Bar Professional

Start with the place where something will be kept. Anything you reach for more than ten times per shift should be within easy reach and may be made more sturdily. For a bar spoon, pay attention to the length: a 33 cm shaft reaches the bottom of a 55 cl mixing glass, while a shorter spoon only stirs the upper half, leaving it cold. jigger with two cups and a pour spout with measurement markings that stops pouring at 20, 35, or 50 ml.

Then look at the finish. Plain stainless steel is dishwasher-safe and does not discolour, making it the logical choice for anything that goes through the machine every day. Coated versions in black, copper, and gold look more subdued on a dark bottle shelf, but the coating will stay intact longer with hand washing. Anyone setting up a complete station all at once rather than adding items individually will find the overview in cocktail supplies.

The tools determine how you work. With a free-flow pour spout, you measure by counting, with four counts from most spouts equaling approximately 4 cl. Check this once per type of spout with a measuring cup, because the flow rate varies and your margin depends on it. Stir with the rounded side of the spoon against the side of the glass, so the ice rotates instead of clattering. Shake hard and briefly, until the outside of the tin develops a white frost.

Fill the cocktail smoker from the Speakeasy line with a handful of oak, hickory, or cherry wood chips, place it under the 24 cm glass cloche, and light it with the torch. Twenty to thirty seconds is enough to give a old fashioned or a negroni a layer of smoke without making the drink taste like an ashtray.

Stainless steel is the material the brand leans on. It does not absorb odours, does not rust and handles the machine daily, which counts for more in a wash-up area than looks do. Rinse anything that touches syrup, liqueur or citrus straight away, because dried sugar in a hinge or a thread can only be soaked loose later on.

Wooden parts need different treatment. Wash the walnut bar caddy, the tamper stands and the wooden smoker by hand and dry them straight away; wood that goes through the machine warps and loses colour. The rubber and plastic corks on pourers expand over time and start to leak, so treat them as consumables and replace them periodically.

If you're looking for something specific, you'll find it faster in the individual categories. Everything for behind the espresso machine is in the barista accessoriescategory, and what you need to keep bottles and ice cold is in the ice bucketscategory. If you want to figure out which tools you need at all before comparing brands, read the overview on the bar toolspage. The glassware itself is separate from this brand in its own glassware categories, so you can choose by shape and capacity.