Intermediate Home Bar Tools

Tools For The Intermediate Home Bourbon Bartender

Now that you can whip up a daiquiri or stir a Sazerac like the best of them, advancing the home bar tends to lead towards making your own mixers, batching some favorite recipes and upping the presentation. To travel down this road, consider the following additions. These are the intermediate home bar tools that you’ll need. (This is the third chapter in Aften’s Home Bourbon Bartending series. Be sure to read the other articles in the series, such as Bar Tools for The Beginning Bartender and The 10 Best Bourbons For Cocktails.

Intermediate Home Bar Tools

Mesh Strainer

An extra strain with a fine mesh is not a need-to-have but certainly nice. It applies to shaken cocktails that have freshly squeezed citrus or have endured an extra vigorous shake, leaving bits of pulp or ice shards that affect the texture of your drink.

To use, hold the mesh strainer over the drinking glass as you pour through the Hawthorne strainer, held against your shaker. Your drink is now getting a double strain in one fell swoop, rendering a silky smooth beverage.

Channel Knife

This nifty little utensil is one of my absolute favorites. A lemon twist is nice, right? But a long, curly cue lemon tendril, now that’s pizazz! It’s a secret weapon to really impress your guests while being incredibly simple to use.

Still More Intermediate Home Bar Tools

Ice Mold & Tongs

Large cubes and ice spheres are a seemingly immortal trend. Not only does it look sleek in a cocktail, but the slower-melting pace will prevent diluting your drink too quickly. Silicone molds are great as starters. Accumulating super sophisticated ice presses or insulated trays that make crystal clear cubes is totally up to you and your freezer space. After years of at-home mixology, I still stick to the basics with both square and round silicone molds. 

Once you have your fancy ice ready to go, a set of tongs will have the same effect as an ice scoop mentioned in the previous post – germaphobia aversion.

Microplane

This apparatus serves the advancing bartender seeking extra pops of aromas or flavors. The Ultimate Bar Tool from Microplane is like the Swiss Army Knife of bar tools! It’s got a channel knife and can also score, strain, muddle, cut and peel! And no, they don’t pay me to say all that! (although they should)

Pro Tip: While not used that regularly, a smattering of grated ginger or nutmeg can nicely finish a drink or freshly zested citrus can brighten the aromatics.

Graduated Measuring Pitcher, Funnel & Liter Bottles

So you’ve invented a to-die-for honey-orange-cardamom syrup that slays your saffron-tini or whatever. It’s so good you could bottle it up for gifts. Hey! That’s a great idea. The seasoned home bartender may find himself or herself wanting to stock up on newly-created concoctions and this is where we need to have measuring and storage tools on hand. A small, glass pitcher that measures in ounces will get infinite use for prepping ingredients, while some swing-top bottles with a funnel perfectly store your batches.

That About Does It For Intermediate Home Bar Tools

Okie-dokie, my bourbon-cocktail-obsessed friend, that does it for your next level home bartending stockpile. I’m looking forward to seeing your social media posts of the fancy drinks you make and tagging me! (@thebourbonpro on Instagram)

Be sure to check out the first post in this series: Bar Tools for The Beginning Bartender as well as our recommendations of the 10 Best Bourbons For Cocktails!

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!

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