Cocktail Kit Starters Guide: One Year On.

So a year on from my first forays into cocktail making, and with some experience in a bar what wold I class as the 'essentials' for cocktails making?

Shaker

I will hands down say that Boston Shakers are the best shakers, and given that you can actually get hold of them for less than £5 (if you're doing an order and you don't take into account the p&p) there's no reason not to arm yourself with one... that said, the naff cooler shaker someone bought you for christmas? use it, the empty jar you saved 'just in case'? use it. Don't let not having 'the right' shaker be a reason not to get started.

To my knowledge I've never broken a shaker glass, and I don't know anyone personally who has, but those bastards go missing with a shocking frequency, so buy a spare! or ten.

Strainers.

A good Hawthorne strainer is something you really do need to speed up the process if you aren't using a cobbler shaker, but I've seen people use Mexican elbows, or a barblade and fine strainer in it's place in a pinch. You need to watch out for the spring, if it's too wide then ice shards and other debris can get through and into the finished drink, the same with if it's not a strong spring. Cost doesn't necessarily indicate a good strainer, I had far more such with my £2 strainer from Cream Supplies than I did with one I bought for my sister as a birthday present from a local cook shop that was about three times the price.

Fine Strainers are a useful thing, though freely read tea strainer here. I'm yet to see a £10 cocktail fine strainer outperform a steel tea strainer.

Julep strainer. Sorry. What on earth are these for? what do they do that a hawthorn strainer doesn't? I'm yet to work this out, and in the past year I haven't found myself in a place we're I've gone 'Damn, should have used a Julep strainer.' Don't get me wrong, my inner completist means I have one, but I don't think they're something you can't cope without.

Jiggers.

Buy jiggers. Love jiggers. Buy all the jiggers. I'm a bit of a fanatic. I love my japanese jigger, the bar uses normal CE marked tumbler jugglers and I have a couple of other jiggers that I've either got free or cheap. I have my eye on a beautiful jigger in the new Beaumont Mezclar range that has 5 ml measures marked in the 25ml cup and 10ml measures marked in the 50ml cup, and jiggers are one of the things bound to make me stop and ooh at an equipment stand.

Bar Spoons

I have to admit, I'm terrible at remembering to stir drinks most I shake everything, but there are times that they are needed and they are a god send, I have a couple with flat ends which are useful for layering and for muddling sugar if the bar has run out of sugar syrup. but not for muddling mint. never for muddling mint. don't do that. ever. please. A bar spoon needs to be of a sufficient quality that it can sustain a bit of a bash, but my cheap as chips one from cream supplies is still going, even if we do somehow manage to lose it for weeks at a time...

Alcohol and Mixers

So I concur with my sisters advice that you should start with a cocktail you love and buy the ingredients for it, then expand your collection an ingredient or two at a time based on cocktails you love. I bought a bit of everything, and found that somehow I was 1 ingredient missing for basically every drink I ever wanted to make. Moving in with my sister helped somewhat as my bar supply suddenly doubled, but a year on she still looks flabbergasted when I ask her to remind me how to make a simple drink because I only ever made it once, six months ago and can't really remember the recipe. So whilst my inner completist wants to say you need one of everything, really I need to say firm foundations are your friend guys, and nothing builds firmer foundations than Love. That's my soppy moment one and done with. To summarise buy the ingredients you need for your favourite cocktail and go from there.

Books.

Buy books, read books, swap books with friends. Every writer will have a different opinion, and a slightly different take on the recipe, but the more versions you look at and try the better a feel you will have for the cocktail, and each writer will have a wonderful insight into one aspect or another that will bring you 'ahh' moments. Hands down the best book I have is The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, and Tristan Stephensons books are also really good, I love his more technically involved cocktails but every time I look at them I get tempted to build a science lab in the Garage...

The final most important things you need

Time, friends and fun. in order to get good at making cocktails you have to make cocktails, and you could either ride the slippery slope to liver failure alone or you could get some friends together, make things, share things, exchange techniques and just. have. fun.

My recommended low end Starter Set (£8.65 + p&p)

Boston Tin

Boston Glass

Hawthorn Strainer

Jigger

Bar Spoon

#Bartending