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Bartender Tools

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Tools make you a good Bartender

Bartending is more than pouring a drink into a glass.
How good a bartender you are will depend on a lot of things, like your social skills, the actual bar you work from, your looks, but mainly your skill. And there is no such thing like skill without tools...

If you are a bartender looking for the right tool, or just a person willing to pour their drinks easier, you have come to the right place.

The wine opener

Also known as the corkscrew

A zillion different types in even more colors.
It doesn't really matter what model you use as long as you are skilled with it. But if you want to look professional, the "waiter's corkscrew" model is what you need.

Source: Wikipedia

A very easy to use model has 2 handles, one on each side.

Source: Wikipedia

Fabulous designs

True Fabrications Nautilus Wine Opener Set, Black

Amazon Price: $23.99 (as of 02/16/2012)

This wine opener has an stylish design and is amazingly easy to use.

Connoisseur's Countertop Wine Opener

Amazon Price: (as of 02/16/2012)

This revolutionary design opens wine bottles in seconds without any effort and with great ease of use.

Buy a wine opener

The bottle opener

The most used tool in a bar

A bottle opener is crucial for bartending.
The one you use depends on personal preferences, but make sure you use it well.
The most simple model is made of metal and is actually quite easy to use.

Source: Wikipedia

All other models are based on this and work in the same way.

Buy a bottle opener

The cocktail shaker

Obviously only needed when serving cocktails

There are 3 types of cocktail shakers.
The most commenly used amongst bartenders is called a Boston Shaker and consists of 2 pieces. A metal bottom and a glass (or plastic) mixing bowl. The two pieces can be sealed together when shaking.

Source: Alibaba.com

Buy cocktail shakers

Coasters

Unless you want to clean your bar every other minute

If you want to keep your bar clean and not sticky, you need coasters.
There are 2 types of coasters.
One is made out of carton and can only be used so many times. The carton will become wet and eventually crack or tear. However, they are cheap, you can print advertising on them and you wouldn't mind when people take them home.
If you are a bartender in a more fancy and chique place, chances are they'll be using reusable coasters made of plastic, steel or any other material possible.

Source: Stacksandstacks.com

Buy reusable coasters

An ice scoop

Because scooping ice with your glass is a bad idea

The ice scoop serves only 1 purpose. Get ice from an ice bucket into the glass.

Source: Drinkstuff.com

The displayed ice scoop is rather small for professional use, but it is just an example.
Again, many different models exist.

Get ice scoops

Before your hands get cold

Strainers

Get that ice away from me

Strainers are used to remove unwanted ice from a drink when pouring the drink into a glass after it has been shaken or stirred.
The most comon model is called a Hawthorn strainer.
The Hawthorn model is a strange looking, circular metal tool with a handle and a metal spring on top of it. It's specifically designed to block big chunks of ice, but lets the pulp and small ice shards go through.

A Hawthorn strainer. Source: Drinkboy.com

A second model is called a Julep Strainer. It has a much more simple design but is not as widely used.

A Hawthorn strainer. Source: Drinkboy.com

Buy strainers

Swizzle sticks

Swizzle sticks have 2 puposes. Foremost, they are used to stir the drink. Secondly they are used to pick up pieces of fruit or olives from the drinks without using your fingers.

Swizzle sticks

They literally come in all sizes or shapes and often carry a logo or advertisement at the top. They are usually made from plastic, but the more fancy places can use steel, glass or even wooden swizzle sticks.

Buy swizzle sticks

Muddlers

Muddlers are used to make a mash of fruit, herbs or spices when they have been added to a cocktail. Muddling them releases their flavor.

Muddlers exist in all kind of shapes and material. Most comon are wooden muddlers, but platic and stainless steel are taking over the market.
Two examples of drinks where a muddler is a required tool are caipirinhas and mojitos.

Get your muddler

Happy mashing time

Getting jiggy with Jiggers

Jiggers allow you to measure how much you pour. This can be useful if you have to work with tight inventory control or in some states in the USE it's even obligated by law to measure how much you pour.

Source: Cook-pro.com

There are many different jiggers, some have a small and big side like on the first picture, some have indications on the side.

Source: The Authentic Bartender

If you want to look more professional, opt for the first kind of jiggers. They are also easier when used frequently.

Buy jiggers

Controlled pouring

There are different type of caps you can place on your bottles to control how you pour drinks.
Some just help reducing spills, some have a measuring tool to also control how much you pour.

Whatever style you wish, they are a great help when bar tending.

Buy pourers

Tools make the bartender

Found the best tool ever? Or the worst?
Leave a comment here ...

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Reply

cffutah Jan 24, 2012 @ 6:54 pm | delete

great source for accessories indeed, nicely done.

Reply

JaguarJulie Jan 4, 2012 @ 9:46 am | delete

Ah, you are talking to me ... I love a bartender with good tools ... and a bartender that looks good and has a great personality ... tall, intelligent ... Happy New Year!

Reply

KANEsUgAr Jun 30, 2011 @ 11:20 am | delete

Great stuff here, my sister would love this lens.

Reply

BizGuides Apr 1, 2011 @ 6:03 am | delete

I learned something here. I didn't know about 'muddlers'.
This will have me starting on a whole new experimentation phase.
I see caipirinhas and mojitos in my future :)

Reply

Deadlego Mar 26, 2011 @ 8:18 am | delete

Some great recommenations and info here. I've lensrolled you to my site about Zubrowka Vodka which includes a few bartending tool recommendations, in fact we pick two of the same items (swearing i had not seen your page first!). One I recommend that you don't feature is the Rosle 12650 cocktail shaker, which is pricey but worth it for quality.
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