Holiday Gifts for the At-Home Bartender
What to buy for your bartender-at-home?
Hey, baby, let’s get in the mood for some holiday gift shopping. Put on the music, ah yeah, a little Andy Williams or Frank Sinatra and grab yourself a drink. A glass of wine or simply crack open a Simplicity Gin & Tonic or Moscow Mule. The music and beverage will definitely help get you into the holiday cocktail shopping mood. As an at-home-bartender myself, here are a few of my recommendations and why:
Metal shaker
A metal shaker is great to have when mixing multiple ingredients. For instance, a wonderful margarita can be made with lime juice, lemon juice, tequila, triple sec, sugar free syrup (or sugar), and ice. Shake for 20-30 seconds and pour in glass over ice. Delicious!
Soda Stream
I never thought I would say this, but this carbonating tool is amazing! For an at-home bartender, this would be a great gift. One can simply fill a bottle of tap water at home, and carbonate it. Carbonation itself adds bitterness to the profile of the drink one is mixing. It’s an excellent way to make your cocktail a little less sweet.
Juicer
This is key for bartending with fresh fruits. There are various options depending on what fruit you are pressing into juice. A small handle press will be used most often with limes and lemons. If your bartender at-home is more of an orange or grapefruit kind-of-a-person, go for the larger fruit juicer. It’s an affordable option that will reap many benefits in the form of delicious cocktails.
Side note: Our best greyhound is made with a Ruby Red Grapefruit, Vodka, and ice. MMMM…
Long mixing spoon
A long mixing spoon is useful and really cool to see properly used. A perfect example is when you’re making a delicious Gin & Tonic. After adding ice to the glass with your preferred gin, place long spoon (18-20 inches with a swirled stem) into the glass and pour the tonic slowly down the spoon stem. The unique twirl pattern on the stem allows the tonic water to naturally mix with the gin and ice without losing the carbonation of the drink.
Small strainer
This at-home bartender tool is awesome! In the margarita recipe I referenced above, you can make it spicy by adding a few slices of jalapeño peppers. When you shake the beverage, it will massage the peppers with the ingredients, releasing the capsaicin. Before pouring this over the glass with ice, use the small strainer to catch the broken pieces of the pepper to provide a smooth drinking experience.
Ice cube containers
The quality of water used in any beverages (frozen or not) makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of the drink. There are multiple ice cube trays available that can give your at-home bartender some creativity and fun. From large blocks of ice to fun-themed, options abound.
Fun fact: When filling an ice tray, use HOT water as it will help reduce air bubbles and make the ice less cloudy.
Glassware
Unknown or overlooked, there is a proper glass for every beverage. A classic 16 oz. pint glass for a beer, a flute glass for Champagne/Prosecco, a tumbler for Whisky over ice, a Copa glass for a botanical Gin & Tonic and many more options to explore. Tie a ribbon around a nice pair of glasses and you won’t disappoint.
Fresh fruit basket & herbs
You can also splurge on some fruit and herbs for someone that may already have some of these items. A nice basket would include oranges, ruby grapefruit, limes, lemons, rosemary, basil, and sugar alternatives.
Honestly, I could keep going but I’ll just sum it up with a few other ideas: bitters, mixers, decanter, coasters, metal toothpicks, cutting board, cheese cloth and more! At the end of the day, while you are crafting your cocktail, Simplicity Cocktails has you covered with a bevy in a can while in a hand.
Stock up for your festivities at a liquor store near you.
