There are a few items required to make cocktails and that should be your main concern when creating your own bar at home. You will find some of these tools available in your kitchen, while others like glass strainers can be bought from the market at budget prices.
Let us consider these one by one:
Cocktail Shakers
A potpourri of good cocktail shakers includes classic as well as Boston Shakers. The latter is a 16 ounce mixing glass and a large bar tin with a flat bottom. Professional bartenders use this extensively with the aid of strainers.
Jiggers
A jigger is a metallic device with a cone at either end. The larger cone measures 60ml while the smaller 30ml or approximately one ounce. Skilled bartenders do not use jiggers; instead make use of their technique and years of experience. Nevertheless in a home bar jiggers are a necessity.
Strainers
Drinks that are shaken and stirred with lots of ice need a strainer to separate the ice as well as herbs and other ingredients from the liquid.
Two kinds are popular – Hawthorne strainer and Julep strainer. The former has a flat top perforated device with a continuous wound coil along the perimeter that assists in keeping the strainer in position. The latter is perforated and usually made of stainless steel.
Glass rinsers
This is one item someone may say is a luxury. Frankly, it is not. Glass rinsers are quite popular in Europe but are catching on in America and Canada.
These gizmos work in a simple manner. You flip a glass before filling it; hold it over a rinser, with the glass rim downside. The water spurts up automatically and rinses the glass of all the debris or leftover soap that has not been cleaned.
The prime advantage of rinsing is you get a better pour. Experts say beer pours better into a wet glass.
No wonder bartenders do a final rinse before filling beer.
As one customer pointed out, “Glass rinsers look real cool in a bar not far behind elegant beer towers.”
To build home bar though easy requires food foresight and style as bars get stocked with ever changing inventory. In addition, guzzlers have become a trendy lot. They are up to date about the stuff you serve.
So, you need to be one up to serve with flamboyance. Even if you are not as good as an expert bartender you must know the basics about what you are serving. Even a top-end beer needs a clean and appropriate glass that has been washed by glass rinsers.
You may not have a wide assortment of glassware styles, but whatever you have must be used appropriately. Before serving make sure there are no lipstick, oil and detergent marks.
Your guests naturally wouldn’t like to see a stained glass with soap bubbles stuck inside the glass.
More Stories
Wedding Day Weather Planning
Differences Between Cocktail Dresses and Formal Dresses
Planning the Right Kattu Sadam for Your Daughter’s Tamil Wedding