Drinking at a bar is fun in its own ways and while the buzz and excitement cannot be compared to enjoying a cocktail at home, in peace, it definitely requires little patience that pushing your way through to the counter to place an order. If you’ve been toying with the idea of setting up a home bar, or feel like it is an aspiration you wish to work towards, the idea behind it is to be well-equipped with the essentials as opposed to finding a nook that can accommodate this luxury.
Having the right variety of drinks, serving glasses and accessories is pretty much the only important stuff you need to look into, based on your preferences and the type of host you are. Here are a handful of essential tools that can sail you through most cocktails and keep the good times going, without breaking a sweat.
Wooden Muddler
An unvarnished wooden cocktail muddler is one of the best tools to extract maximum flavour out of fresh ingredients that go into a cocktail. Whether it is a watermelon mojito or a minty gin slush, a good muddler can come handy in breaking down most fruits, herbs and spices, when necessary. It is effective in helping to release flavour and are known to be durable enough to last for years. It is also important to remember that cocktail muddlers must be washed immediately after use and shouldn’t be left standing in water for too long.
Coasters
Let’s be honest – no one wants to see white rings of water, settled from your cocktail glass over your wooden furniture or marble tops. Coasters are meant for drinks to be placed on and are an underrated bar accessory that is often overlooked while working towards setting up a home bar. Depending on your budget and aesthetics, coasters come in varying materials like acetate, wood, marble and ceramic. They’re also great to add some pop of colour to an otherwise monochromatic or dull bar.
Citrus Juicer
If lime or lemon juice is a go-to ingredient for many of your cocktail recipes, then purchasing a good-quality citrus juicer is key to having fresh juice and pulp, if necessary, to give your drink that hit of bright freshness. Instead of spending time picking out the seeds, simply press your citrus fruit, cut-side down on to the pointy edge and crush as intensely as possible for maximum juice and full flavour.
Cocktail Shaker
A vital tool in crafting the best cocktails, a shaker is integral to mixing up a drink thoroughly, for all the flavours to intermingle. The act of shaking a drink is also one of the fastest ways to cool it or make it frothy and light. A cocktail shaker is also necessary to dilute your drink properly and buying a cobbler shaker is one of the best options, if you need a built-in strainer, shaker and cap to keep things in while shaking.
Cocktail Strainer
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
A metal accessory designed to hold back ice and other solid ingredients that you might not necessarily want to taste in your drink. This is a type of sieve that is placed at the mouth of the glass and only allows liquids to flow through its holds while poured into. One of the most common types of strainers is the Hawthorne strainer, which is designed to sit perfectly over all types of cocktail glasses as well as be removed easily without being locked over the mouth of the drink.
Zester
Image Credits: Betty Crocker
The kitchen tool that allows you to peel off rind from citrus fruits and make pretty swirls of, to use as garnish for your drinks. Having a zester is also helpful to add more citric flavours to your drinks, without getting any of the bitter pith which is usually found below the zest in fruits like orange, lemons and lime. You could also use your zester to grate spices like nutmeg and cinnamon over your drinks and have multi-purpose utility for this underrated accessory.
Bar Spoon
Image Credits: European Bartender School
Often used to measure out syrups or other sweet liquids, the main purpose of the bar spoon is to stir drinks without getting your hands in the vicinity of your cocktail glass and preventing the possibility of a mess. Typically, a bar spoon can hold up to 5 millilitres of liquid and can also be used in place of a muddler to mash up ingredients for drinks as well as sturdy enough to crack ice, on occasion.