As with most industries, bartending has a whole host of jargon and assumed knowledge,
which can be a little bit daunting when you're starting out in the industry
or attempting some drinks making at home.
It took me about a month of working
in Australia to figure out that when I was being asked to
'restock the splits' they were talking about the small cans of mixers in the bar.
We'd never called them that in Scotland, so I would just wander around and
restock everything that looked remotely low in the hope that one of these things
would be the elusive splits.
So let's have a look at some of the equipment
that I talked about in my other videos, so that you can navigate your way with
minimal confusion.
This is probably the most important piece of equipment in a
bartender's arsenal. It may look cool and very Tom Cruise of you two free pour but
not very many people are willing to put in the hours of practice that it takes
to actually be good at it, so a jigger will make sure that you're turning out
consistently well balanced drinks. There are different kinds and sizes depending
on what style of bartending you're doing. If you only have one than a classic
double jigger will do the job. So one end of this is a standard shot which is 30 mls,
one ounce or 25 mls depending what country you're in and the other one is a
double shot. Plus their markings inside for 15 mls, 20 mls or a half an ounce,
3/4 of an ounce so on. If you're going to be pumping out a high volume of
cocktails consider a graduated measure, it's a larger measure with steps of 15ml
or 1/2 ounce increments, so you can build a whole cocktail in there and then
just tip it into the shaker and you're good to go.
You do have to be careful though because obviously if you're not paying attention
you can over pour quite easily and it's not going to spill out so you could
end up giving someone a very strong drink.
There are two main types of shakers
which are Boston and cobbler. Most bars now use what is known as tin on tin Boston shakers
which is pretty self-explanatory. These guys are relatively inexpensive,
easy to clean, big enough to build two cocktails, hard to break and if you buy
all of the same brand you can mix and match the larger and smaller half so you
don't have to worry about losing pieces,
because you would be surprised at how easily things disappear in a bar!
Your other option for a Boston shaker is where half of it is glass, obviously with
that one you can see what's being built in there but they are much heavier and
you can break them so most bars have switched to tin on tin these days.
Another option is the cobbler, this one is by far the most aesthetically
pleasing. Look how cute it is. And it does have a built in strainer, but it's really
better for home use rather than high-volume bartending as it is much
smaller and harder to clean.
You can get as fancy as you like with this and
there's some really beautiful cut glass and crystal ones out there, but it's also
probably the least necessary piece of bar equipment, especially for a home bars
as you literally just need a container to stir your booze on ice.
Or as a personal preference I honestly think that homemade martinis taste better when
mixed in a coffee plunger.
There are three types of cocktail strainer commonly found in any bar,
you have the julep strainer, this is the oldest and simplest way of holding the
ice back as you pour your drink into the glass. This one has been around basically
since ice started being used in cocktails but you had to have different sizes to
fit in different tins and glasses so there was a bit of a gap in the market
for a more ergonomic strainer and so along came the Hawthorne strainer,
which beat the pack to become the ubiquitous cocktail strainer thanks to the coil
which fits into any shaker and can be really easily cleaned, and little hooks
which balance it on top of your shaker. It takes its name from the Hawthorne Cafe
which is a bar in Boston. The julep has had a revival alongside many
classic cocktails from that Golden Age of bartending and is now often seen used
with mixing glasses like so, whereas Hawthorne strainers are more
often used with your shaking tins. And finally we have the fine strainer which
really does what it says on the tin, so it collects all of the smaller shards of ice
left behind by the other strainers. It's usually not necessary for stirred drinks
as you should be moving the ice gently enough that it doesn't break into
small enough pieces to pass through your julep or your Hawthorne, but it is used
for shaken drinks, although personal preference can mean
that you quite like a few ice chips in your daiquiri for instance.
This multitasker is both a mixing and a measuring utensil so pretty darn useful.
Again you can get as fancy as you like, there's really long and ornate ones,
but basic ones like this are really cheap and easily found in hospitality shops.
There is a bit of an act to rolling it around the outside of the glass rather
than churning it through the ice when you're stirring that so mastering it
will help control the dilution and keep a silky smooth texture for your stirred
down drinks. Plus you look like a boss so it's definitely worth practicing.
The spoon part usually measures 5 mils or 1/6 of an ounce so it's really useful
for those more finicky cocktail specs, which by the way is what bartenders call
cocktail recipes, short for specifications.
So this one really is a matter of personal preference. I much prefer a
serrated edge for cutting twists, in fact you can see if you can find the video
where I forgot to bring mine and had to struggle through with a flat blade,
thank goodness for editing, and on the bar I'll actually quite often use a
vegetable peeler for a more rustic twist. Just make sure that whatever you're
using it's really sharp because you're obviously way more likely to hurt
yourself with a blunt tool, and follow the same rules as for cooking and keep your
finger tips out of the way.
Hopefully this helps you find your way in the rest
of my episodes. Let me know in the comments if there's any other bar jargon
you would like me to explain or if there's a piece of equipment that you
can't live without. So now you know!