Essential Barware You Need At Home

Ok so you’re over going out and spending all your hard earned cash on expensive cocktails and drinks. You’re now looking at essential barware you need at home. Or you’ve just purchased yourself a whiz bang bar cart and you are excited about stocking up with the essentials. But what exactly are the essentials? What do you need to get and why?

Here we take a look at the essential range of barware you need at home and barware and accessories you’ll need to create a bar cart or at-home-bar to cater for everyone. From glassware to essential tools, we’ve got you covered.

The Double Old Fashioned (DOF) Glass

DOF stands for ‘double old fashioned’ and is a commonly used abbreviation when shopping for glassware. Generally, DOFs are 4 to 5 inches tall. These smaller glasses can be used for serving a straight or neat pour of liquor, typically a dark spirit like whiskey. The doubled old-fashioned glass is perfectly ideal for serving either a mixed drink or straight pour of liquor with a single large ice cube or ice ball. This style is super classic and is the first thing you should be adding to your new bar!

The Coupe Glass

Also known as the Champagne Coupe, this stemmed glass features a broad and shallow bowl. As the name suggests, this glass was developed for champagne. Over time newer designs and changing tastes have replaced it with a flute style. There are still plenty of people who love the old fashioned and original style of the coupe glass. It’s particularly popular for events like weddings and milestone birthday events.

You can also use this style for a good Manhattan or margarita. There aren’t any rules that say you have to use these glasses for one style of beverage. This glass is certainly a staple for your new bar that will stand the test of time. It really is ideal for a variety of homemade cocktails.

The Wine Glass

A good supply of wine glasses is an absolute necessity. If you don’t want to stock your bar with a glass for every type of wine, you can always purchase a mid-sized set that will cater for all wines. Wine glass shape can enhance the wine’s aroma which in turn impacts how your wine tastes. Wine glasses curve inward at the top which helps concentrate aromas in this area.

Start with at least six each of your standard red and white wine glasses. Try your wines using your new wine glasses. You can then slowly build your collection by adding two of your next favourite wines that your standard wine glass does not do justice. Glassware of all styles are part of the essential barware you need at home.

The Curved Rocks Glass

Also called an old fashioned or lowball glass, the curved rocks glass is short and wide with a sturdy bottom. This style of glass holds drinks made with mostly spirits. If you don’t have the space for those grand brandy or cognac glasses, you can opt for the curved rocks glass as a great alternative. The style is designed to encapsulate the aroma of the spirits and is terrific for hosting parties.

This short and round glass is also suitable for cocktails or liquor served on the rocks. They come in a typical size of up to 300ml. If you’re particularly creative, you can also use these glasses for drinks containing fruit or ice cream.

The Mixing Glass

We already know that having the right glassware is an important element of your bar. Having the right tools to make cocktails properly is even more crucial. If you’re a big fan of spirit-forward drinks like the Martini or Manhattan, a mixing glass is the one tool you can’t go without. It’s important to make sure you buy one that has a thick, solid base. This way it won’t shuffle around on the counter when you’re mixing up drinks.

Much like a cocktail shaker, a mixing glass is used to quickly chill cocktail drinks. You will need to stir with ice using a spoon and straining with a strainer. Using a mixing glass to stir up a cocktail rather than shaking it lets you maintain texture.

The Boston Shaker

For shaking or stirring a cocktail you can’t go past the Boston Shaker. It’s a multi tasker and this is why it’s so popular. Unlike standard style shakers with a built in lid and strainer, the Boston Shaker is less likely to leak. It’s also much easier to clean since there are only two pieces involved.

The Boston shaker is composed of two pieces. One part is usually a glass and the other is stainless steel. The more recent ones are all made of stainless steel pieces with the bigger piece usually weighted. The weighted shakers are sturdier which causes less strain to the bartender and makes the cocktails chilled in a shorter amount time.

The Bar Spoon

If you’ve ever mixed a cocktail before you’ll already know this little piece is as handy as any mixing vessel. The extra long and narrow handle make it easy to chill and dilute a cocktail in a mixing glass. There are plenty of cocktail recipes that call for a bar spoon so it’s a critical little piece to have in your bar.

The length of the bar spoon ensures it can reach the bottom of the tallest jug or tumbler to mix up your ingredients. And now just any kind will do the job. A proper bar spoon is tall but also has a twisted handle which makes circular motions smooth and super steady. A bar spoon is certainly a part of the essential range of barware you need at home.

The Jigger

The key to a successful cocktail that tastes brilliant every time is of course following the recipe properly. But getting the right measurements is also non-negotiable. Consistently mixing a proper cocktail requires some degree of precision. The absolute best tool for this is a little piece called a jigger. These are durable, useful and can be easily rested between the fingers for steady pours.

Jiggers are dual sided and help reduce over pouring. Jiggers are typically available in an assortment of sizes and styles. While speed probably isn’t a big requirement for home bartenders, consistency is important as you learn to create an enjoyable cocktail. It’s a good idea to prepare your drinks in a consistent manner and a jigger measurement will help you do that.

The Hawthorne Strainer

With tightly wound coils and perforated coils, the Hawthorne strainer is essentially a flat disc attached to a coiled spring. It will effortlessly keep ice and other lumps of ingredients in the mixing container. This strainer sits inside the shaker tin and generates a fine strain when dispensing most classic and modern cocktails.

While there are different styles of strainer available, ultimately how finely a strainer filters out citrus pulp, pieces of muddled mint or ice chips are the most important factors. Strainers with more closely spaced coils like the Hawthorne strainer will do a better job of filtering.

The  Muddler

Cocktails are quite synonymous with fresh fruit and herbs and most cocktails call for such ingredients. Emulating these drinks at home will certainly require that you include a muddler in your bar. Muddlers come in a variety of materials and are generally about the same size and design. Sized at around 15 – 20cm long they are the perfect size to reach the bottom of the average mixing glass or cocktail shaker.

In general, you will find muddlers made out of three different materials: wood, plastic, or stainless steel. It’s an essential bar tool designed to smash and mix (muddle) drink ingredients. It is used to make some of the most popular cocktails. A muddler is the bartender’s pestle and it’s very easy to learn the technique. Once you learn just how useful a muddler is, you will wonder why you didn’t have one before.

Remember, House & Garden stocks a broad range of glassware and bar and wine accessories designed to make stocking your bar cart easy. Shop our range of essential barware you need at home and create the perfect bar for entertaining your family and friends.