Mix It Up With Essential Bar Tools

We’re all for opening a good bottle of wine or cracking open a six-pack of craft beer for our guests. It’s quick, easy, and we can get right back to socializing. But there are occasions on which it’s ideal to have a well-stocked liquor cabinet, along with the essential bar tools to mix and serve classic cocktails.

We’ve begun adding barware to our collection of offerings to help you entertain like a pro. But what are all of these assorted bar tools, and how are they used? Most importantly, what makes these items the right tools for mixing drinks? We’ll answer all of those key questions now.

Essential Bar Tools: A Bar Board and Knife

Start with a work surface that’s designed especially for mixing drinks. A bar board will help keep your kitchen counter clean and protected; you can whisk it away once you’re finished mixing. You’ll need a board and knife to cut lemon and lime wedges, mince herbs, and dice fruit. It’s also a handy place to collect strips of zest and other garnishes you’ll add to your drinks.

Try the bar board and bar knife from Crafthouse by Fortessa, or check out this Santoku knife and cutting board set from Wusthof that looks similar to the one featured on Crafty Bartending. Either one will be a smart addition to your bar.

Essential Bar Tools: A Jigger

A jigger is simply a measuring cup especially for the bar. Jiggers come in a variety of measurements in half-ounce increments. Jigger also refers to a measurement of liquor equal to 1.5 ounces. You’ll want to have a jigger in order to measure liquor accurately; most liquid measuring cups aren’t as small or as precise as a jigger. You won’t accidentally under-pour or over-pour, and your drinks will taste the way they’re supposed to.

Essential Bar Tools: A Shaker

Various types of shakers are available, but it happens that the Boston shaker is the most widely used and highly recommended. Not only is it well-suited to shaking cocktails, the two pieces can also be used for stirring drinks and scooping ice. Choose a Boston shaker with two metal pieces, which is far more durable than a shaker that’s half glass and half metal.

Essential Bar Tools: A Strainer

Two types of strainers are found on most bars: a Hawthorne strainer and a julep strainer. A Hawthorne strainer fits a Boston shaker, so it’s ideal for straining muddled fruit or herbs and chunks of ice out of shaken drinks. You’ll recognize a Hawthorne strainer, even if you’ve never used one yourself.

A julep strainer fits a pint glass, so it’s well-suited to straining drinks that have been stirred in a mixing glass before serving. Julep strainers are not as widespread nowadays, but they still come in handy.

Essential Bar Tools: A Peeler and a Zester

Whether you’re mixing fruit, herbs, or spices into your drinks or using them as a garnish, you’ll need a peeler and a zester. You can use the existing peeler and zester in your drawer full of kitchen tools, but we recommend a set especially for your bar. First, keeping a separate peeler will ensure it stays razor-sharp to make quick work of fruits and vegetables. Likewise, a specialized channel knife is designed to create those classic twists of lemon, lime, or orange to adorn cocktails.

Essential Bar Tools: A Muddler and a Bar Spoon

You may look at a muddler and wonder whether you really need one. But after you’ve used this tool to crush fruit and vegetables and herbs, you’ll know why it’s part of a well-stocked bar. Muddlers are often made of wood, and may have either a grid bottom or a flat bottom.

A bar spoon also seems redundant at first glance; we have dozens of spoons at home, so why do we need one more? First, the length of a bar spoon ensures it can thoroughly stir even a pitcher of drinks. But the handle itself is also novel. The shaft has a spiral design to aid in stirring along the entire column, and the bottom often features a flat disc that can double as a muddler. This bar spoon even has a bowl that measures precisely one-eighth of an ounce. It’s so much handier than you might expect.

Essential Bar Tools: Ice Bucket

After you’ve outfitted your home bar with all of these professional tools, make sure you aren’t caught off guard without an ice bucket. It’s a helpful way to keep ice close at hand, and it’s far more sanitary to use a scoop or tongs to transfer ice into a glass or shaker. Take care not to use a glass for scooping ice, as it may chip or break. This all-purpose ice bucket and tongs set from OXO is ideal whether you’re serving adults or kids.