A passion for creating cocktails? Whether you’re just starting out as a cocktail bartender or an experienced mixologist who constantly experiments. Your cocktail bar set is as vital to your mixing craft as your knowledge, creativity and, not least, to your flair bar performance. Even the so-called, humble bar spoon!
Aspire to the heights of Dale DeGroff, legendary 1980s US mixologist, known as “King Cocktail”? Or perhaps, closer to home, Aristotelis Papadopoulos from Thessaloniki, Greece, who started bartending at just 19 years old and was crowned the very first Diageo ‘World Class’ Bartender in 2009.
Cocktail bar spoon – nimbly twist and twirl to achieve mixing perfection
The journey always starts with assembling your basic bar set essentials. In our last blog post we looked at The Jigger and the Shaker – Key Bar Set Tools for Mixing Taste-Perfect Cocktails. But it’s the long spoon that a mixologist will, in a final flourish, nimbly twist and twirl to achieve mixing perfection.
And not any kind of long spoon! Firstly, it should be tall enough to stir deep down within the cocktail glass, and often features a decorative top, fork or disk to “muddle” the ingredients. A bar spoon also needs to perform key actions such as to crack ice cubes and measure out just the right amount of bitters, syrups or liqueurs.
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Did you know? The bar spoon originated in Germany with a two-prong fork at the top of the handle for eating fruit desserts. When it arrived in Britain in the mid-19th century, bartenders soon started to stir their Cobblers – and eat the fruit in them – with just this one utensil!
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Elegant designs to grace any bar, and for perfecting every cocktail
Today, the bar spoon is an essential tool of both bartender and mixologist, available in smart looking materials such as polished steel, gold or copper plate. Form follows function with elegant designs to grace any bar, and for perfecting every cocktail.
There are three basic styles of bar spoon, each with a different tool at the handle end:
The American – with a twisted handle and a disk.
A simple, functional design with only a small twisted section in the middle of the shaft, which allows a bartender to simply rotate the spoon, and a disk for pressing leaves and small fruit.
The European – with a flat shaped muddler/crusher.
More sturdy and stylish, this bar spoon can feature either a disk or hammer at the handle end to muddle or layer ingredients. Often used for cracking ice, lowering ice cubes into glass, and provides useful leverage when held at the top or for measuring “one bar spoon” for particular recipes.
The Japanese – either with a fork or a heavier, weighted teardrop shape.
The handle end of this elegantly thinner and more elongated bar spoon offers either a fork for capturing garnishes like olives or a chic teardrop design. The Japanese spoon features a spiral running the entire length of the handle, which can be easily used for pouring liquids and layering drinks. The weighted teardrop, which lends a professional feel, is delicately held like a writing utensil for “push and pull” rather than circular stirring.
The cocktail bar spoon is every bartender’s versatile friend for adding that extra dazzle to award-winning creative mixology.
Don’t miss out these great prices for Bar Spoons from Alchemy!
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