There's no harm in starting with the basics. Most people begin their home bar set-up with an all-in-one kit (the bridal shower / housewarming special, if you will), and then augment from there, adding a good knife or two, a cutting board, perhaps a double jigger. If you wanted to stop at that point, you could, and your favorite drinks wouldn't suffer.
For the true cocktail geek, however, the housewarming set just won't suffice. When you're ready to expand your personal bar cart to levels that will impress some people and disturb others, here are 10 new tools to consider.
For the true cocktail geek, however, the housewarming set just won't suffice. When you're ready to expand your personal bar cart to levels that will impress some people and disturb others, here are 10 new tools to consider.
Cocktail
1.) Boston shaker
Most department store cocktail sets feature a shaker that has a screw-off top, usually with a strainer piece built in. These are often too small to allow the liquid and ice to really get a work out when you set about shaking them together. For a truly professional shake, you'll need to upgrade to a Boston shaker.
The Boston shaker consists of two parts: a mixing glass (typically 16 oz) and a stainless steel cup. You put your ingredients into the glass half, fill it with ice, then place the stainless steel cup on top, and smack it to seal the two containers together. Then shake the daylights out of it. When you unseal (which you can do by giving another firm smack to the line where the two cups meet) make sure your liquid and ice are now in the stainless-steel cup. Get your serving glass, whatever it may be, and then break out your ...
2.) Hawthorn strainer
Since the Boston shaker doesn't have a built in strainer, you'll need to use a separate one. A Hawthorn strainer is lined with a coiled spring that fits down into the glass to catch and filter the ice, while the gloriously combined ingredients filter down into your (or your guest's) cocktail glass.
3.) Bar spoons
Basic cocktail tool sets sometimes offer stirrers, which are basically extra-long swizzle sticks, or nothing at all. Throw down a couple extra dollars on a real bar spoon - you'll need it for stirring drinks in the stainless steel half of your Boston shaker, and it comes in very handy for floating ingredients when you want to layer drinks.
4.) Muddler
Yes, you can muddle the limes or mint or whatever you'd like to muddle using the butt of a Tabasco bottle. But don't. There's a better way. There are several different types of muddlers, ranging from the classic wooden bar stick (it's got a passing resemblance to a billy club) to advanced fruit muddlers with teeth that will really crush the ingredients. Pick one and never go back to the shame of pathetically-muddled mojitos.
5.) Atomizer
A brilliant way to up the aromatics on any cocktail, and an especially lovely way to add a mist of vermouth to a martini. Get one and see the difference between stirring in that hit of orange oil or rosewater versus spritzing the very top of the drink with it.
6.) Eye dropper
These are handy once you get in to making your own aromatic oils or infusions, and are equally useful for anyone looking to obsess over what it means to add a "dash" of something. Don't trust the built-in nozzle on that bizarre bottle of bitters you picked up? Your own eyedroppers put you back in control. Sweet, gloriously geeky control.
7.) Seltzer bottles / Soda siphons
First, the aesthetic concerns. There are few bar tools prettier or more fun to use than a terrific glass or steel seltzer bottle; even if you're stuck serving a round of vodka and sodas, there will be something in the process that's just downright satisfying. A home soda system (whether it's an old-fashioned bottle that uses CO2 cartridges, or one of the newer SkyMall-catalogue push-button machines) is also good for anyone who powers through a ton of carbonated water, whether as a mixer or just on its own.
8.) Absinthe spoons
If you've already added a good bottle of absinthe to your bar, it's time to go the distance and get some elaborate-looking spoons so that you can enact the full ritual: place 2 to 3 ounces of absinthe in a crystal glass, then place the slotted absinthe spoon over it, and top the spoon with a sugar cube. If you don't have an absinthe fountain (we're geeks, here, not maniacs), you can drip water over the sugar cube from your own vessel, slowly, until the cube has dissolved.
9.) Blender
Haters will hate, but a good blender gets you a good frozen margarita, not to mention booze-laced milkshakes. Let none of us turn our nose up at that prospect.
10.) Cream whipper
Nothing tastes better than fresh whipped cream, and with your own little cream whipper, your Irish coffee and the above-mentioned booze shakes will be all the more earth-moving.
Most department store cocktail sets feature a shaker that has a screw-off top, usually with a strainer piece built in. These are often too small to allow the liquid and ice to really get a work out when you set about shaking them together. For a truly professional shake, you'll need to upgrade to a Boston shaker.
The Boston shaker consists of two parts: a mixing glass (typically 16 oz) and a stainless steel cup. You put your ingredients into the glass half, fill it with ice, then place the stainless steel cup on top, and smack it to seal the two containers together. Then shake the daylights out of it. When you unseal (which you can do by giving another firm smack to the line where the two cups meet) make sure your liquid and ice are now in the stainless-steel cup. Get your serving glass, whatever it may be, and then break out your ...
2.) Hawthorn strainer
Since the Boston shaker doesn't have a built in strainer, you'll need to use a separate one. A Hawthorn strainer is lined with a coiled spring that fits down into the glass to catch and filter the ice, while the gloriously combined ingredients filter down into your (or your guest's) cocktail glass.
3.) Bar spoons
Basic cocktail tool sets sometimes offer stirrers, which are basically extra-long swizzle sticks, or nothing at all. Throw down a couple extra dollars on a real bar spoon - you'll need it for stirring drinks in the stainless steel half of your Boston shaker, and it comes in very handy for floating ingredients when you want to layer drinks.
4.) Muddler
Yes, you can muddle the limes or mint or whatever you'd like to muddle using the butt of a Tabasco bottle. But don't. There's a better way. There are several different types of muddlers, ranging from the classic wooden bar stick (it's got a passing resemblance to a billy club) to advanced fruit muddlers with teeth that will really crush the ingredients. Pick one and never go back to the shame of pathetically-muddled mojitos.
5.) Atomizer
A brilliant way to up the aromatics on any cocktail, and an especially lovely way to add a mist of vermouth to a martini. Get one and see the difference between stirring in that hit of orange oil or rosewater versus spritzing the very top of the drink with it.
6.) Eye dropper
These are handy once you get in to making your own aromatic oils or infusions, and are equally useful for anyone looking to obsess over what it means to add a "dash" of something. Don't trust the built-in nozzle on that bizarre bottle of bitters you picked up? Your own eyedroppers put you back in control. Sweet, gloriously geeky control.
7.) Seltzer bottles / Soda siphons
First, the aesthetic concerns. There are few bar tools prettier or more fun to use than a terrific glass or steel seltzer bottle; even if you're stuck serving a round of vodka and sodas, there will be something in the process that's just downright satisfying. A home soda system (whether it's an old-fashioned bottle that uses CO2 cartridges, or one of the newer SkyMall-catalogue push-button machines) is also good for anyone who powers through a ton of carbonated water, whether as a mixer or just on its own.
8.) Absinthe spoons
If you've already added a good bottle of absinthe to your bar, it's time to go the distance and get some elaborate-looking spoons so that you can enact the full ritual: place 2 to 3 ounces of absinthe in a crystal glass, then place the slotted absinthe spoon over it, and top the spoon with a sugar cube. If you don't have an absinthe fountain (we're geeks, here, not maniacs), you can drip water over the sugar cube from your own vessel, slowly, until the cube has dissolved.
9.) Blender
Haters will hate, but a good blender gets you a good frozen margarita, not to mention booze-laced milkshakes. Let none of us turn our nose up at that prospect.
10.) Cream whipper
Nothing tastes better than fresh whipped cream, and with your own little cream whipper, your Irish coffee and the above-mentioned booze shakes will be all the more earth-moving.
Comments
Nice list. I'd add a julep strainer and dasher bottles before I went for the absinthe spoons or cream whipper (even taking Dave Arnold's 3-minute infusion technique - http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/0... - into account), but that's me.
Also, contrary to popular belief, Hawthorn strainer is spelled without the e. It's a man's name, and that's how he spelled it.
Nov 12, 2010 at 2:34 PM
On today's featured cocktail, the correct name is CAIPIRINHA, the brazilian national cocktail! In Denver, CO you can find Bossa Nova Pura Cachaca, imported by Interbev LLC, Denver, CO 80205, which is perfect for caipirinhas.
Nov 12, 2010 at 9:34 PM
Poika
Number 11 on your list could be the freezer. This is where we store our vodka, gin and martini glassware - there is no dilution and the glasses stay frosty . . . . . the down-side is we don't order martinis at a bar very often as we are now spoiled.
Nov 13, 2010 at 6:18 AM
where to i buy them ALL FROM ..???? I live in Thailand but will happily pay the frieght from anywhere in the world, please programe me. I want to show OFF to all my friends here on KOH SAMUI Thailand. zeedine, or rogerhazeldine10@hotmail.co.uk. HELP ME PLEASE.
Nov 13, 2010 at 7:16 AM
ZEEDINE, most of these items are available from amazon.com in most regions of the world, which should include Thailand. In the US, we have a hard time getting fancier barware, which leads to sites like http://www.cocktailkingdom.com/cata... - but I expect you could probably find the Japanese barware that Greg imports to the US more locally.
Nov 13, 2010 at 3:44 PM
Thank you, GR.I am visiting JAPAN in three weeks time but only for business , I am going to buy green tea but would have NEVER thought to ask about bar ware until you have just pointed out that's where Greg gets his from. So very many kind people out their, We could all meet ONE DAY somewhere a enjoy a drink together and swop stories, yours roger H. ZEEDINE
Nov 13, 2010 at 7:39 PM
Where is the glass straw? http://glassdharma.com (please sip responsibly)
Nov 14, 2010 at 10:09 AM
Call me a bartending minimalist, but my own setup (of which I have two; one set lives in a toolbox for when I tend bar at friends' parties) only has about 40% of the list: Boston shaker, Hawthorn strainer, muddler, and a spoon. It's not even a bar spoon, it's a Guinness-branded black & tan spoon. Then there are bonus items like a waiter's key and a speed blade, for wine and beer bottles, respectively.
Granted, a bar blender would be nice. But even though I live in Texas, frozen drinks just aren't something for which I receive many requests.
Nov 22, 2010 at 2:34 PM
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