests over and I mix cocktails, they’re always impressed because they’re on par with what you would get in a nice craft cocktail bar. If you want to get really fancy, you can even invest in a special ice maker that creates clear ice for you or a smoking cloche but frankly, that sometimes overkill at home and everything smells like smoke.
One more tip though, if you have future guests over, rather than asking them what they want to drink and they’re giving you all different answers so you’re ending up having to mix six different cocktails and maybe you don’t have the ingredients for them, just say “Hey, we’re having a whiskey sour. Would you like some?” And if they’re not up for that maybe you can say, “Well, we also have a gin and tonic.” That way, it’s simple and you can mix something quickly; it tastes great, you’ve practiced, you get the proportions right, and you can then spend time with your guests rather than stressing out about different cocktail recipes.
3. Write Thank-You Notes
Handwritten correspondence in this day and age is very rare but because of that, once you receive it, it makes you feel all the more important. Just a mere fact of sitting down, thinking about it, taking a pen, and running it down makes you all the more grateful right away. Not only with a handwritten note makes the recipient feel appreciated and honored but it’s also a great way to say thank you because success in life isn’t really achieved on your own.
A handwritten note is a gesture that every gentleman should make.
You don’t need something tangible, something intangible can be just as good or sometimes even better. Just think of a parent or a mentor and when you write them a note, thanking them for what they taught you or their love, they will probably be really touched. Other reasons to write thank-you notes could be to call out kind gestures of support that you’ve received from a friend or a family member for example. Not only are thank-you notes a hallmark of a true gentleman, but they’re also a great relationship building and maintenance tool.
4. Learn How To Write With A Fountain Pen
Fountain pens are a gentleman’s unique tool and accessory in writing
You can learn and practice writing with a fountain pen especially when you’re working on your thank-you notes. Why do you need to learn with a fountain pen when there are all sorts of ballpoint pens out there? Well, it is a very unique tool that is old-fashioned but it makes your message feel more intentional, deliberate, and valuable. Why? Well, it’s a special tool you have to take an extra step to thank someone for example, or to write something and so it makes the recipient feel more special.
If you don’t know where to start, check our guide on how to write with a fountain pen which is made for beginners and we also put together a list of budget fountain pens under $20 as well as mid-range fountain pens between $100 and $300 so you can find something that works for you.
5. Learn How To Give Good Gifts
Gift-giving is something that can be practiced and learned. Great gifts show how well you know someone, how well you listen to them, and how much effort you put into them so they feel appreciated. As my wife can surely tell you, the importance of gifts to individuals varies greatly. For example, she loves them and I’m just fine without them.
Accessories from Fort Belvedere are great gifts!
The key to a good gift is to give something that they really want, that they are into not something that you were into and that you enjoy. Many people like to give gifts that I would like to receive themselves but it’s all about the recipient; not about you. So one easy way to make it more about the recipient is to add their initials to the gift because that makes it less available to everyone else but much more valuable to that individual.
With all that said, if you still think that gift-giving is not worth your time, I urge you to read the book Gift-Ology because there’s a bunch of benefits of gift-giving for you even though it’s all about the recipient.
6. Learn How To Cook A Signature Dish Really Well
Now, you can practice and perfect something so when the time comes and you have to quickly put a meal together, you can impress others and just create something that is very satisfying and may be the foundation of a good conversation and of a strong relationship that you’re building through a meal. Of course, if you’re a good cook, words in the street, and people want to come over more often and they will always respect you and cherish the fact that you provide such a great meal for them.
Nothing like a great conversation over a delicious meal!
Personally, I like to cook but I don’t do it very often. I’m good with meats with sauces but my signature dishes are typically German dishes because that’s not something that you can easily get here in the US and so I can do a really good job to provide something that is special for people that they don’t get anywhere else.
So, other than my Spaetzle and Maultaschen skills, I also make a mean tiramisu. All my special dishes have really taken a lot of time to perfect them because sometimes the recipe out of the book is not ideal. I’ve also come to learn about my signature ingredients such as Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce which always add this nice umami flavor, people always say, “Mmm, your meat tastes so good, the sauce is so great; this tastes so intense,” but I can’t put their finger on it. If I sound like I’m bragging, please check out this video about all the things I suck at.
While he enjoys the kitchen, Raphael doesn’t often follow others’ recipes to the letter
Also, if you’re a repertoire of signature dishes you know exactly what to cook when someone’s over so you don’t have to try something new because that’s just stressful especially if it goes wrong and you have to do it all over again. So if you don’t know where to start, just think about your favorite meal, maybe at a restaurant or your mom’s recipe and just cook it. You don’t even need to buy a cookbook these days. There are lots of nice food blogs online that provide recipes and instructions and videos for free.
That being said, we enjoy a subscription to America’s Test Kitchen because they just test one recipe a hundred times in all the different variations and come up with the one way to cook it so it tastes perfect. For example, most recently we tried some oven fries. It sounds awful, right? We all have tried fries that tasted like crap but this one was just amazing. It incorporated a mix of water and starch on a potato and everything was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and we’ll definitely do it again.
7. Learn How To Smoke A Cigar
Now, before you get on a high horse, we don’t endorse that anyone smokes and frankly, I’m not a smoker myself. I smoke cigars very rarely and so it’s not something you have to do but I think, trying to smoke a cigar at least once in your life is a nice experience. Just like a special liquor or a 64-ounce ribeye, certain vices can sometimes be particularly enjoyable in special moments such as when you achieve something or the birth of a child, moderation is the key.
Sven Raphael trying out a Cuban cigar
We have a bunch of different cigar guides, which you can check out here. If you have tried cigars and you want to check out something new, maybe you think about pipes and of course, we have a guide about that there, too.
8. Learn To Tie Neckwear Without A Mirror
As a viewer of the Gentleman’s Gazette, we fully expect that you have tied certain neckties and bow ties at home before, and most of the time we have a mirror because it makes things easier. But if you practice tying a tie or bow tie in different knots and you can do it blindly or without looking at the mirror, your knots will not only become better looking but you’ll also be quicker and you can help out anyone at any point in time even though it’s mirrored then because you look at them rather than it yourself.
A Kelvin knot, shown here with the Shantung Striped Dark Red, Blue and White Silk Tie from Fort Belvedere
If you’re just starting out, we have a video about the 3 easiest tie knots. We also have different individual videos for tie knots that I usually use and we have videos on how to tie a bow tie one for beginners and one that creates a more advanced and unique look as well. By practicing enough, you’ll be able to do it blindly without a mirror and you can still do it with a mirror but you’ll always be quicker and it’ll look better.
9. Grow A Beard or Shave with A DE Razor
The next gentlemanly skill you can learn at home is either to learn how to grow a beard at home because it’s easy now and you can see what it looks like or you can learn how to shave properly with a DE razor which not only provides a superior shave but it’s also a lot less expensive.
Growing a beard takes commitment and will grow out eventually
Even if you’re not into beards, you might think, “Well, why shave while I’m at home? No one is going to see my smooth results anyways,” but it’s like with many things in life; practice leads to perfection, and now that you have the time it’s just a good time to start.
Shaving with a DE razor and a sharp blade is not something to practice before you have to get into work in 20 minutes on a Tuesday. So, why should you skip your cartridge system? Well, not only will you get a much better and smoother result but if you do it properly, you can do it in about the same time. It is also a lot less expensive in the long run because you don’t have to buy expensive cartridges and using a DE razor can help to prevent razor burns and ingrown hairs.
The closeness of a safety razor shave is worth the few extra minutes
If you’re starting out, I suggest checking out shaving mistakes most men make so you can avoid them. You can even get our 200+ page shaving guide where we tested over 150 different products and show you everything step by step along with some videos when becoming a patron of the Gentleman’s Gazette. To learn more about the perks you get as a patron, please check out our Patreon page.
10. Cultivate A Hobby
For me, classic men’s clothing was a hobby, then it turned into a business and a career, and I select to spend time on it and read about it or watch something or just learn about it in general. For example, just recently I read a book about bespoke shoes by Bernhard Roetzel. If you’re interested in classic men’s style and I assume you’re because you’re here, then here’s a list of 10 books I urge you to read, and if you want to even have more books, here’s a list with 100 books. If you were curious about other hobbies, here’s a list of 100 hobbies specifically for gentlemen.
Classic menswear–for Raphael, a hobby that became a career
11. Learn To Be A Better Listener
Being a good listener is always a valuable skill but it becomes even more important when you are under pressure, because it creates a win-win situation. Why is that? Well, if others feel appreciated and feel like they’re heard, they’re much more likely to respect what you are saying. I get it. Listening and waiting for the other person to finish is hard sometimes. In my family, we often talk over each other, but this suggests that it’s always more important to you to bring your point across and you’re just waiting for the next pause so you can bring your counter-argument but that means you’re not even listening and comprehending what the other person is saying.
Listening strengthens relationships and demonstrates attentiveness, caring, and respect.
Culturally, it’s, of course, very different across the world. That being said, being able to listen to others is a skill you need in any human to human relationship and it will just be beneficial for you, the better you can do it. As a gentleman, it reflects your respect to the other person in their contribution and that you deem it as valuable as your own.
In today’s world, it’s so easy to be distracted and just look at your phone or do other things and multitask but in reality, it’s not something we can truly do and if you listen while you’re doing something else, you’re not truly listening. So, always force yourself to look the other person into the eye because it shows that you’re paying attention and then try to paraphrase what they say or ask smart questions that make sense based on what they just said. By giving someone your undivided attention, you make them feel heard and understood and at the end of the day, we all want to experience that.
12. Learn How To Argue Properly
Last but not the least, you can learn how to argue properly. If you’re in close quarters with your co-workers or your family, chances are, an argument will arise sooner or later. How a person argues strikes right at the heart of your character and it’s the moment where people actually take their gloves off.
Argue the point, not the person.
Are you a good listener, do you become defensive, or are you very aggressive: What is your style? Are you open to new ideas or ideas not from you or are you just focusing on your point of view? No one likes to be perceived as incompetent or wrong but the way you handle an argument is how it shows who you really are. Because that, a two-sided debate and conversation is very important and that means that opinions are never sacred and that you also have to accept to be wrong sometimes and let the other person show you certain facts and you have to be man enough or gentleman enough to recognize that and say, “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry I was wrong.”
Along those lines, trying to win should never be the goal rather maybe focus on the truth and the other person, and keep in mind that they want to be heard and understood. A general unwillingness to learn or to consider other people’s viewpoints doesn’t make you more a man. It just shows that you’re so insecure that you just have to look at your own angle.
Keep the lines of communication open.
So, what does it specifically mean to argue like a gentleman? Well, first of all, you stay calm and you don’t yell. You stick to the facts and don’t use insults or refer to all things that are in the past and are closed now. We created a whole video about how to argue like a gentleman and you can check it out here.
Conclusion
By working on any or all of these skills, not only will you combat the boredom that often comes with being stuck at home, but will also emerge with a new set of useful skills. If you enjoyed this guide, you may also want to check out how to improve your wardrobe and how to maintain it.
