These are some of the basic bar-tending tools that you should have in your
bar. Many of these tools can be substituted with basic home kitchen implements.
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Bar Knife : For cutting or coring fruit, or for peeling rind.
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Can Opener: Pretty self explanatory; opening beer bottles, etc (Swiss
Army knife is just fine).
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Ice Bucket: For keeping ice close at hand and cold, never keep it in the
bag. (By the way, never use ice form the Health Center, that shit is naaasty).
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Ice Tongs: For placing ice cubes into drinks -- a sanitary measure. Some
people are grossed out by you placing ice into their drinks after going to
the bathroom and not washing your hands. We still don't understand why.
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Jigger: Convenient measuring tool, usually showing 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1
oz. measures. Some are two-sided: 1 oz. on one side, 1 1/2 oz. on the other.
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Juicer: For squeezing fresh juice for drinks... always preferred to
pre-made (Tropicana rocks, but is expensive).
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Long Bar Spoon: Makes your life easy when stirring drinks in large glasses or
pitchers.
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Measuring Spoons: For when drink recipes call for dry ingredients or are
measured in table or teaspoons.
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Wooden Muddler: This device is for crushing leaves (such as mint)
against the bottom of a glass without scarring it. If you can't find one of
these, use the back of a wooden spoon.
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Large Pitcher: For mixing large quantities of drinks. Pitchers of drinks
usually contain 5-7 oz. of alcohol, so use proportional amounts from the
smaller recipe, and lots of ice to prevent dilution.
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Shaker: If you really want to be classy and look like the pimp
bar-tender that you are, you can shake drinks (for more info on this check
out 'Shaking' in the techniques section).
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Covered Shaker: A somewhat cheaper alternative (you can buy a real cheap
one in Pier 1 in Burlington . The cover fits over the
top of a glass for shaking.
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Strainer: When you want to shake with ice, but not have ice in the final
drink. Pour from the shaker through this device.
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Waiter's Corkscrew: This is a handy for keeping stashed in your
pocket. It includes corkscrew, can opener, and knife.
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Winged Corkscrew: Somewhat easier to use than the waiter's corkscrew,
but also bulkier and un-attractive.
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