The Barmans Blog Essential Bar Tools

Bartools – The Essentials Every Bar Should Have

Hey everyone. This post is about the essential BarTools every Bar should have. (In my opinion!) There are many, many more tools that you might have in your Bar, this is just the bare minimum. Right, lets dive right in!

1.      Ok I know this seems a little obvious and 99.99% of Bars have them but its the Ice Scoop! However what 99.99% don’t have is a “slotted” or “drained” scoop. Very simply these scoops allow excess water to drain off the Scoop before the Ice reaches the glass. How many times have you looked at a drink thinkin there’s way more than a shot in that! This is water, diluting the drink and therefore it’s flavour. And if your customers are as picky about their drinks as I am, this is a huge problem!

2.      Ok when it comes to pouring spirits there are 3 choices (well 4 really)

a.      Measure / Jiggers, these are probably the most commonly used. There are pros and cons to using them. The good thing is that they are by far the quickest way to pour spirits, and if you work in a very busy bar then they might be prefferable. However, there is a major problem - accuracy! Over and Under pouring becomes an issue. It is very difficult to pour precisely the measure volume without spilling any or under pouring. How much spirit do you wipe off your back bar at the end of the night? When it comes to a Stock-Take major discrepencies may be seen because of this. Not Good!

b.      The Optic. Optics are preferable for spirits you sell a large volume of. Why? Again it’s accuracy! You are guaranteed a perfect measure each time when using an optic, there is a price to pay however – Speed! Anyone who has used them knows how slow they can be to refill (and it seems 10 times as long when your under pressure!)

c.      Free Pouring. Generally, this is a bad idea! Again its all about accruacy! If you work in a Cocktail Bar chances are you’ve free poured. The only benifit of free pouring is style! Obviously if you’re a Flair Bartender, your accustomed to it. It can be controlled however, with alot of practice. If you free pour try putting up 5 glasses and ask a co-worker to set a volume for each glass. Free pour into each and measure each at the end. If you can get it to within a ml or two you’re doin well!

d.      Measured Pourers. This is the (well 4 really)! These are Pourers which automatically cut out after a perfect shot. So that sounds great right? You can just easy-pour with complete accuracy! No under or over pouring! A perfect shot every time! Her’s the problem – THEY DONT WORK! I’ve used them many times before and have yet to come across one that is reliable. Either they pour too much or too little, or break within a week or so. Not to mention there really expensive!

My advice is : Use optics on high volume spirits, having more than 1 bottle of that spirit on optic, eradicating the speed issue! Use measures or jiggers for low volume spirits. Free pour if your 100% confident in your accuracy! Dont use those shitty Measured Pourers! :D

3.      A Knife! Again I no this is soooo obvious but having a really good knife behind the bar can make life a whole lot easier! I reccomend using a “Tomato Knife”. This type of knife was designed to cut tomatos (duh!) But that design allows a razor sharp edge with a flexible body. This is what you need to cut fruit and garnishes to perfection!

4.      A Shaker. Now I know I said that this was a list of bare essentials and many of you might not make Cocktails in your Bars, but I feel that any Bar should be able to make any drink for it’s customers. So...... A few choices here, I’m gonna stick with the 2 most popular

a.      The 3 Piece Shaker. Very simple and easy to use, however there is one thing to be concerned about – the middle or “Strainer” component of the shaker. These come with or without a lip depending on the style. Get one with a lip! It stops spillage when your pouring into a narrow glass. Simple!

b.      The Boston Shaker. Made of a tin and a stirring glass. The Boston is a personal preferance for me. The reason being that the customer can see exactly what’s in the drink before and during the shake!

5.      Strainers. Really only neccessary when using a Boston Shaker. There are two types, one for the tin and one for the glass!

a.      The Hawthorn Strainer. Comes with a varying amount of prongs is used on the tin part of the Boston.

b.      The Julip Strainer. Comes in varying depths of concaves and mesh size. You guessed it! Used on the Stirring Glass!

6.      The Channel Knife. A very simple and effective tool used for garnishing. Simply glides through a fruits skin resulting in a design on the fruit and a string of fruit zest.

7.      The Muddler. This tooled is used much like a mortar......or pestle....... I dunno which is which! But what I do know is that it’s used to grind down ingredients, such as lime and mint.

8.      The Barspoon. Quite simply a long ass spoon! It’s used to float ingredients, for example Bailey’s on Tia Maria. It’s used to stir drinks, such as a Martini. And the back end can be used to aggitate ingredients, such as mint leaves in a Mojito.

If I left anything out you feel is essential.....or not, feel free to leave a comment on the site!

Cheers!