Over the past few years, I’ve had a lot of people ask me what tools they need to make cocktails at home. There are a lot of variables within this question:

What kind of cocktails are you making?
How often are you making them?
And perhaps most crucial,
how much money are you looking to spend?

The next few posts are intended for people looking to get into the craft of cocktails without breaking the bank. I’ll go over the essentials for a home bar, what items to avoid, and where to find some of this stuff cheap. Of course, as you get into cocktails, there are few better resources than local cocktail bars and supply shops. Classic cocktail bars have enjoyed an incredible resurgence over the past decade, and many of these bartenders are a wealth of information. Simply going to a cocktail bar and watching the bar staff work may give you an idea what tools and ingredients you need to make drinks at home. Also, if you’re in the Jacksonville area, I recommend visiting The Glass Bottle Society, an outstanding source for cocktail supplies and ingredients in Riverside. I checked out the shop recently, and not only were the staff knowledgable and friendly, they were willing to help answer my questions about ingredients and recipes even if it meant pointing me toward another store. It’s a great place to get ideas, information, and ingredients, and I can’t imagine ever walking out empty-handed! Now, to the matter of what bar tools you need to make drinks at home, let’s say hypothetically…

“I’m just getting into cocktails, and I have about $30 to spend on bar tools. What should I get?”

• $9 for a lined double jigger
  Short for “thingamajigger” (yes, really), a jigger is perhaps the most universal cocktail tool and will help you quickly measure amounts of spirits, syrups, juices, and whatever else goes into your drinks. I recommend a lined jigger, and while the OXO model doesn’t look all that pretty and costs a little extra, it’s my go-to because of its versatility.
• $6 for a spiral-handled bar spoon
  Many of the classic stirred cocktails (Old Fashioneds, Martinis, Negronis, etc.) can be built directly in a rocks glass, but you won’t be able to stir them properly without a bar spoon; the long spiral handle spins naturally in your hand for quick and quiet stirring you won’t get out of normal flatware. Sure, you can use a normal teaspoon to stir a drink, but it won’t have the speed or finesse of this tool.
• $7 for one 28oz steel shaker tin
  Shaken drinks require a few more tools. When it comes to shakers, I recommend the simplest but most effective kind: a single 28oz or 30oz shaker tin and a pint glass from your cabinet. Not only does this glass/steel combination form a great seal which you can easily reopen with a light tap from your palm, the pint glass makes it easy to eyeball amounts if you don’t have a jigger handy. Additionally, while you’ll eventually want to purchase a Hawthorne strainer to ensure broken ice and bits of citrus stay in the shaker, you can also use the lip of the pint glass as a makeshift strainer. This technique takes some practice and may result in a few messes early on, but in a pinch, it strains most ice out of your cocktail.
• $7 for a citrus squeezer
  Regardless of your strength, you won’t get the maximum juice out of lemons, limes, and oranges without one of these. Also, I’m aware there are much fancier fruit tools available, but for now, this will get you through most basic recipes involving lemons and limes (by far the most common fruit components in cocktails).

The vast majority of cocktails can be made with just this combination of tools. Of course, there are also substitutions you can make for almost all of these. If a shaker is out of your price range right now, a mason jar makes a surprisingly effective makeshift shaker/strainer. Simply shake all ingredients in the jar, and when you open it, position the lid so it will catch any ice or larger pieces of fruit. In lieu of a jigger, I’ve seen people use shot glasses (which are usually a standard 1.5oz or 3oz), and there are more juicing apparatuses out there than just citrus squeezers. That being said, there’s really no substitute for a good bar spoon, and some even come with muddlers on the end so you can have two tools for the price of one. A jigger, shaker tin, squeezer, and bar spoon will allow you to make most classic cocktails at home, but as you start looking toward more complex recipes, you can always upgrade. More on that next week.