🍸 The Bar Tools I Recommend for Better Cocktails at Home
Updated: Oct 6
A quick note: Thanks for being part of Saints & Spirits! This post contains paid links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
A home bar can get out of hand pretty quickly.
You start looking for a shaker, and suddenly you’re comparing equipment for a cocktail you haven’t even made yet.
So here’s where I’d start: the drinks you actually want to make.
I’m heading into my fifth year at Melinda’s
Alley in downtown Phoenix, where I work as lead mixologist and help develop about 50 new cocktail menus a year. That means a lot of testing, tasting, adjusting, and figuring out why something that sounded great on paper needs another quarter ounce of this or a little less of that.
Koriko is my favorite bar-tool brand. I also have some picks from A Bar Above, Barfly, and a few others that belong in this conversation.
These are tools I like and recommend, along with what they’re actually doing for your cocktail. Start with what you need now. You can build from there.
🍸 THE EVERYDAY BASICS: Measure, Shake, Strain
If you’re starting with shaken cocktails, a shaker, jigger, and Hawthorne strainer will give you a useful foundation. Add a fine-mesh strainer when a recipe calls for a smoother finish.
You don’t need three different Hawthornes to make your first Daiquiri. You need one that fits your tin and a little practice using it.
Koriko Weighted Shaking Tins
The stainless steel Koriko weighted tin set is my shaker pick. You get an 18-ounce small tin and a 28-ounce large tin, both weighted. Koriko is Cocktail Kingdom’s house brand, so those are the two names to look for when shopping.
This is a tin-on-tin Boston shaker. The pieces seal together for shaking, then separate so you can strain the drink into your glass.
Cocktail Kingdom lists the set as having a two-drink capacity. Your recipe and ice still need room to move, though. The ounces printed on the tins are their sizes, not a challenge to fill them all the way up.
The weighted bases help with stability. They don’t take over the job of measuring, chilling, or getting your recipe balanced. Learning the seal and release is part of learning the tool.
Check the listing before buying: the tins are also sold individually. This recommendation is for the stainless steel pair.
A Bar Above Japanese Jigger
For measuring, I like the A Bar Above stainless steel Japanese-style jigger. It has a 1-ounce side and a 2-ounce side, with smaller measurement marks inside.
Those smaller marks matter. A quarter ounce can move a drink in a completely different direction.
In Inside the R&D Shift: Volume 6, I wrote about exactly that: small adjustments changing which ingredient came through first, how sweet the drink felt, and whether everything still worked together.
Measure carefully, taste, and change one thing at a time. That gives you something useful to learn from. It also means you can actually make the good version again.
Koriko Hawthorne Strainer
My Hawthorne pick is the Koriko strainer in stainless steel.
This is the tool with the spring around the edge. It sits over the shaker opening and holds back ice and larger solids while you pour. Cocktail Kingdom lists a wide body, tight coil, and a fit designed for Koriko tins.
Set the spring facing into the tin, hold the strainer securely, and pour with control. Rinse the spring carefully afterward, especially if you’ve been working with fruit or herbs.
A Hawthorne won’t catch every tiny bit of pulp or ice. Which brings us to a detail that can make a real difference in the finished drink.
See the stainless steel Koriko Hawthorne on Amazon (paid link).
😈 ANOTHER STRAINER I LIKE
I also like the Cocktail Hannya Mask Strainer. This one brings a different look to the bar, and it’s an optional alternative to consider if the design is your thing.
You still want to pay attention to fit and how comfortably you can hold it while pouring. The face is fun. The strainer still has a job to do.
See the Cocktail Hannya Mask Strainer
A Bar Above Fine Mesh Strainer
For that second pass, my pick is the A Bar Above fine-mesh cocktail strainer in stainless steel.
Hold it over your serving glass and pour through the Hawthorne first, then through the fine mesh. That’s double straining. The Hawthorne holds back the larger ice and solids; the fine mesh catches smaller ice fragments, pulp, and bits of herbs that can sneak through.
Those little bits can change the texture of the drink. When you want a cleaner, smoother finish, this is a useful extra step.
But the finish needs to make sense for the cocktail.
In that same R&D post, Mint Conditioned is shaken hard and double-strained. East Meets West is shaken, poured with its shaking ice into the serving glass, and topped with pebble ice. That second method is a dirty dump.
Both are intentional. Before adding another step, think about how the drink is meant to feel and be served.
Rinse the mesh after use so pulp and herbs don’t dry into it. Then follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions before putting it away.
🥃 STIRRED COCKTAILS: Give Them Their Own Setup
If you’re making Martinis, Manhattans, or Negronis, a mixing glass, bar spoon, and julep strainer are worth knowing. The workflow is simple: measure into the mixing glass, add ice, stir, and strain according to the recipe.
A Bar Above Diamond Cut Mixing Glass
I like the A Bar Above Diamond Cut mixing glass. It’s the 18-ounce model with a weighted base and pouring spout.
A mixing glass gives you a dedicated place to stir, while the spout helps direct the
finished cocktail into the serving glass. Leave room for the ice and spoon to move instead of packing the vessel to the rim.
A Bar Above Bar Spoon Combo
The A Bar Above stainless steel bar spoon combo is another pick I like. The listing describes a smooth-handle and spiral-handle pair.
A long bar spoon lets you stir around the inside of a mixing glass without your hand getting in the way. Work on a steady motion and keeping the spoon against the inside wall. You’re trying to move the drink and ice together, rather than attack them.
A Bar Above Julep Strainer
For this setup, I also like the A Bar Above stainless steel julep strainer. It’s the rounded, perforated strainer that sits inside a mixing glass and holds back the ice when you pour. Julep strainers are particularly useful for straining stirred cocktails.
The Hawthorne and julep have different shapes, but both help separate your finished drink from the ice used to mix it. Choose a secure fit and get comfortable controlling the pour.
🍋 THE PREP: Citrus, Garnishes, and a Place to Work
The cocktail starts before anything goes into the shaker.
Fresh citrus needs squeezing. Fruit needs cutting. Garnishes need somewhere to be prepped without taking over the entire counter. These are a few of my picks for that part of the process.
Barfly Large Manual Juicer
The Barfly Large Manual Juicer is my citrus-prep pick here. This is the M37170 model, also called the Jumbo Aluminum Juicer by Barfly.
It’s made for citrus including lemons, limes, oranges, and smaller grapefruits, with a spout for easy pouring. Follow its care instructions and clean it after use so yesterday’s prep doesn’t become part of today’s cocktail.
Saints & Spirits Stainless Steel Bottle Opener
A good home bar doesn’t need to be complicated, but the small details still matter.
The Saints & Spirits™ stainless steel bottle opener is a clean, durable bar tool featuring the engraved S&S mark. It’s designed to feel at home in an actual working bar setup—not just sitting on a shelf.
Keep it within reach for bottled beer, soda, mixers, and anything else that needs a quick pop behind the bar.
If you’re building out your own setup and want to add a little Saints & Spirits to it, this is an easy one.
DRGSKL Paring Knife
I also like this DRGSKL fruit and paring knife for the prep side of a bar setup. A small knife is useful for manageable fruit cuts and garnish work. I love this knife, Itfeel like its a miniature Samurai sword!
Give yourself a stable cutting surface, keep your fingers clear of the blade, and take your time. The garnish doesn’t need a speed record.
Barfly Bar Board
My board pick is the black Barfly M37137BK, a compact 6-by-9-inch bar board.
That size makes sense for small fruit and garnish tasks. I prefer having a smaller cutting board handy when I am bartending. If your ingredients need more room, use a larger cutting board rather than crowding everything onto a tiny surface. Keep the board clean and secure before you start cutting.
🧪 WHEN YOU START MAKING YOUR OWN INGREDIENTS
BOMATA Kitchen Scale
The BOMATA large kitchen scale is a pick I like for weighed prep recipes, especially when you’re getting into syrups and making the same batch consistently. It includes a tare function and a percentage mode.
Tare lets you zero the container before adding ingredients. From there, you can follow a recipe by weight and record exactly what went into it.
For a syrup specified as 1:1 by weight, that means equal weights of sugar and water. Keep the method consistent when you scale the recipe up or down.
One important detail: grams measure weight; fluid ounces measure volume. You can’t assume every liquid weighs the same amount for a given volume. If the cocktail recipe is written in fluid ounces, use the jigger unless you’ve made a proper conversion for those ingredients.
🔥 Saints & Spirits Takeaway
Start with the tools that fit the drinks you actually enjoy making. Get comfortable measuring,
shaking or stirring, and controlling the pour. Add the prep tools as you need them.
Then pay attention to what’s actually happening in the glass.
The equipment helps you repeat the process. Tasting tells you whether the process worked. If the drink still needs something, slow down and figure out what it is before adding another ingredient.
For more on that, read Why Balance Is the Most Important Part of Any Cocktail.
🥂 Join the Saints & Spirits Community
Saints & Spirits is becoming more than just cocktails and events. I’m building a community around better drinks, creativity, hospitality, and bringing people together.
If you enjoy cocktail recipes, behind-the-scenes R&D, bartending tips, new techniques, upcoming classes, events, and everything I’m building with Saints & Spirits, I’d love to have you be part of it.
Follow along, learn something new, make a few great cocktails, and see where Saints & Spirits goes next.
🍸 Bring Saints & Spirits to Your Next Event
Ready to take it beyond the home bar?
Want to get hands-on with the tools and techniques? Saints & Spirits offers private cocktail classes throughout the Phoenix area.
Planning a birthday, wedding, private dinner, corporate event, or another celebration? Saints & Spirits can bring the full cocktail experience to you with professional mobile bartending and custom cocktail menus built specifically for your event.
Comments