Cocktail supplies

Five things form the foundation: a shaker for mixing and chilling, a jigger for measuring, a bar spoon for stirring, a strainer to keep the ice back, and a muddler for crushing mint and lime. If you don't want to choose everything separately, that foundation comes together in a cocktail set.

With a shaker, you choose between two systems. A Boston shaker consists of two parts, a large tin with a smaller tin or a glass, and requires a separate strainer. It works faster, leaks less, and is easier to clean, but you have to learn how to separate the two halves again. A cobbler has three parts with a built-in strainer and cap, which is convenient if you make something at home occasionally.

With a jigger, pay attention to the measurements. The European standard measures 2 and 4 cl, while American jiggers hold 3 and 4.5 cl. Recipes from American books use ounces, so check which measurements are marked on the inside before following a recipe literally. A jigger with markings inside is more versatile than a smooth cup.

Choose the bar spoon based on its length. A 33 cm handle reaches the bottom of a 55 cl mixing glass; with a 25 cm spoon, you can only chill the top half.

The rule for shaking or stirring is simple. If there is something cloudy in it, such as juice, egg, cream or syrup, you shake. If the cocktail is completely clear, such as a dry martini or a negroni, you stir. Shaking chills faster, dilutes more and brings air into the drink; stirring keeps it heavy and smooth.

Shake hard and briefly, about twelve seconds, until the outside of the tin frosts over. Stirring takes longer, thirty to forty seconds, with the back of the spoon against the wall of the glass so the ice turns instead of clattering.

Fill your shaker or mixing glass generously with ice. That sounds contradictory, but a large mass of ice melts more slowly than a few loose cubes and therefore dilutes your drink less. Then strain onto fresh ice in the glass, never onto the ice you shook with. If you work with mint, lime or sugar, bruise them with the muddler before the drink goes in, with a turning movement and without force: you want the oil out of the leaf and not the bitter fibres.

Almost everything in this category is stainless steel, and that is on purpose. It does not take on smells, does not rust and can usually go in the dishwasher. Coated versions in black, copper and gold are the exception: that layer is thin and lasts longer with hand washing and immediate drying.

Rinse anything that has been in contact with sugar or citrus straight away. Dried syrup in the hinge of a strainer or in the thread of a shaker only comes out with soaking later on, and it attracts fruit flies. Glass mixing glasses are vulnerable at the rim, so do not stand them upside down on a hard shelf.

Rubber and plastic parts, such as the cork of a pour spout or the head of a muddler, are consumables. As soon as they turn sticky or discolour, replace them; a muddler with a worn head no longer bruises but cuts the mint to pieces.

Store everything dry and not pushed together. A shaker put away wet is hard to open the next day, because the two halves suck themselves tight as the metal contracts.

If you ended up here while actually looking for glassware, the full selection is under the cocktail glasses. If you want to know what you’re going to make before choosing your tools, the recipes will point you in the right direction: a margarita teaches you to shake, strain, and create a salt rim, while a negroni has you stir three equal parts. That way, you’ll quickly discover which tools you reach for every day and which can stay in the drawer for now. If you’re just getting started, a set is a wiser choice than individual pieces; you can add whatever you find you’re missing in practice later, such as a second strainer or a heavier mixing glass. That’s more economical than buying the same thing twice because the first choice wasn’t quite right.