stories:
The Ten
Outfitting Your Home Bar
Tools to help you mix drinks like a pro
By Kate Ramos
1. Cocktail Shaker. The all-in-one cocktail shaker with a built-in strainer is easy to use and results in less drippage.
2. Measuring Shot Glass. A clear shot glass with the measurements listed on the side will make your pours more accurate, plus in emergencies you can drink straight from it.
3. Paring Knife. Something cheap to cut limes and lemons.
4. Small Cutting Board. We suggest you have one cutting board that’s exclusively for bar use, but we won’t say anything if you pull out your kitchen cutting board for the task.
5. Citrus Squeezer. Liven up your cocktails with fresh-squeezed juice. You can get squeezers sized for lemons, limes, or oranges, but an orange one will work with any size fruit.
6. Wooden Muddler. A simple wood one will work fine when you are crankin’ out all those Brambles this summer.
7. Double-Hinged Corkscrew. It will last longer and work better than a cheap plastic version.
8. Champagne Stopper. Your bubbly needs to stay bubbly: A good, tight-sealing champagne stopper will save your bottles for at least a day or two.
9. Citrus Channel Knife. Not really a knife at all but a garnishing tool that has a deep groove to cut away at the skin of citrus fruit and give drinks such as a Lillet Cocktail a beautiful little twist of lemon or lime.
10. Bar Spoon. For drinks stirred, not shaken, you need a long, thin spoon. And you can use the back of it to make fancy-looking layered drinks.
CHOW’s The Ten column appears every Tuesday.
Kate Ramos is the associate food editor at CHOW.
I disagree with some of the above.
1: the all-in-one shaker with built-in strainer is usually a mistake--it's too small; drinks end up cool not cold. Professionals like Toby Cecchini of Passersby and Olivier Said and James Mellgren (autors oof "The Bar") recommendGet a 2-piece Boston shaker (12- or 16-oz glass and same-size steel "cup") that will hold lots of everything, especially ice. Then buy a spring-rimmed Hawthorn strainer and learn to use it, clamped to the shaker with one finger of your pouring hand.
3. Don't get a CHEAP paring knife: it will dull almost immediately. Remember, at the bar you're mostly cutting through tough citrus rind. Get a good knife and keep it sharp. Dull knives have to be forced, and that often results in slips and cuts. 4. Cutting board: Yes, get a small one for the bar--and KEEP it there. The bar deserves its own tools--and a kitchen cutting boartd is way too big.
I especially agree with:
2. Get a measuring shot glass and use it. Only experts can measure by eye, and pouring with a 'heavy jigger' will unbalance most cocktails, which are, after all, based on proportions.
6 and 10: Got both muddler and spoon so you won't mess around trying to muddle with a spoon.
7. The corkscrew in the photo is a Pulltaps, first of the double-step or double-hinge designs. Best price I've seen is $7, at barparts.com, item #5100. You can pay over $200 for a Laguiole that isn't as good, if you insist.
8. A champagne stopper is a must.
9. When you buy a channel knife, get a zester at the same time.
Although the all-in-one cocktail shakers are nice for collecting and displaying, I prefer the Boston shaker as well. The glass that came with mine has measurement markers on the side which is pretty handy.
I don't know that a muddler is essential. Of course, you could always go to the ballpark on bat day to get a mini-collectible bat which would serve the same purpose.
While not essential, a Black 'n Tan Guinness spoon is handy and works better than an improvised device.