A few items are required to make cocktails and that should be your main concern when creating your own home bar. You will find some of these tools readily available in your kitchen, while others, such as glass strainers, can be purchased cheaply on the market.

Let’s consider these one by one:

shakers

A mix of good cocktail shakers includes classic and Boston shakers. The latter is a 16-ounce mixing glass and a large bar can with a flat bottom. Professional bartenders use it a lot with the help of strainers.

Jiggers

A jigger is a metal device with a cone at each end. The largest cone measures 60ml while the smallest 30ml or approximately one ounce. Expert bartenders don’t use jiggers; instead, make use of your technique and years of experience. However, in a home bar, jiggers are a must.

colanders

Shake-and-stir drinks with lots of ice need a strainer to separate the ice, herbs, and other ingredients from the liquid.

Two types are popular: Hawthorne strainer and Julep strainer. The former has a flat-top, perforated device with a continuous coiled coil along the perimeter that helps hold the filter in position. The latter is perforated and is usually made of stainless steel.

glass rinsers

This is an item that someone can say is a luxury. Frankly, it isn’t. Glass squeegees are quite popular in Europe, but are catching on in the US and Canada.

These gadgets work in a simple way. You turn a glass upside down before you fill it; hold it over a rinser, glass rim down. The water automatically gushes out and rinses the glass of any residue or soap scum that has not been cleaned.

The main advantage of rinsing is that it pours better. Experts say that beer is best poured into a wet glass.

It’s no wonder bartenders do a final rinse before they fill the beer.

As one customer noted, “Glass rinsers look great in a bar not far behind the fancy beer towers.”

Building a home bar, however easy, requires foresight and food flair, as bars fill with ever-changing inventory. Also, guzzlers have become a trendy lot. They are up to date on the things you serve.

Therefore, it must be up to the task to serve with extravagance. Even if he is not as good as an expert bartender, he should know the basics about what he is serving. Even a high-end beer needs a proper clean glass that has been washed with glass rinsers.

You may not have a wide variety of glassware styles, but whatever you do have should be used appropriately. Before serving, make sure there are no lipstick, oil and detergent marks.

Your guests naturally wouldn’t like to see a stained glass window with soap bubbles trapped inside the glass.