Stock Your Bar With the Right Tools
Recommended Tools and Ingredients
- Bar Towels: to keep your space clean
- Cocktail Shaker and Strainer: the most helpful specialized tools for a bar item for your bar
- Corkscrew/Wine Opener: for the impromptu bottle opening
- Cutting Board: large enough to slice fruits and citrus, but small enough to store easily
- Fresh Fruit: no liquid fruit can replace the quality of fresh fruit in a cocktail recipe
- Glassware: a good assortment goes a long way (see list on next page)
- Green Olives: for garnishing martinis and munching on the side
- Ice: for keeping it cool
- Ice Bucket, Ice Tongs and Scoop: for small gatherings and outdoor hangouts
- Kosher Salt: for salting glass rims and serving margaritas
- Lemons and Limes: for adding citrus to cocktails or as a garnish, for zesting
- Mixing Glass: in lieu of a shaker, mix your beverages by pouring into this tall glass and then back into your chosen cocktail glass
- Napkins and Coasters: to catch all the condensation
- Tonic and Soda: for quick mixed drinks and fizzy favorites
- Zester: to extract all that flavor packed into the rind of citrus fruits
Specialty Tools and Ingredients for the Aspiring Mixologist
- Bar Spoon: long-handled with a spiral twist, used for stirring and handling garnishes in shakers or pitchers
- Bartender's Handbook: because few amateur mixologists are walking encyclopedias of cocktail recipes
- Bottle Pourers: They control the flow of liquor so you know a shot is a 1.5-second pour
- Electric Blender: for icy favorites and frozen sips
- Ice Crusher: normal ice cubes are often too large for most cocktails
- Jigger: this is a must for measuring liquids accurately
- Juicer: ideally, you want to use fresh juice for your cocktails
- Margarita Rimmer: beats using a wet paper towel
- Muddler: for crushing fruit, sugar cubes and fresh herbs
- Paring Knife: for cutting and peeling off fruit garnishes
- Swizzle Sticks: opt for a variety (in size, color and shape)
