Your success as a home bartender doesn’t depend on having a wealth of bar equipment (required for Scotch and Soda: glass, ice, and hand for pouring), much less every kind of liquor known to man—but there are still a few essentials you’ll want to stock up on.
EQUIPMENT
Cocktail Shaker
That gleaming martini shaker familiar from so many 1940s movies may be synonymous with glamour, but it has a rather ordinary name: the standard, or regular, shaker. The other choice is the Boston shaker, preferred by most professional bartenders because it’s so easy to use.
Standard shaker
This all-in-one shaker generally has three pieces: the shaker cup; a built-in strainer; and a cap. It comes in stainless steel and aluminum, though stainless steel is preferred because it keeps the drink colder. Standard shakers made of heavy glass are sometimes found in specialty shops.
Boston shaker
The two halves of this shaker—a mixing glass and a slightly larger stainless steel container—fit together in a jiffy with overlapping rims. You’ll need a separate strainer when using this model.
Mixing Glass
In this guide, “mixing glass” simply refers to the container used for mixing a cocktail’s ingredients. In the case of shaken drinks, that means the glass container of a Boston shaker or the metal cup of a standard shaker. Stirred drinks meant for martini-size glasses (or smaller) can be prepared in a mixing glass or pitcher with a lip for pouring—or, for that matter, an iced-tea tumbler or any other large glass from your cabinet. (For stirring drinks directly in the drinking glass.)
Barspoon
For stirring, try a barspoon or use any other long-handled spoon. An alternative is a glass stirring rod, which often comes with a lipped mixing glass or pitcher but is also sold separately.
Strainer
If you don’t own a standard shaker (the one with a built-in strainer), buy a handheld Hawthorne strainer—a flat, round tool with a spring coil around the head. It fits inside the top of a Boston shaker mixing glass and strains the drink as you pour.
Ice Scoop
Using a bartender’s ice scoop to put ice in a mixing glass/shaker is less a matter of hygiene than of presentation—something to consider when you’re mixing drinks for guests. The scoop can also serve as a measuring tool: In general, one heaping scoop of ice is the amount to use when shaking or stirring a cocktail.
Ice Bucket and Tongs
An ice bucket is useful when you’re preparing several drinks. You may also want to use tongs or an ice scoop to transfer the ice to a shaker or glass.
Jigger
The double form of this metal measuring tool has a small cup on one side (usually 1 ounce or 1½ounces) and a larger cup on the other (usually 2 ounces). Single and double jiggers also come in other sizes but top out at 3 ounces. Some jiggers are fitted with long handles.
Measuring Spoons
Jiggers rarely have a ½-ounce marking, so you’ll need a set of measuring spoons (½ ounce equals 1 tablespoon). Measuring spoons also come in handy when a drink recipe calls for spices in - or ¼-teaspoon amounts.
Muddler
A wooden bar muddler is used to crush ingredients such as cherries and mint leaves, often right in the bottom of the cocktail glass. The broad “muddling” end is either rounded or flat. If you’re thinking a long-handled spoon could muddle ingredients, it can—but less effectively than the tool designed for the job.
Juicer
Handheld wooden or metal citrus reamers come in handy when you need to juice only a lemon or two. But the most common citrus juicer is the manual two-piece type, with a reamer plate (right) sitting atop a juice collection bowl; this old standby now comes in a number of styles.
Electric juicers are available in several models, and are able to liquefy virtually any kind of fruit or vegetable. Just be sure to seed a fruit first; whether semi-pureed or merely bruised, seeds (citrus, in particular) will add a bitter note to your drink.
Pitcher
Whenever you prepare a mixed drink meant for three or more people, you might want to transfer it to a pitcher for serving. A medium-size, straight-sided glass pitcher also makes a good mixing glass for stir-and-pour iced drinks.
ODDS AND ENDS
A well-stocked home bar also makes room for the following appliances and tools.
Blender
For making margaritas, daiquiris, and other frozen drinks
Bottle opener
To pop the top off bottled soft drinks
Can opener
The punch type, for opening cans of cream of coconut and such
Champagne stopper
Keeps Champagne and other sparkling wines bubbly as you mix drinks whose recipes call for them
Citrus stripper
A tool used to cut ¼-inch strips from citrus rinds
Coasters
To protect wooden tabletops
Corkscrew
Choose from several styles. Many bartenders prefer the compact jackknife-style corkscrew.
Cutting board
For when you slice citrus fruits and other garnishes
Dropper
Use a clean dropper to add a drop (or more, depending on the drink recipe) to a cocktail. One drop amounts to about of a teaspoon.
Ice crusher
Whether manual or electric, this appliance isn’t as costly as you might think.
Knife
Use a small paring knife to slice garnishes—and the sharper, the better.
Napkins
Use as coasters or to insulate an ice-filled glass
Straws
For certain iced or frozen drinks
Swizzle sticks
For stirring drinks in the drinking glass
Toothpicks, cocktail
Long, often decorative, plastic picks for spearing olives, berries, and other small garnishes
Vegetable peeler
For peeling garnishes or stripping citrus rinds
GLASSWARE
Because glass volumes are anything but standardized, these notes give you the size range for each glass. Also indicated is the Four Seasons glass size, to which we’ve more or less tailored the cocktails in this book. Truth be told, “more or less” is the name of the game when matching cocktails and glasses, and the major player is simple common sense.
Note: A silhouette of one of the fourteen kinds of glasses shown on these two pages appears beside each of the book’s cocktail recipes.
Rocks/Old-Fashioned The glass with two names holds from 5 to 10 ounces. Four Seasons size: 8 ounces. | |
Highball/Collins Technically, the highball glass is the larger of these two tall glasses, but the size for both can range from 8 to 16 ounces. Four Seasons size: 12 ounces. | |
Martini Also called a cocktail glass. Nowadays the size ranges from 4 to 14 ounces— an example of some manufacturers’ notion that “bigger is better.” We prefer “small is beautiful.” Four Seasons size: 5 ounces. | |
White Wine While these are sold in sizes ranging from 5 to 10 ounces, the most practical size is 8 ounces. Four Seasons size: 8 ounces. | |
Red Wine The wider mouth of the red wine glass allows the wine to breathe. And who knows? Maybe even a red wine-based cocktail could use a little aeration. Sizes range from 8 to 14 ounces. Four Seasons size: 10 ounces. | |
Flute The tall, narrow shape of this glass helps Champagne stay bubbly—unlike the classic coupe glass of old movies, which has made a comeback with aficionados of retro items. Four Seasons size: 6 ounces. | |
Tulip Named for its shape, this glass typically holds 6 to 8 ounces. Four Seasons size: 7 ounces. | |
Snifter This glass, which comes in several sizes, is the traditional vessel for brandy served neat; the snifter’s large bowl is cupped in the hand to warm the contents. Snifters are occasionally used for cocktails as well. Four Seasons size: 16 ounces. | |
Sour Either tulip-shaped or straight-sided with a rounded bottom, this glass usually holds 4 to 6 ounces. Four Seasons size: 6 ounces. | |
Margarita The bowl of most margarita glasses has a narrow neck above the stem, but some glasses are balloon-shaped and neckless. Capacity ranges from 12 to 16 ounces. Four Seasons size: 14 ounces. | |
Liqueur/Sherry In this book, liqueur and sherry glasses are considered interchangeable. Both range in size from 3 to 6 ounces and come in different shapes. Four Seasons size: 4 ounces. | |
Irish Coffee Hot drinks call for this clear glass with a handle; it generally tops out at 10 ounces. Four Seasons size: 8 ounces. | |
Cup/Mug Cups and mugs used for hot coffee- and tea-based cocktails are interchangeable, though the mug is slightly larger than the cup. Four Seasons sizes 6 to 8 ounces. |