Last week, we looked at what tools are essential for making cocktails at home, but this week we’re going to dive into some slightly higher-end stuff to enhance your home cocktail game. So let’s go back to our hypothetical scenario from last time, but we’ll up the available capital a bit…

“I’m just getting into cocktails, and I have about $50 to spend on bar tools. What should I get?”

• All items from the previous list.
• $5 for a plain UNVARNISHED wooden muddler
  For drinks with muddled fruit or mint, you want to make sure you have a plain unvarnished wooden muddler. Rubber-tipped metal muddlers (the kind which come in a lot of prepackaged cocktail kits) leave an off taste in drinks, so avoid these. As for the fancy varnished wooden muddlers, varnish has a way of dissolving or chipping away over time, and you really don’t want that stuff floating around in your drinks. An unvarnished wooden muddler is not only the cheapest but most effective tool for this job. In fact, if you are a little crafty, you can even make your own muddler by sawing a small rolling pin in half and sanding it down. 
• $3 for a Hawthorne strainer
  Many drinks call for straining out ice, and when you’re working with fruit, you don’t always want chunks floating around in a drink. A Hawthorne strainer (essentially a flat metal spoon with a wound wire rim) can catch those smaller bits of fruit and ice your shaker technique from last week might let through. Hawthorne strainers can sometimes be a little tricky to clean (especially when straining out muddled berries), but they’re worth the effort for the clearer smoother drinks you’ll be able to create.
• $15 for a glass mixing vessel
  Lastly, it’s time to step up your stirred drink game. While we know from the previous section that many stirred drinks can be built directly in the glass, a mixing vessel allows for straining the ice out of a chilled stirred drink, and it also makes for an impressive presentation while doing so. I received my first mixing vessel as a gift about a year into making cocktails at home, and it brought a new flair and excitement to the craft. At this point, you may want to consider throwing down another $10 for a julep strainer (the appropriate strainer for a mixing vessel), but this is an extra flourish, not an essential.

Of course, if you want to go even fancier…

“I’m just getting into cocktails, and I have more than $100 to spend on bar tools. What should I get?”

• All items from the previous lists.
• $16 for a silicone big ice cube and/or ice sphere molds
  Standard machine ice melts quickly, and while melting ice cools a drink, it also causes dilution. Dilution is the enemy. Larger cubes and spheres melt more slowly while bringing a comparable level of cooling, so a nice set of silicone ice trays for specialty cubes and spheres is a must for diehard cocktail enthusiasts. Now, if you want to get really fancy, you can even use this technique to make clear ice, but I’ll admit I’ve never bothered with it myself.
• $6 for a fine mesh strainer
  The wire of a Hawthorne strainer doesn’t catch everything, but utilizing a fine mesh strainer to “double-strain” will. Whether it’s bits of berries or tiny pieces of mint or basil, the fine mesh strainer will catch whatever slips through the Hawthorne, but there’s a bit of technique involved in using this tool effectively. Rolling the mesh strainer gently from side-to-side will help reduce clogging, and giving it a few gentle taps with the side of your shaker will help force any remaining liquid through. Once you master this technique, you can make clear and smooth drinks from even the grittiest ingredients.
• $10 for a julep strainer
  The julep strainer is the traditional tool to be used with a mixing vessel, and it adds a classic flourish to any stirred drink. Plus, it makes this pleasant clink as you drop it over the mixing vessel. The name comes from this tool’s classic pairing with Mint Juleps (a drink traditionally piled high with crushed ice which the strainer would keep away from sensitive teeth).
• $12 for a garnish multitool
  This is a recent addition to my bar, and it’s been an incredible help for those fruit-forward summer drinks. Admittedly, it’s one of my more difficult tools to clean, but it has simplified some more complicated processes like de-stemming strawberries or making fast citrus peels.
• $20 for a Lewis bag and wooden mallet
  I’m going to be honest with you: I don’t even own one of these, but I want one. The Lewis bag and mallet are special tools for crushing ice with less mess. In the past, I’ve crushed ice in plastic bags, but their fragile nature requires a lot of caution. By contrast, with a Lewis bag, you can smack the crap out of some ice cubes and have quality crushed ice almost immediately.

At this point, you have all the tools you’ll need to create great drinks at home. There are still some other neat optional items out there like absinthe spoons and pour spouts and float tools, but the tools we’ve covered are the basics of home cocktail craft. Have fun!

Now, all that being said, there are also some products you’ll want to avoid purchasing, and we’ll learn about those next week.