The Mixology Gear
Every bartender to be or already needs to know that you need to have your bar gear and all the other liquids and solids you will ever need to mix together. To make the perfect drinks you will need to make great use of your brain power. The perfect drinks are not just a function of equipment but also, taste, care, and patience. So Long as you have an understanding of what you mixing or you do, you will always find a way around a piece of the bar-gear.
If you are in the market for barware, what should you go for?
A Shaker:
For home use, the standard three-part stainless steel shaker is good for this job. It is easy to use, long lasting and holding all things constant, your drink will pour a little bit colder than if the shaker was made of plastic or glass. This is commonly referred to as a cobbler. Most bartenders use the two-part ‘Boston’ shaker which is made up of a pint glass which is the American beer pint and a 26-ounce stainless steel mixing tin.
A Cocktail Strainer:
The strainers built at the top of almost all three-part shakers. As a result, they tend to pour rather slowly, hence the dilution happens better. The best strainer is the one with a spring-edged contraption which can be held over the bottom of your shaker as you pour out your drink. You need to make sure that your strainer is a sturdy one. There are two types of strainers:
The Hawthorne Strainer: the spring is loaded to fit around the top of the mixing tin. It consists of a flat disc which is fixed to a coiled spring. The spring traps generally trap huge chunks or slivers of ice and other solid ingredients like muddled fruits and mint leaves.
Julep Strainer: It fits exactly into a mixing glass. It is a perforated bowl-shaped cup and it had a handle.
A Bar Spoon:
This can be anything that has a long handle and is sturdy. Most bar spoons have long necks to allow it to reach the bottom of the largest mixing glass. It can either be twisted or cylindrical and this allows the spoon to spin freely during stirring.
A Muddler:
This is important as it is a necessary tool that muddles up the herbs in any Old-Fashioned drink or mojitos. This is thick hardwood dowel which has a flat bottom. You might need to sandpaper the bottom as most of these muddlers come varnished.No one would like to have varnish in their drink. There is also stainless steel alternatives which leave less residual in your ingredients that are being muddled.
The flat part is one used to muddle and the round end is the handle. It is important to note that you will need some bit of liquid to muddle but too much of the liquid will make muddling a little bit difficult.
Jiggers:
These are used for measuring purposes. They come in the form of back-to-back stainless steel cones. You will need a two ounce/ ten-ounce jigger on the lowest side and also a one and a half ounce/three-quarter ounce and also a one ounce/ half ounce jigger as well.
Measuring Spoons:
These spoons come in different sizes but you will need to have only four of these. One tablespoon which is equal to half an ounce, half a tablespoon which is a quorate ounce. 0ne teaspoon(a sixth of an ounce), half a teaspoon (a 1/12 of an ounce). Anything above this boils down to pinches and dashes
A Knife:
This will need to be a nice looking, sharp paring knife. Other knives you might need is the chef’s knife for cutting up large fruits like pineapple or halving citrus.
A Small Cutting Board:
This will be used in cutting, slicing, and peeling of citrus.
A Vegetable Peeler:
This is majorly used to cut your twists.
A Juicer:
Whatever you usually use to juice your lemons, limes, oranges and or grapes will work well. If you are in need of any equipment, you can go for the Mexican-style hand juicer.
Fine-Meshed Strainer:
This is basically used to strain your juice. This will make the drink look better and also make it easy to clean the equipment used.
The Glassware:
This is an additional, especially for your home bar. No mixology gear is complete unless there is your glassware. The following three glass where are quite important:
- High Ball Glass: This is basically for drinks that contain large volumes of juice or/and soda mixers.
- Rock Glass: This generally for drinks with ice cubes. A heavy bottom is also good for muddling of the ingredient. This is known as double old fashioned.
- Stem: This generally used for drinks that do not contain or served with ice cubes. The stem is generally used to keep the hand from warming the drink.