Bar Set-Up

Arguably the most important aspect of the bar is the tools, equipment, and layout of such. In this post I will attempt to explain the fundamentals of the essential bar. A bar set-up consists of a several basic pieces of equipment that come in various styles and sizes to suit the barchemists needs: (1) the shaker, (2) the mixing glass, (3) mixing spoons, (4) the muddler, (5) strainers, (6) glassware, (7) measurement tools (jiggers.) While there are dozens more pieces to a complete set up, these are the basics that the essential bar must have to commence in mixological endeavors. Let's begin:

A dimly lit photo of my personal set up. From the left: jiggers, spoons, cobblers (shakers), and mixing glasses.

1. The Shaker

The shaker is one of the most frequently used tools in bartending. It is used to shake ingredients which cannot be incorporated by stirring and that need an especially cold result. A good rule of thumb for this is anything very dense (such as Lillet or other chilled, fortified wines) and for all citrus drinks. Shakers come in two fundamental styles: cobblers, which are three piece units consisting of a mixing tin, a straining lid, and a cap to seal the strainer during use, and shaking tins, also known as "Boston" shakers, more popular for their price point, which consist of a large metal tin capped by either another, small mixing tin or a pint glass. While I originally learned to shake with a mixing tin and a pint glass, but I find that the balance of shaking with these makes a proper shake quite difficult. There are two fundamentals of shaking technique: first, the ice should move within the shake as a single unit, bouncing off the walls of the shaker all together. Second, the shake should be started slowly and speed built up to prevent the ice from instantly fracturing during the first shake. For these reasons, I prefer to use cobblers over Boston tins. I use Usagi Japanese heavyweight shakers, 500 mL. Mine are copper plated and were purchased from Cocktail Kingdom. Shaker technique will be described in greater detail in a later post.

2. The Mixing Glass

A mixing glass can be any round glass large enough to fit your ingredients and your ice. Typically stirred cocktails consist of only spirits together in a glass; popular ones are martinis, manhattans, and negronis. The goal of stirring, as with ice, is to move the ice altogether as one unit (that is, all of the ice must remain stationary in relation to itself, the entirety of the ice making revolutions in the glass.) Most bars I've seen use pint glasses for this purpose. They are a fairly ideal size for mixing, but concentrate the ingredients and the ice together. For my mixing glasses, I use 500 mL mixing glasses that are wide and completely cylindrical instead of the conical shape of the pint. This gives a greater contact area between the ice and the spirit mix, helping cool the spirit much more quickly. A good rule of thumb for the length of stirring is twenty-five revolutions, more or less depending on how much ice melt one wants in their drink. As the drink is stirred, heat transfers from the spirit into the ice, chilling the mixture and melting the ice. The goal is to strike a fine balance between watering down the cocktail and creating a properly chilled cocktail. In this sense, it is best to begin stirring directly after adding ice, as letting it sit will lean the drink towards the watery side. This is, in essence, a thermodynamic optimization problem tackled by the barchemist daily. Constant attention and adjustment should be paid to mixing to find the optimum results.

3. The Mixing Spoon

To go with the mixing glass one requires a mixing spoon. Typical bar spoons are approximately 30 centimeters and feature a corkscrew handle and a small nub on top for two-handed control. These spoons are good for a two-handed stir. The seasoned barchemist, however, requires longer spoons and usually stirs with one hand. Thus, the length of the spoon should be geared towards the number of revolutions one plans to make with a stir. My spoons are 40 cm teardrop weighted copper plated mixing spoons (also acquired from Cocktail Kingdom) which allow me to do twenty five revolutions from bottom to top. The weights on top provide a counter balance for the revolving motion of the spoon.

4. The Muddler

A less used but still critical bartool is the muddler. A muddler is used to pulverize and express ingredients that require crushing in the glass. Typically they are eight inches to a foot long, some featuring spikes on the end for increased tearing. The classic old fashioned recipe calls for muddling together cherries, an orange slice, a sugar cubes, and bitters. Citrus peels, slices, fruits, leaves (such as basil or mint) and dry herbs are frequent choices for muddling. When choosing to muddle an ingredient, always make sure to provide a liquid base with the ingredient (most often simple syrup.) The "liquid base," known to chemists as a "solvent," provides a medium for the ingredient to be expressed into, e.g., using simple syrup as a solvent to absorb the essential oils of mint that are released when muddled. As an additional tip, any leaves that are to be muddled should be rolled between the fingers first to break up the more resilient fibrous parts that are better snapped than crushed.

5. Strainers

From the left: Hawthorne, coco (fine), and julep strainer.

Strainers serve the primary function of allowing gravity to separate the mixed and chilled drink from the ice used to cool it. These are used primarily for drinks served up, meaning a drink without ice in it. Again, martinis and manhattans are a big part of this family, but really all sorts of drinks are done "up." Additionally, a number of cocktails call for straining onto fresh rocks if the drink is on the rocks at all, or onto some other medium of ice such as shaved ice (we'll get into swizzles later.) From the left, above, we have a hawthorne strainer, a fine strainer, and a julep strainer. The Hawthorne is the most classically used strainer; the spring around the the rim allows it to fit nearly any sized mixing glass or shaker. The liquid strains through easily, catching the ice in its original vessel. Fine strainers, also known as coco strainers to some, are usually used in conjunction with the hawthorne to catch any additional small bits the hawthorne won't. For instance, in a muddled mint cocktail, tiny mint bits will pass through the hawthorne strainer but get caught in the coco strainer. Rarely are fine strainers employed on their own. Lastly, a julep strainer was invented to catch crushed ice from a mint julep. Essentially, these were actually employed by the drinker rather than the bartender; keeping one on top of your drink as you drank your crushed ice drink prevented the snow-like ice from tumbling onto one's face. Since then, they've found uses as replacements for hawthornes in stirred cocktails, but are not especially popular. Some claim that a julep strain fits a mixing glass better than a hawthorne, but I consider that generally untrue considering the varying size of the hawthorne. Still, whatever works best is what is most often used.

6. Glassware

Glassware comes in many different shapes, sizes, and with different utilities. For the moment I will simply list off glassware common to the bar; a more detailed post will focus specifically on glassware, its history, and its purpose, with corresponding picture.

• Collins: Often the same as a highball glass, a collins is tall and thin, often used to serve simple built cocktails, or complex cocktails that require a lot of ice.
• Rocks: A rocks glass the traditional short glass, often used for neat pours or small drinks; sometimes even drinks served "up." No stem, by tradition.
• Coupe: A coupe is a small, stemmed glass most popular during and just after prohibition. The original champagne glass, it is wide and short vessel with a decently tall stem. These have been adapted by bars today as the most frequent choice for "up" drinks.
• Manhattan glass: Small and conical like a martini glass, but often with a sharper conic slope. Used for manhattans, primarily.
• Martini glass: Very well known glassware. Used specifically for martinis, it is a wide, pleasing shape. People often use these for up cocktails in lieu of having other glassware.

I'm going to cut glassware short, here. There's too much to say about it for this introductory post.

7. Jiggers

2/1 oz. Leopold style jiggers on the left, followed by Japanese style jiggers.

The jigger is arguably the most fundamental tool for the bartender; it is their measurement apparatus and as such is the heart of the bartender's kit. They come in several styles, primarily focused as two opposing cones. Some jiggers, such as Leopold style jiggers (pictured above), are more bell shaped. All jiggers are sized specifically for their use, and often more than one type of jigger is necessary during bar service. Good jiggers have demarcations on the inside to indicate smaller amounts than what the full jigger calls for; in the case of the 2/1 ounce Leopolds, there are 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz., and 3/4 oz. demarcations in the 1 ounce side and a 1.5 ounce demarcation on the 2 ounce side. This is incredible important not only for proper cocktail building but for consistency between cocktails and especially between bartenders. Always measure everything exactly to the meniscus when using a jigger. I often use up to 8 jiggers before I get a chance to wash and reuse any, so having a number of them around, especially good ones, can make or break the full-service barchemist.

8. Miscellaneous bar tools

From the left: microplane, peeler, absinthe spoons
(then top to bottom): paring knife, channel knife, and forceps

There are a number of other useful bar tools essential to the well-trained barchemist such as peelers, squeezers, forceps, spatulas, microplanes, and a slew of other tools too numerous to list here. These will crop up as I discuss cocktails further, and especially as I begin to post recipes. It is also important to remember that it is almost impossible to have all of your bases covered at any given moment, and that if you can't find the tool you need, you'll have to find something close. As many of you begin to build your home bars, you may find yourself replacing expensive tools with cheap, on-hand substitutions. This MacGyver style of bartending has a place in the home, but not in the workplace. For best results, collaborate with your coworkers and your manager to ensure you have all of the tools you need to mix the best drinks you can.

That's it for today, chemists. Get studying.

_theBarchemist