Our five most essential cocktail kit items

Ever wondered what we keep in our personal cocktail kit? Here’s the lowdown on what we use to make professional level cocktails at home:

Muddler

We do love a muddler! First because it sounds like a Batman villain who messes everything up and second because it’s an essential tool for colourful summer drinks. A muddler breaks down fresh fruit and herbs and infuses them into drinks - indispensable for the mojito and old-fashioned, it’s also great for just adding a bit of va va voom to simple mixes like hard lemonade.

Need a Muddler - Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler

Peeler

Bartenders have personal peelers because it’s all in the twist. Some love the Y-peeler (also called the Swiss) and others the straight-edge.

Choosing a peeler comes down to hand/wrist strength and dexterity. Used for citrus fruits, a peeler makes a wide but shallow incision that takes the zest from a fruit without cutting into the bitter white pith. Ideal for Negronis and Sidecars.

Looking for a peeler? - A list you might find a-peeling

Jigger

This is trade terminology for a metal or glass shot measure, with fill lines that show the most common cocktail measurements.

In the market for a jigger? - A simple stainless steel jigger

Bar blade

Another cocktail ‘must have’ that mixologists have strong opinions about. Simply put, a blade takes the cap off a bottle, and while the tricks that people can do with bar blades are very cool, you don’t have to be able to spin bottles around your head or fire off caps at supersonic velocity to appreciate a good bar blade.

Need a bar blade? - Bar Blade Bottle Opener Stainless Steel

Cocktail shaker

We have favourites! There are three kinds, which we’ve gone through below.

The Manhattan

Also known as the three-piece which is the one most people have at home. We don’t need to tell you what cocktail it’s famous for. This cobbler shaker has a built in strainer and a stainless steel top and bottom.

Find a manhattan Cobbler Shaker

The Boston Shaker

The Boston shaker is a bit bigger and therefore can be used to make double batches. It's great for mixing drinks, especially a margarita.

The Boston Shaker

The French

Also known as the Parisian, the stainless steel curved shaker looks the most sophisticated but is the least known of the three.

The French Cocktail Shaker

Which to choose? Whichever takes your fancy - you’ll probably end up with at least a couple.

Honourable Mention

Of course this list is not exhaustive, there are so many bar tools that can be used, to keep things fair, we thought we’d list a few more that would be advisable to purchase.

A Bar Spoon - Stirring, mixing and measuring, with a mini muddler on top.

Mixing Glasses - Not every cocktail needs to be shaken… the mixing glass, for, well, mixing.

An Ice Tray - Cocktails need ice.

Rounding Up How We make great Cocktails at home

From hawthorne strainers to mixing glasses all the way to bottle openers, a home bar has to have a lot of equipment, but the 5 above are our most essential items. If you want a cocktail set to fill your bar cart you can find most of these online in the links below.

If you've got all the bar tools but now need the cocktail recipes and high quality drink mixers then we've also got you covered. Check out our recipe ideas and our mixers on our site.