Bartending Equipment

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Before setting off on your Tom Cruise-like Cocktail career, you’ll need a couple of basics. Begin with what you have lying around in the kitchen, or you may be able to acquire some stuff through friends. After a while you will get to the point where you feel you need to invest in some serious equipment.

You will need:

Cocktail Shaker

Use a cocktail shaker for drinks that need to be well-mixed, but not 100% clear. The iciness tends to cloud up the drink. Cocktail shakers are usually made of stainless steel, but you may find some made of silver, plastic or glass. The beginner’s shaker comes in three parts: a base to hold the liquids, a top with a built in strainer, and a cap that fits on nice and tight. Shake for 15 to 20 seconds, or until you can’t bear the frostbite anymore.

Measure

A measure is a single piece double cup with one half being a full measure and the other a half measure. In the USA this piece of equipment is known as a “jigger”. A shot is equal to 44.36 millilitres.

Spoons and measuring jug

Sometimes nothing beats a good old fashioned measuring jug and spoon set for measuring standard quantities. Remember to be consistent with the type of measurement system you use within the same recipe, to keep the proportions relatively correct.

Food processor

Modern marvels of the cooking age, food processors take the schlep out of any kitchen adventure. Most include built in juicer, masticator, blender, liquidizer, and goodness knows what else.

Be sure to follow these tips when buying:

Do you need to be able to crush ice? Get one that does
Do you need high power with multiple settings?
Is the contraption easy to assemble, take apart and clean?
Can you make high volumes of juice or pulp?
Is it easy to feed bits of fruit or veg into the processor?

Chopping board and knives

Get hold of a really good steel knife set. You’ve seen the ads on TV – go get them now. Also, make sure you are equipped with a solid, large cutting or chopping board. These come in marble, stone, plastic or wood. Your chopping board should be solid yet light enough to carry around and wash. Plastic is easier to clean than wood. Always drip dry or air dry a chopping board – using a cloth will defeat the purpose of having just cleaned it.

Fruit and vegetables

Sometimes the food processor will not be able to do the job.

The following will greatly assist with fruit and vegetables:

Apple corer
Zester and canelle knife
Vegetable peeler
Cherry stoner
Melon baller

Ice cream scoops

Useful for ice cream, frozen yoghurt and other icy slushy things – you will use this when making smoothies and milk shakes.

Why not get a bright, colourful, fun one?

Breaking the ice

When it comes to ice, there are various tools of the trade available:

Ice bags
Wooden hammer
Ice crusher
Ice bucket
Chiller bucket

You will need ice in many forms – crushed to various sizes, so get this stuff.

Muddlers

This is quaintly also known as a “long stick with a fat end and a thin end”. Muddlers are used for crushing sugar or mint leaves – use it like a pestle with a good sized mixing jug.

Bar spoon

One of the bartending essentials, a good bar spoon will reach to the bottom of the tallest glasses or jugs. Don’t be fooled – this isn’t some glorified swizzle stick and certainly a heck of a lot more useful than a simple dessert spoon.

Cocktail Strainer

Another essential, the strainer is used when pouring drinks from a shaker or jug into the cocktail glass. This removes the ice used in the drink’s preparation. The professional version is known as the Hawthorne strainer – it keeps bits of ice and solid materials out of your drink.