The Best Bar Set

Buying Guide

When friends are on the way to your place, anyone can stock the fridge with a few beers and wine bottles. What truly elevates a get-together into a party are cocktails. Mixing drinks shows that you care about your guests, and even when you’re not entertaining, it’s always nice to have the option to make yourself a nice martini or mai tai to cap off a long work week.

Of course, it takes more than just the booze. A good set of bartending tools makes the whole process of mixing a drink into a ritual to look forward to.

If you’ve never owned a home bar set, don’t be intimidated. You likely won’t need the entire arsenal of gadgets you see behind the bar at a fancy cocktail lounge, but there are a few essentials that every good home bartender should own.

First and foremost, there’s the shaker. Shaking drinks is the flashiest, most physical part of any cocktail preparation — and also the messiest if you don’t know what you’re doing. Amateurs might want to stick with a cobbler shaker, which is a drink container covered with a tight-fitting lid. The lid usually incorporates a cap with a strainer, so you can easily filter ice and other solids out as your pour.

The version you’ll see most commercial bartenders using is the Boston shaker, which is essentially two cups (usually metal), one smaller than the other. Making a watertight shaker out of the two — and pulling them apart to strain the drink — takes a bit of practice, but nothing says “I know my cocktails” more surely than doing it right.

Another must-have implement is a good jigger. That’s the tiny, double-ended cup bartenders use to portion out their liquor, and they come in two standard measurements: One ounce on one side, 1/2-ounce on the other; or 1 1/2 ounces on one side and 3/4-ounce on the other. Let the usual serving size of your drinks dictate the type you want to use.

Even if your shaker incorporates a built-in strainer, you’ll usually want a full-size strainer — especially if you plan on mixing drinks with a lot of fresh fruit, mint or other solid ingredients. The most common and effective type is the Hawthorne strainer, a perforated disk that’s fitted with a metal spring. It should fit snugly onto the shaker cup and makes light work out of filtering those tropical drinks. There’s also a Julep strainer, a simplified version that’s basically a perforated spoon that fits over the top of pint glasses. Need to filter the juice out of some seed-heavy fruits? You might also want a set with a mesh strainer, which is harder to find but effective at keeping seeds and leaves out of your drink.

Last but not least on the basic bar kit all-stars is the bar spoon. It’s a long spoon with a spiral handle, made specifically for stirring drinks without unduly bubbling up or “bruising” the alcohol. American, European and Japanese bar spoons offer subtle variations on the same basic design, but all of them will do the job.

Beyond those absolute musts, there is a wide array of tools that will make your bartending experience easier (or just more fun to watch). They include pour spouts, muddlers, wine keys, ice tongs, or even ice mallets (for making your own fresh-crushed ice). Let your experience level be the guide, and don’t be afraid to try some of these tools out even if you’ve never used them before. Every mixologist has to start somewhere.

• You want your bar tools to look good, and there are many options out there to suit any style. But when it comes to materials, you should stick with the classics. Most bar sets (and especially shakers) are made out of stainless steel for good reason. It doesn’t rust, it’s easily cleaned in a dishwasher and it won’t hold onto smells from those fruity drinks you mixed the night before. You can find copper shakers and jiggers out there, but unless you don’t mind cleaning them frequently, stainless steel is the way to go.
• Flair aside, making drinks is a lot like baking: Follow the recipe and you can’t go too wrong. That goes for the ingredients as well as the way they’re mixed. Shaking a drink that’s meant to be gently stirred will result in a vastly different experience.