Bartending tools

Yesterday I covered glassware. Today I'll be covering the tools you'll need for your bar. As with the glasses you don't have to have all of these items to start to mix drinks. You can start with glasses, a bottle of alcohol, a mixer, ice and swizzle sticks.

an ice bucket is very important if you are having a party where people are helping themselves. It is very important if you do have a proper bar, or are mixing the drinks yourself. The best ice buckets are lined so that the ice wont melt so quickly.

The jigger is the measuring standard. the smaller end, single shot, is equal to 1 fl. oz ( 2 tablespoons), the larger end, double shot is equal to 2 fl. oz (4 tablespoons). This little devil will be your right hand man. there are also small measuring cups, with markings of 1/8th oz. up to 2 oz. all on the same cup. Metal. plastic , glass, all are very good, and very useful.

The cocktail shaker is important if your making drinks that need to be shaken. the one pictured above is a Boston or Cobbler shaker. It has three parts, the bottom; where all the ingredients go to be shaken, with ice, the strainer, and the lid. This is a very good system, just make sure that all parts fit together well. These styles come in many forms; all metal, glass and metal, and plastic. the plastic ones are good for starters, but they don't get the drink nearly as cold as it should be, plus they break very easily.

The other style consist of a shaker tin and a bar glass, usually a 16 oz. glass. This is the older of the two styles and very useful. You do need a separate strainer for it.

The strainer is useful if you have to clear bit of ingredients from your drink. weather you use a bar shaker, blended up some drinks, muddled some fruit, or made a Mint Julep. there are times when you don't want something in a drink. Pour the mixture over the strainer, holding it like you see in the picture, over the serving glass. The spring on this model will hold back any of the material that doesn't need to be in the drink. You don't want to serve a margarita with big chunks of ice that didn't get crushed in the blender.

the blender wont be used all that often. You may never need one in your bar set up. But if your having a summer get together these make all sorts of frozen drinks that require tiny little umbrellas, and taste real good when its sunny and hot. You can get blenders fairly cheap, or you can go very expensive. I say spend accordingly. If your just starting out you can get a less expensive one, and move up as you have the need. Why spend a $100 for one margarita?

You will always need a bottle opener. Have at least two on hand. the one pictured here is great, it is a bottle and wine opener. There are many designs for bottle openers. Make sure that the one you buy is sturdy. there is nothing worse than needing to open a few bottles and your opener bends or breaks after the first one or two. The same can be said for the cork on a wine bottle opener. I have seen brand new ones break off in the cork. There are electric models too, and I can still beat them with my trusty hand model. Some I could beat with my Swiss Army knife, those Swiss know how to fight with wine.

Muddlers are great if your making Mojitos or Mint Juleps. You put your ingredients into a glass and use the muddler to mash everything together. this also blends the ingredients, and releases essential oils from herbs and spices. They come in wood, plastic, metal, and glass. The wood may absorb different flavors over time, or break. The glass has a higher tendency to break. My favorite are the plastic with ridges on the grip so your hand wont slide.

Why use a juicer when you can get ready made juice from the grocery store. You have to try it to understand. they can be found in one piece or multi piece units, metal, wood, plastic, and glass. For me the single piece ones wont have parts sliding around while your applying pressure on top. s for the difference in materials its the same as for the muddler.
You cut the fruit in half, put it on the center, press down and turn to release the juices. Then pour the juice into a container until needed.

The citrus press works along the same line as the juicer, you just have cleaner hands. the draw back is that they only take fruit up to a certain size.

The zester comes in handy when you want to add a little flair to a drink. this tool will cut strips of fruit peel to  certain size and how ever long you need it. If you want to garnish a drink with a lemon zest, or knot, or float a zest of apple peel in the Apple Martini you just made. The handles come in a wide variety, and the blades come in different cutting style. Chose one or own a few different ones. You don't need this tool but it makes the drinks look a lot more professional.

Yes the old fashioned potato peeler. This can be handy to have. Lets say you want fresh mangoes in a drink. Fresh juice is the best, this is how your going to get through that rind. Sure you can use a knife. But that wastes the fruit, and what happens if you slip.

Tongs are just for the ice bucket. They can be used to retrieve things out of the bottom of those tall thin glasses you were using last night and now they have to go into the wash.

Graters don't come in to play often. they are small versions of the cheese grater. Useful for adding citrus flavor to a drink, or to add a citrus rim on the rim of a glass.

Bar spoons have a few uses. If you need to still a tall drink, these will reach the bottom of any tall glass. they are also useful if your trying to build or layer a brink. Use the back of the bar spoon to pour the heaviest liquor on to and against the side of the glass, then layer the next lightest liquor, keep going until the drink is complete. Beyond that if your serving a dark beer with a head and want to add a design into the foam this is what you'll need.

Liquor spouts or pourers will let out a small stream of alcohol to avoid splashing and waisting of alcohol. some are set up to just pour out a shot. Most have a constant flow rate, so X amount of seconds is one shot (or 1 fl. oz.) twice that is a double and son on.

The seltzer bottle is old fashioned. But what will your friends say when you bring this out and use it with style and grace. There are a lot of styles for these and since the 1970's come with a co2 cartridge for the fizz. Great for gin and tonics, or if you make your own flavored sodas.

These are a good start to get your bar headed in the right direction. Don't feel that you need to have all of them. You may be into drinking lots of beer so you just need a good bottle opener.Maybe your just starting to think about having cocktail parties, yes people still have them, so you'll need more. There are more things you can get stirrers, straws, napkins, coasters.

Don't forget it is your basement bar. Maybe you want to pay homage to those WW II vets that started the Tiki bars, you can find numerous tiki items. The idea is to have fun, set it up the way you want.

As always;
Cheers.
Steve Aiolowski A. K. A. Spicy