Updated on: 6/3/2025
Essential Tools for Making Cocktails at Every Complexity Level
A well-crafted cocktail depends on both ingredients and the tools in your kit. Whether you’re just getting started at home or want to finesse advanced recipes, having the right bar tools makes each step cleaner and more consistent. Here’s a guide to what you’ll truly use at different cocktail complexity levels—so you can build your bar kit with intention.
Basic Tools: The Foundation of Simple Cocktails
For classic highballs, sours, and most shaken drinks, these essential tools make life easy. They form the backbone of bar setups from kitchen counters to the world’s best cocktail bars.
- Shaker: A two-piece (Boston) or three-piece (cobbler) shaker is crucial for mixing sours, daiquiris, and more. It helps chill, dilute, and combine ingredients quickly.
- Jigger: Accurately measuring each ingredient is the secret to balance; a basic jigger with 30 ml and 15 ml sides covers most needs.
- Strainer: Most commonly the Hawthorne strainer, needed for pouring cocktails from your shaker without ice shards.
- Mixing glass (optional): For stirred classics like the Old Fashioned or Negroni, though a rocks glass works in a pinch.
These tools are enough for whiskey sours, margaritas, mojitos, and basic gin & tonics. Once you’re comfortable, it’s easy to make nearly all crowd-pleasers at home.
Intermediate Tools: Finesse for More Complex Drinks
When you’re ready to branch out with muddled ingredients, layered flavors, or perfectly stirred classics, a few extra tools make the leap to intermediate cocktails much smoother.
- Muddler: Key for Old Cuban, caipirinha, or fresh-mint mojitos—releases flavors from fruits and herbs.
- Bar spoon: Its long, twisted handle makes controlled stirring and layered pours possible, vital for Manhattans and Negronis.
- Fine mesh strainer: Removes tiny bits of fruit, herbs, or ice shards for a smoother mouthfeel—especially helpful in cocktails with muddled elements, or anything double-strained.
- Citrus juicer: Fresh juice transforms sours and tiki drinks. Even a small hand press makes a big difference.
Mastering these tools opens up a whole world of flavor possibilities, from bracing juleps to innovative modern cocktails requiring precision.
Advanced Tools: For the Creative and the Curious
If you love experimenting with infusions, showpiece garnishes, or crystal-clear drinks, consider a few bar tools that pros rely on for intricate recipes and presentation.
- Channel knife or peeler: Produces attractive citrus twists for garnish—essential in advanced presentation.
- Atomizer or bitters bottle: For precise spritzes of absinthe or aromatics over the glass.
- Blowtorch: Used for caramelizing citrus peels and garnishes (be careful with sugar and glassware).
- Sous-vide equipment: For infusing spirits quickly and safely, often seen in modernist cocktail culture.
- Ice molds: Large-format cubes or spheres, ideal for slow-diluting spirit-forward drinks like the Old Fashioned.
While they aren’t required for daily mixing, these specialty items allow for showmanship and creativity, perfect for home bartenders aiming to push boundaries.
Choosing the Tools Right for You
Level up your kit only as you need—the best bar setups grow naturally with your skills and curiosity. Focus on quality rather than quantity: a tight collection of reliable basics outperforms a drawer full of novelty items. The essentials for making cocktails don’t need to be complicated, but as you move into more advanced recipes, thoughtfully chosen tools can make the difference between good and unforgettable drinks.