Let’s keep this simple! If you haven’t got the equipment, this blog has you covered!
Here are some solutions to missing pieces of equipment for our staying ‘in in’ snitches!
- You Don’t Have A Jigger?
A jigger is simply a way of measuring volumes, and there are lots of other ways of measuring volume—like measuring spoons, jugs and cups you already have in your kitchen. Just know that one ounce is roughly 28ml
- Make-shift cocktail shaker?
The recipe calls for shaking, but you don’t have a shaker!? Nightmare right!
Don’t just mix the ingredients together in a glass and add ice. Shaking is actually an important part of cocktail making in the recipes that call for it.
So if you don’t have a shaker, use virtually any strong container with a lid that seals instead.
Our preferred shaker hack uses a mason/jam jar with a screw on lid, but if you don’t have one of them either, you might find an old gym protein shaker at home! Just make sure with anything you use, the lid is on tight before you start shaking!
- No strainer? No problem!
Nearly all of our cocktails that are shaken call for straining in order to separate the drink from the used ice in the shaker, so that you can serve the cocktail up (or over bigger pieces of ice so that the drink doesn’t over-dilute).
If you’ve used a mason jar for shaking, you can use the flat part of the lid as your strainer. Take off the lid, offset the flat side of the lid so there is a crack. This will let liquid through as you pour while holding back the ice. Really any barrier that will hold back the ice while allowing you to pour out the liquid will do.
- The recipe calls for double straining and you think, “What TF?!”
Double straining is used when you’ve made a drink that has something like fruit or herbs muddled in it or any drink where there will be little pieces of ice that could escape into the drink through your regular strainer. When you double strain a cocktail, you are literally straining it through two strainers. You pour it out of your shaker (or jar) via your regular cocktail strainer (or jar lid) through a fine mesh strainer that you’re holding directly above your cocktail glass.
The strainers that bars use for double straining are conical shaped to direct the liquid right into your glass, but if you don’t have one, you can use a tea strainer or another small fine mesh strainer....
- Oh, you don’t have a muddler either?
Use the handle of a wooden spoon, preferably one that's pretty heavy. And, when you muddle, always remember that you're pressing the ingredients gently with just enough force to release their juices or flavourful oils. Muddling is not another word for pulverizing haha!
- The recipe calls for stirring and you don’t have one of those long, fancy Cocktail Spoons!
This is definitely no problem! A cocktail stirring spoon is long and balanced; this allows you to nimbly rotate the handle in tiny circles between your fingers while the bowl of the spoon travels smoothly around the edge inside the glass, mixing the ingredients and ice together without aerating the cocktail.
But the same thing can be accomplished with virtually any long narrow, mostly flat object. A lot of people recommend using a chopstick; we actually prefer to use a knife. We like the slightly greater width and weight a knife has for balancing between fingers while stirring.
Does lack of proper cocktail equipment keep you from making drinks? We’re looking forward to seeing your photos and videos on what you come up with! Remember the best content wins cocktails! What could be better than that!?