Bartender's Accessories And Tools

Bartender's Accessories And Tools 

Behind the bar, you need a lot of bar tools and equipment, often more than you think, especially if you want to be perceived as a professional. Most bars will have the essential equipment, such as shakers and bottle openers, but depending on where you work, they may not provide all the things that make your job easier. Aside from the most common items (bottle opener, wine key, shaker), there is a whole list of other tools and things that are useful behind the bar. Now this list is what you as a bartender should bring to work, not the things that should be naturally supplied by the restaurant / bar. The key reason for all of this stuff is that it will make your life easier, and it will help increase your income, believe it or not. A lot of the stuff on this list is there to help your guests have a better experience, and in return, they will reward you with better gratuities.

This list is relatively long, but surprisingly you can fit everything into a small bag. I use a shaving kit bag that has three compartments to provide for a little organization. The only problem, if you are a guy, is that your “kit bag” will eventually be referred to as a “murse” or “man-purse” by some dork, but you’ll learn to live with it because work will be easier and your tips will be higher.

Boston Shaker

A Boston Shaker is a 2 piece shaking kit. One piece is smaller than the other so you can bash them together and create a tight seal without liquid splashing everywhere when you shake it. Almost every bartender on the planet uses a Boston shaker as their preferred shaking tool. They’re fast, easy to use, easy to strain, they can used as a substitute ice scooper, and they double up as a mixing vessel for stirred cocktails.

Cobbler shaker or Cocktail Shaker

a cobbler shaker (also called a 3 piece shaking set) is completely unnecessary. They’re the old school shaking tin that you see in James Bond movies.This is one of those bar tools that’s ‘good to have’ because they look cool but you’ll likely never use it. A Boston Shaker is superior in every way with the arguable exception that the cobbler shaker looks better.

Hawthorne Strainer

The Hawthorne strainer will be your most used strainer and it works perfectly with your Boston Shaker. They prevent pulp, mashed up fruit, and/or ice from getting into the final glass making the drink more enjoyable to consume. Here is three types of Hawthorne Strainers which is good for bartender durability.

Winco Stainless Steel 4-Prong Bar Strainer – The is the strainer I currently use. It’s inexpensive and functional, however it’s pretty lightweight and every time I handle it I’m waiting for it to fall apart. But so far, so good. This is a good entry level option.


OXO Steel Cocktail Strainer – If you’ve never purchased an ergonomically-designed OXO product, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you have this one in your hand. It’s exceptionally comfortable and it’s effective design will make you look forward to mixing cocktails.


Hawthorne Bar Strainer By Modern Mixologist – This Hawthorne Strainer balances form with function. It’s an attractive piece of equipment that you’ll want in your home bar.

Mesh Tea Strainer

This is an excellent way to polish drinks to make them look great (i.e. removal of raspberry seeds, pulp, etc.). Also, great for filtering out wine crystals, for those who don’t appreciate them.

Fine Strainer

The hawthorne strainer won’t get everything. Double straining using a fine/tea strainer is often necessary to prevent the finer pulp, seeds, ice shards, etc from getting into the final glass.The hawthorne strainer & fine strainer are the perfect combination for adequately filtering your cocktails and making them look great.

Julep Strainer

Julep strainers are specifically used for straining stirred drinks. They’re quite old school but they’re still useful. Similarly to the Japanese Mixing Glass, I’ve included this as optional item because you can get away with using your hawthorn strainer for everything. But personally, I’d be adding this to my equipment list sooner rather than later.

Bar Spoon

Great for stirring, scooping, layering and rapping the knuckles of garnish buffet deviants while they try to feast on the garnish tray.Bar spoons are used for stirring cocktails (like a Martini), layering drinks, spooning in ingredients (like sugar), and occasionally for measuring small amounts of liquid (5ml). Needless to say, a bar spoon is an essential tool for both commercial and home bars.When choosing a bar spoon, I always advise getting one with spirals and a flat circular back-end. It makes layering drinks so much easier, especially when you’re using a deep glass.Here three types of bar spoons for different uses.

• Fork Tip Bar Spoon
• Spiral Bar spoon
• Muddler Bar Spoon

Muddler

A modern bar professional always has a muddler. It’s a great way to make unique drinks and extract great flavours from fruit and herbs. If you work in a rougher bar, get a PUG Muddler to keep the miscreants under control.A muddler is used for CRUSHING things! When you’ve had a bad day, there’s nothing like fixing yourself a muddled drink. It’s even more satisfying when you get to crush up ice with it as well! A muddler is primarily used to crush fruit & sugar in cocktails that call for muddling, like a mojito or old fashioned (crushing sugar). They also work well as an improvised ice crusher. Simply put cubed ice into the tin of your Boston shaker and CRUSH!

Citrus Zester

Martini with a lemon twist? No problem, and it’s faster and safer than using a knife.Unless you’re getting into more advanced mixology, you probably won’t need a zester. A zester is great for grating items like nutmeg, chocolate, or fine lemon zests on top of a cocktail, but you can get away without applying these finishing touches.

Fruit Press

One handed style. A hygienic approach to squeezing fruit. Also, it maximizes the amount of juice you get out of a lemon or lime. Plus the citrus juice won’t irritate all those little cuts on your hands.

Knife

A good sharp knife helps make excellent garnishes. Also, if you have to cut three cases of limes for a Friday night, it will save your wrist. The cutting position can be awkward and put a lot of pressure on your wrist, leading to a repetitive strain injury. If you use a dull knife, you have to exert more pressure, leading to injury.

Chopping Board 

When you’re cutting things, a chopping board is a no-brainer. You’ll need something to cut on and a chopping board is more hygienic than a bench top. It will also help keep your knife sharpener for longer.

Bottle Opener (Bar Blade)

For opening up beer bottles fast & various other improvised uses. You never know when or how a bar blade will come in handy.

Wine Key (Corkscrew)

Again obvious, but in so many bars I’ve seen people without one. I’ve watched four servers share a wine key once. Get a good one, and the two stage corkscrews work nicely (Pulltaps).

Wine poppers

Wine poppers are another means of opening wine. A hollow spike is driven through the cork of a bottle. A cartridge of carbon dioxide is then pressed to release a short burst of gas. The sudden increase of pressure dislodges the cork and the wine can then be served. Two problems can arise with this method: synthetic "corks" may be too dense to penetrate, and bottles not intended for pressure may break.

Ice Scoop

Pick a decent sized one, not a 6-ounce scoop. Get something like a 12oz or 16oz scoop that is cylindrical in nature, not square, it will help funnel ice into the glass, not around it. Stick with a good metal scoop, not cheap plastic. And don’t get a cheap ass stamped scoop, they cut your hands, spend the extra $5 and get a good ice scoop.

Spirit Measure or Jigger

A good jigger is nice to have, makes your boss happy and gives the customer a good drink. I like to free pour, but sometimes a jigger is handy.

Funnel

Great for getting stuff into bottles, like simple syrup, changing liquid from big container to small bottles or pourers.

Lighter / Matches

Most establishments are going smoke-free, but lighters and matches are still useful for lighting candles and flaming orange peels. Even if you’re not a smoker, lighters are useful. For cocktails, they’re used to flame orange zests or light up shooters. For the bar, you’ll use them to light candles or to help a smoker out in need.

Can Opener

you’ll want to get access to some ingredients in a can. Like coconut cream (for a Pina Colada) or pineapple juice (canned pineapple juice is usually better than bottled pineapple juice). A can opener will give you a little more freedom with the kind of cocktails you can make.

Pour Spouts or Speed Pourer 

Speed pourers are the spouts you find at the end of bottles in a bar. They help you control the flow of a bottle’s pour and more accurately measure what you’re free pouring. All in all, they help speed up the drink making process. A few extra are always handy for when a liqueur bottle gets the pour spout stuck, and you don’t have time to mess with it.

Mixing Glass

Not only do these look & sound awesome, they’re actually useful. A Japanese mixing glass makes stirring & straining stirred cocktails an absolute pleasure. I’ve listed this item as optional because you can get away with using your Boston shaker for stirring instead, but this would be the first ‘luxury’ item I would add to my bar equipment kit.

Bar Tong

Bar tongs aren’t really optional in a commercial bar. Depending on where you’re from, they might even be legally required. The reason being is that bar tongs are more hygienic than using your fingers to drop in a garnish, an ice cube, or squeeze a lime wedge into a drink.

Blender

Simply due to price, this an optional item for the home bar. But for the serious cocktail program, a blender is extremely useful. It allows you to puree your own fruits, better mix certain drinks, and easily make frozen cocktails. They might not be suitable for every bar because of the noise, but all in all, they’ll bring your cocktail program up to that next level.

Cocktail Picks

Garnishing cocktails with cocktail picks is common practice. A cocktail will look far more appetising when garnished beautifully and don’t forget about those Instagram shots! So investing in some metal cocktail picks could be a good idea. They work great for your home bar because you’ll be able to re-use them. But for commercial bars, I’d stick with wooden cocktail picks so you don’t have to worry about losing or cleaning them.

Ice Pick

An ice pick is a tool used to break up, pick at, or chip at ice. In shape it resembles a scratch awl for wood. Before modern refrigerators, ice picks were a ubiquitous household tool used for separating and shaping the blocks of ice used in ice boxes

Store & Pour

The Store & Pour is a neat little seal-able and reusable plastic bottle with a simple but highly effective pouring spout. Ideal for adding mixers and juice to cocktails and spirits when behind a bar, at a party or hosting a special event. Just fill it up and use the long-necked pouring spout to get a clean pour without any mess. When you're done, just remove the spout and take off the bottom of the bottle and use it as a lid! Great for when you've got a queue full of thirsty party-goers!

Garnish Tray

Items such as olives, lemon, mint, orange slices, cherries add flavor and flair to any cocktail. With a high-quality garnish tray, you can keep your ingredients fresh and well organized. 

Bar Caddy

Bar caddies are an essential bar supply for organizational, cleanliness, and production purposes. For a bartender, quick and easy access to the components that makes for a fast and efficient drink service is vital. A napkin caddy conveniently sits on the bar top or in the bar rail, keeping napkins, straws, stirrers, and cocktail picks easily accessible and organized for the fast paced bartender.

Bar Scissor

scissors are usually made from stainless steel for food hygiene and oxidization-resistance reasons. They often have kitchen functionality (other than cutting) incorporated, such as bottle-cap, to fish scale, to crack nuts and bottle-openers built into the handles.

Parisienne scoop or Melon Ball Scoop

Melon Baller is a small spoon-like tool used to cut round- or oval-shaped sections of melon, known as melon balls, by pressing them into the melon's flesh and rotating. Melon ballers can be used for a variety of melons; like watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew. They typically are multifunctional utensils.

Ice Cream Scoop

An ice cream scoop is any specialized spoon used to serve ice creams and other cream things. Some higher-end ice cream scoops have a thermally conductive liquid in the handle to help keep the ice cream from freezing to the scoop's metal.

Measuring Jug

A measuring cup or measuring jug is a kitchen or bar utensil used primarily to measure the volume of liquid or bulk solid cooking ingredients such as flour and sugar, especially for volumes from about 50 mL (2 fl oz) upwards. Measuring cups are also used to measure Spirits for inventory. The cup will usually have a scale marked in cups and fractions of a cup, and often with fluid measure and weight of a selection of dry foodstuffs. Measuring cups may be made of plastic, glass, or metal. Transparent (or translucent) cups can be read from an external scale; metal ones only from a dipstick or scale marked on the inside.

Grater 

Several types of graters feature different sizes of grating slots, and can therefore aid in the preparation of a variety of foods and Garnishes of Cocktails .They are commonly used to grate Nutmeg and lemon or orange peel (to create zest), and can also be used to grate other Things. They are commonly used in the preparation of Nogs cocktails, Chocochips and cinnamon sticks.

Glass Rimmer

A glass rimmer is a bar accessory used to apply salt or sugar to the rim of a glass. It usually consists of one or more shallow plastic or metal discs that the glass is turned upside down into. The discs can be filled with either the rimming salt or sugar, or sometimes something to moisten the rim of the glass such as lime juice. The purpose of rimming a glass can either be for aesthetics or to enhance the flavor of a cocktail. Rimming usually crosses both categories. Adding something to the rim of the glasses very visually appealing and therefore ornamental, but with proper selection it can substantially enhance the flavor of the drink. Some bartenders choose to prepare several rimmed glasses in advance. Pre-rimmed glasses save time on preparation.

Wine Stopper

A wine stopper is an essential wine accessory to close leftover wine bottles before refrigerating them. Wine stoppers are used because it is hard to put the original cork back into the bottleneck. Wine stoppers vary in shapes, sizes, and materials. The three typical types are the cork wine stopper, rubber wine stopper, and plastic wine stopper. All these wine stoppers look very different, especially the top. The top part can be made from plastic, wood, or even precious metals and crystals. However the bottom part of the stoppers are primarily made of the above 3 typical materials, and newer versions of wine stoppers are made to expand in the wine glass to ensure a tighter seal. Some wine stoppers can be vacuum-sealed with a hand pump, to remove oxygen from the bottle, thereby extending the life of the wine by several days after opening the bottle.

Wine Cooler

• Small table-top units that rapidly chill a single bottle, using ice or an electric cooling device. These can usefully achieve the desired wine-serving temperature, particularly in warmer climates. This style of wine cooler operates most appropriately for white, rosé or sparkling wines which are usually served chilled.
• A simple, double-walled or otherwise insulated container that keeps a chilled bottle of wine cold, also called a glacette.
• A ring of ice having an inside surface which matches the curvature of the neck of a bottle of wine. The ring sits on the neck of the bottle and cools the wine. Convection causes cool wine to sink within the bottle drawing warm wine up to the cold neck. Continuous flow within bottle ensures even cooling of the wine and achieves a consistent temperature.

Wine Collar

A wine collar is a wine accessory that fits around the neck of a wine bottle. When in place it absorbs any drip that may run down the bottle after pouring. This is beneficial for preventing stains to surfaces that the bottle comes in contact with such as table cloths or counter tops. Wine collars are also called drip rings or drip collars. There are two branded wine collars one called a Drip Dickey, and the other called a "Winewoggle" both are registered trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Tastevin

Tastevin is a small, very shallow silver cup or saucer traditionally used by winemakers and sommeliers when judging the maturity and taste of a wine. The saucer-like cups were originally created by Burgundian winemakers to enable them to judge the clarity and color of wine that was stored in dim, candle-lit wine cellars. Regular wine glasses were too deep to allow for accurate judging of the wine's color in such faint light. Tastevins are designed with a shiny faceted inner surface. Often, the bottom of the cup is convex in shape. The facets, convex bottom, and the shiny inner surface catch as much available light as possible, reflecting it throughout the wine in the cup, making it possible to see through the wine.

Wine Aerator

A wine aerator is a small, in-bottle, hand-held pour-through or decanter top device for aerating wine. These devices mix air into the wine as it flows through or over, increasing exposure to oxygen and causing aeration. They offer an alternative to swirling, traditional decanting, and to aldouze (i.e. to wait for wine to breathe). This category emerged in the United States in or before 2007. This timing can be partially linked to the decline of the US economy which resulted in wineries releasing wine early to compensate for sales dips.

Champagne Stirrer

A now-rare device, the champagne stirrer or champagne swizzle stick is a stick. They are often ornamental and made of silver, ivory, or crystal, and often with a flayed end (like a branch), which is placed or stirred in champagne to reduce or remove the bubbles. Its use is heavily frowned upon as it destroys the most valued and distinctive aspect of champagne, namely its carbonation (compare the now-rare champagne coupe), and accordingly it is rarely found or used.

Squeeze Bottle

A squeeze bottle is a type of container such as a bottle for dispensing a fluid, that is powered by squeezing the container by exerting pressure with the user's hand. Its fundamental characteristic is that manual pressure applied to a resilient hollow body is harnessed to compress fluid within it and thereby expel the fluid through some form of nozzle.

Cruet Set

A cruet-stand (or cruet in British English) is a small stand of metal, ceramic, or glass which holds containers for condiments. Typically these include salt and pepper shakers, and often cruets or bottles of vinegar and olive oil. The stand and containers form a cruet set.

Peeler 

A peeler (potato peeler or vegetable peeler) is a bar tool consisting of a slotted metal blade attached to a handle that is used to remove the outer skin or peel of certain vegetables and fruits, often carrots and beet roots, and fruits such as apples, pears, etc. A paring knife may also be used to peel vegetables. A peeler differs from a knife in that the blade has a slot cut into it, which is sharpened on the inside edge, while the other side prevents the blade from cutting too far into the vegetable.