Best specialty spoons according to redditors

I'll just go ahead and list a few of the things I use on a regular basis.

Koriko shakers are awesome. They look cool and function amazingly. Good investments. End of story.
http://www.cocktailkingdom.com/Koriko-set-of-2-Weighted-Tins-large-and-sma-p/sha_korikoxxxx_0028_set.htm

I prefer using a julep strainer over a hawthorne strainer, it works fine for me when I'm not muddling things into the drink I don't want served.
http://amzn.com/B001VZAMPQ
http://amzn.com/B000H7VF64

Get speed pourers. Even if you don't plan on free-pouring, they're nice to have a more standardized pouring speed so you can pour out of an entirely full bottle without worrying about spilling too much.
http://amzn.com/B002J8RRAM

A cheap bar spoon is an awful experience. A decent bar spoon is fine. An overpriced barspoon is (generally) just overpriced metal. However, the Tanqueray spoons and the Standard Spoon on kickstarter are actually pretty nice quality stuff. But that said, almost everyone I've met likes the regular old bar spoon.
http://amzn.com/B000VQOP5O
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/workofmyhands/standard-spoon-for-craft-cocktails

Have a jigger on hand, even if you free pour. Just for when you have nicer ingredients and want to try out a drink with them and would rather have the proportions right than have to revive the drink.
http://amzn.com/B00080B07Y

I make a lot of bitters myself or super small batch infusions, so having a set of mason jars on hand has been extremely helpful.

I use cheapo squirt bottles ( http://amzn.com/B007OM9W2E ) to store simple syrup or other infused simple syrup.

If you get super into infusions and stuff like that, I've heard a lot of good things about the iSi system; I have a friend with one, he absolutely loves his. I have to admit, it takes a lot of work and patience out of infusion. As well as whipped cream, or carbonating things, or what have you... now I might want to get one.

These two items are somewhat paired (at least for me) -- a water filter and an ice tray. For ice, I'm talking like the Tovolo King Size ice trays. Water filter -- doesn't matter, as long as it filters from what I can tell.
http://amzn.com/B00395FHRO

Something that's nice to have on hand so you can double-strain is a fine-mesh strainer. Can be harder to find on the cheap though, I ended up breaking down and going to a Bed Bath & Beyond for mine since everything on Amazon was fairly expensive the thrift shops near me didn't have one.

Get nice glassware. I remember when I was younger and someone demonstrated the importance of having nice glass when tasting wine. The same thing applies. This isn't exactly bar-tools, but it's critical to your cocktail experience. Drinking out of cheap glasses, or the wrong glasses, will really hurt the presentation and your perception of the cocktail. In essence, t's important to take pride in both how you make the cocktail and how you serve the cocktail.

That's all I got for now.

This is Gallium, a metal with a melting point of 86°F. They sell kits where you can pour it back into a mold and do this over and over again.

Are you just bartending casually at home or are you looking to do it as a job in the future?

Jefferey Morgenthaler's book is great:https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Book-Elements-Cocktail-Technique/dp/145211384X

You'll want to get a jigger, I recommend oxo's graduated jigger, a barspoon, a mixing glass, a strainer, a set of shaker tins (get a small and a large, and seriously splurge for koriko not the other bullshit)

Those are all of the essentials, beyond that everything is fairly unnecessary but there are tons of other things you can buy. I guess a vegetable peeler could be handy for peels but you can just use a sharp paring knife for zest garnishes.

For glassware you can spend as much or as little as you want, depending on how much you care about appearance. When I first starting making drinks at home I had glasses for every variety of drink. I still have those glasses, but basically use these for everything, regardless if it's shaken stirred or whatever. Gimlets taste delicious out of them, manhattans taste delicious out of them.

One little handy thing I've found is these seagram's bottles. Buy a 6 pk of the little glass club soda bottles. Once you use the soda, rinse them out and they're perfect for storing syrups, juices, etc. Plastic caps won't deteriorate like metal will in other styles of bottlees. They're short so they fit in weird parts of your fridge, hold enough syrup for plenty of drinks, etc etc.

Do NOT get a cobbler. They are a pain to get apart and I haven't used one yet where the top part hasn't all but sealed shut completely. You want a metal on metal shaker. Steel has the best thermal properties and isn't ever going to break.

I personally would advise the following:

Shaker:
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Boston-Shaker-Professional/dp/B06Y2NN5N3/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501019324&sr=1-5&keywords=boston+shaker

Spoon:
https://www.amazon.com/Hiware-Inches-Stainless-Pattern-Cocktail/dp/B00IRY8CJ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501019552&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=bar+spoon&psc=1

Jigger
https://www.amazon.com/Vking-Japanese-Jigger-Stainless-Cocktail/dp/B0126GQ806/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501019600&sr=1-8&keywords=jigger

Strainer:
https://www.amazon.com/Winco-Stainless-Steel-4-Prong-Strainer/dp/B000H7VF64/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501019642&sr=1-4&keywords=bar+strainer

Muddler (Edit): https://www.amazon.com/HIC-Muddler-FSC-Certified-Beechwood-8-75-Inches/dp/B00KLHNH34/ref=sr_1_14?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501019848&sr=1-14&keywords=muddler

Barmat (Edit, but HIGHLY recommended): https://www.amazon.com/BonBon-Professional-Bar-Service-Mat/dp/B06X93XN69/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501019915&sr=1-4&keywords=bar+mat

Actually 5/7 since you can buy a mold to make a new one:
http://www.amazon.com/Gallium-Spoon-Mold-By-Rotometals/dp/B0061DPTW4

If I had to pick the left one - but I dont like any of them.

The middle one is cheap shit and will tear your hand webbing after a while. The fork one has too small a spoon and the gold one is a square shape which will hurt your hand too.

This is the spoon we use at work and I use at home - its got rounded edges and is nicely weighted.

Since I actually find the links in the sidebar to be fairly unhelpful, at least for someone as detail oriented as me as a beginner, and I'm still enough of a beginner to remember how hard it was to get started, I'll go ahead and give you a start here.

Equipment needed

• Primary Bucket
  
• Carboy
  
• Airlock (x2 to make your life easier) + rubber stopper(bung) + vodka for sterile agent, could use water instead. I like vodka. Also, you could use balloon here instead of all this.
  
• Hydrometer, so you can measure your starting gravity and estimate the strength of your brew.
  
• Racking Cane
  
• Siphon Hose
  
• Bleach or some other sanitizer
  
• You can get everything up till this point with a homebrew kit, here's one for a 3 gallon batch, plus a few extras that aren't necessary but are nice to have. Like a bottle filler.
  
• Large (can hold several gallons of water) Stockpot
  
• Large metal spoon for stirring
  
• Small bowl for starting your yeast
  
• Small spoon for stirring your yeast
  
  Equipment Wanted If you think you'll get really into this, here's some equipment that I have that I feel makes life a lot easier.
  
  
• Auto Siphon so you don't have to use your mouth to get things started. You don't need a racking cane if you have this.
  
• Fermentation Sampler. Is an easy place to read your hydrometer (don't drop your hydrometer into your carboy by accident, regret!!) and makes it real easy to get a small glass for sampling without having to risk the mess of siphoning into a glass.
  
• Cloth bag to hold primary ingredients to lessen particles in your mead during racking.
  
  Ingredients Needed
  
  
• D-47 Lalvin is a type of Yeast specifically used for brewing. I don't know if I can speak very well to the differences in yeasts, but I like this one because in my limited experience it propagates and dies quickly so you have less time in the brewing stage and more time in the ageing stage which is what makes Mead delicious.
  
• Honey! See amount listed in recipe. I personally like to purchase locally. Some recipes will indicate a specific type of honey. Others that are heavily flavored won't matter as much. I believe I used a clover honey in this, but I don't think you can tell with all the other flavors.
  
• Molasses. Regular in the store molasses works fine.This is acting as my nutrient (to feed the yeast) and additional sweetener because I knew I wanted a very sweet mead. Bonus, I'm pretty sure this is what gave it most of it's color.
  
• Pumpkin mash. You could use Libby's pumpkin mash here, but I wanted to be as "from scratch" as possible so I roasted 4 pie/sweet pumpkins.
  
• 1 bottle cinnamon sticks. This is the size I used.
  
• For the spices - really just put in the spices you feel appropriate for pumpkin pie. I ended up with the ratios I did because that's what smelled nice in the primary bucket. Ha!
  
• Spring water. You know the water you can buy at the store in jugs? That's the stuff. The reason you want to use this instead of tap is there's no fluoride or chlorine to possibly taint the taste of your mead.
  
  To Brew a Mead
  
  

1. Sanitize all of your equipment. First wash everything with soap and water. If this is new equipment, you can probably skip that part and move on to sanitation. To do this, you can use the sanitation packets (if you bought the kit and have them) or you can use bleach. (There are other methods too, but these are the ones I'm familiar with. If you use bleach, it's 1 Tbl/1gallon of water to make a sanitary solution to wash things in. Soak all your equipment in your sanitary solution for 20 minutes. Then rinse. If you used bleach, you will need to rinse a lot. Over and over again till you can't smell any more bleach. In my experience, 4x rinse has worked for my bleach solution.
   
2. Prepare your primary. This is only necessary for a recipe like this one where you have a lot of ingredients that don't go into the Must. In this case, you'll put pumpkin mash directly into the primary (assuming you've already roasted and cooled your pumpkins or are using canned pumpkin mash) or into a cloth bag so you don't have to worry about mush particles getting into your siphon later.... Pour in molasses, orange peels (which you've also washed) and all your spices.
   
3. Prepare your Must. The must is your heated honey-water mixture. You use your large stockpot, put in all your honey (you might want to melt it some by placing the bottles/jugs into a hot water bath in your sink or in a different pot on your stove, this makes it easier to pour and use all the honey), and as much spring water as you can fit in the stockpot on top of the honey without over flowing. (Unless you're making a 1 gallon batch - then make sure you don't use more than 1/2 a gallon- 3/4 gallon.) Note: you don't have to heat the honey for any kind of sanitizing purpose. I heat my honey/water mixture just enough so the honey dissolves nicely in the water. I feel like this makes it easier to mix everything, but you don't have to! There's a whole bunch of hubub about it killing flavor and whatnot. I only feel this is true if you accidentally boil it. DO NOT BOIL your Must!
   
4. Cool your Must to about room temperature. To do this, you can put your stockpot into a cold bath and track the temperature fall, you can add it to your primary bucket and add in chilled spring water till almost your goal volume (not quite), or put it covered in your freezer/fridge till it reaches around 70degrees. Don't let it get below 65degrees though, that's too cold. Whichever way, add the must to your Primary bucket after and bring your volume up to goal by adding spring water.
   
5. Prepare your yeast. Follow the directions on the back of your yeast packet to bring your yeast to life. Typically, this means heating a couple cups of water to 109degrees in that small bowl you sanitized, adding your yeast, stirring vigorously with the small spoon you sanitized, and letting your yeast propagate for 15 minutes.
   
6. Pitch your yeast! While the yeast is propagating in it's small bowl, give your primary a couple stirs to mix everything up. After the time has passed, upend or pitch your water/yeast mixture into your primery bucket.
   
7. Stir vigorously! This is my SO's favorite part. We play crazy music and stir like crazy (using that big metal spoon you sanitized) for 5-7 minutes. This get everything mixed up good and adds the oxygen the yeast needs for fermentation. So the more bubbles the better!
   
8. Take your starting gravity. Either stick your hydrometer straight into your primary bucket or use a sampler. Write it down and use one of the links on the side to figure out your potential alcohol content, or use the chart that came with your hydrometer.
   
9. Put your lid on your primary bucket and add your airlock to the bunghole (hehehe) aka that rubber surrounded hole in the top. Add vodka (or water) to the airlock to create an airtight seal. Place your primary vat into a cool dark place for a week or two.
   
   NOTE If you're making a 1 gallon batch, you can put your batch directly into your jug carboy and shake instead of stir. You can also use a balloon instead of an airlock. I recommend sanitizing a food-grade funnel to put all your ingredients in if that's the case. To make smaller batches - just divide everything in my recipe (except the yeast, always just use 1 packet of that regardless of the batch size) by 6.5x. For example - for a 1 gallon batch you would use 1.5 cups of pumpkin mash instead of 10.5 cups. etc etc etc.
   
   As time goes by
   
   

• Several weeks down the line you'll want to rack your mead. What this does is several things. You move your mead from Primary to Secondary. Secondary should be a glass carboy for long-term storage. This reduces the chance of plastic tainting the taste of your mead and reduces the chance of your mead alcohol slowly degrading your plastic primary. The reason it's nice to start in a plastic primary is for easy mixing and it leaves a lot of head space for your vigorous yeast activity. When you transfer to secondary (glass carboy) you reduce the amount of mead exposed to air, thus reducing the chance of infection. Also, every time you rack it cleans your mead of sediment, making it that much more drinkable.
  
• You'll want to rack several times before you consider bottling.
  
• The longer your mead sits, the better it gets. Unlike beer, plan for the long term.
  
• Keep your mead cool and dark. At one point I had access to cool but not dark, so I put a blanket over my mead.

One thing I found from the Employees only book is to bend the spoon a little. Huge difference in feel.

I use this one http://www.amazon.com/American-Metalcraft-511K-Stainless-Twisted/dp/B0040IQFG6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1421020497&sr=8-5&keywords=bar+spoon

It'll never break

yah LOL! but get a bartender spoon - we use this kind

Sure, let's talk!

If you're learning how to use a bar spoon, it's easier, IMO, to start out with the thicker bodied ones, since they provide a little more heft and therefore control. The drawback to them is that they don't maneuver in the glass quite as easily, and they're ultimately a little slower. Once you're pretty comfortable with your technique, I much prefer the thinner kind. Not only do that have a sexier look to them, I find I can control the movement of the spoon a lot more precisely.

I'm a big fan of these happy face spoons. Maybe pair them with a few small baked goods?

You could get a large spoon like this or use a mash paddle

Could this work? Cuisipro Fiberglass Basting Spoon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TGS7VE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_IW4Xzb7THDF5T

walmart has 16-Qt Stainless Steel Stock Pot and a Stainless Steel Spoon. I poured a gallon in the pot and used a drimal to mark the spoon at 1-2 - 2.5 - 3 - 3.5 - 4 so no problem knowing the water level.

My shopping list
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IRY8CJ2/ref=pd_aw_lpo_79_tr_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7CJ34053QY4M9818FZMH
https://www.jbprince.com/Bar-Tools/cocktail-kingdom-set-of-koriko.asp
https://www.jbprince.com/Bar-Tools/cocktail-kingdom-koriko-hawthorne-strainer.asp
https://m.crateandbarrel.com/hatch-mixing-glass/s310798?localedetail=US&ps_cid=210&a=1552&campaignid=640063196&adgroupid=29766033536&targetid=pla-352575254124&pla_sku=310798&scid=scplp310798&sc_intid=310798&scid=scplp310798&sc_intid=310798&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0vnQBRDmARIsAEL0M1m3b1PgOd54XUn3Y9AGDrTX7qr4rLHwlaTBicIkEmUujwWZJrLJvpsaAvnuEALw_wcB
World market or Crate and Barrel for glassware. If you want to go all out:  https://m.crateandbarrel.com/maxine-bar-cabinet/s554189

6 oz glasses not in these pics .. Dragon Glassware Espresso Cups,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07462824J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

2 oz shot glasses .. JoyJolt Javaah Double Walled... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N03DSGT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Shakers and stirrer (we do mostly iced drinks) .. Premium Cocktail Shaker Set:... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073L557JF?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share and Hiware LZS13B 12 Inches Stainless... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRY8CJ2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

With a stirring spoon.

This is my preferred route.

Equipment

cocktail kingdom shaken set

hiware barspoon

winco wooden muddler

A cutting board (I prefer black plastic ones, wood breaks apart and usually gets all bacterial, yech)

A cheap santoku knife

cocktail kingdom channel knife

There's the most important equipment that should last you awhile at home.

10 Bottles

1. Vodka - Sobieski, Tito's, Ketel One, meh they are all almost the same for these cheap cocktail vodkas for the most part. The key is you want an 80 proof grain vodka (not potato) for cocktails since most recipes are based around that.
   
   
2. Gin - Hendricks Gin is kind of expensive but worth it, I also advise Aviation gin if you can find it. Two different styles, but Aviation was very neutral and easy going in all the cocktails I made with it (except for classic gin Martinis, you want something like Hendricks for that).
   
   
3. Silver Rum - I always advise Flor De Cana 4 year Extra Dry if you can find it. Bacardi is okay, but it's only stocked in a bunch of bars because it's sponsoring everyone and giving them discounts. Silver Rum should be cheap and smooth in my book, I've never understood the appeal of the expensive silver rums in cocktails.
   
   
4. Bourbon - Old Granddad bonded OR four roses small batch if you want to spend a little more on quality. Don't listen to the hype. In cocktails you rarely can taste the difference between a 40 dollar bottle and a 20 dollar bottle. Maker's mark is overrated as fuck, and it's in a bunch of bars because it sponsors everyone and gives them a discount. In the price range of Maker's Mark you'd be better off getting Four Roses Single Barrel or spending a little more for Blanton's (both of which should only be used in classic old fashioned's or drank neat, since it would be a waste otherwise).
   
   
5. Reposado Tequila - I prefer the one that is most commonly associated with excellent margaritas. Jose Cuervo Tradicional Reposado. Not Jose Cuervo Especial Gold (that shit is garbage), talking about Tradicional Reposado. It's neutral and goes in almost every tequila cocktail that calls for reposado. Reposado is the best way to make margaritas for sure. You can do it with silver/blanco but it lacks character when you do. The best margarita's in Colorado and anywhere I've been use Jose Cuervo Tradicional Reposado for their Margarita's and it's part of why they are so good.
   
   
6. Orange Liqueur - If you can find it, get Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. If not, get Cointreau. Don't skimp on orange liqueur, it's very important. Shitty triple sec will ruin a drink, and only people who have no taste think that Hiram Walker is acceptable in a drink.
   
   
7. Sweet Vermouth - Carpano Antica if you can find it. Dolin Rouge Vermouth if you cannot (much cheaper but still acceptable). Buy small bottles for a home bar and refrigerate it after opening because it will start to lose it's character after a few weeks.
   
   
8. Dark Rum - Gosling's Black Seal if you can find it, if not get Myer's. Basically when some recipes call for dark or black rum, this is usually the flavor profile they are referring to.
   
   
9. Silver Tequila - Honestly, some cocktails just don't work with reposado's character so you need silver/blanco tequila. Pick up Espolon's Blanco tequila. It's cheap, smooth, and has a pretty strong agave note which is nice. Very good cocktail mixing tequila.
   
   
10. Bitters - Combining all the bitters you'll want in one category. Buy them, they will last you for years in a home bartender situation. Angostura bitters, Regan's Orange Bitters, Peychaud's Bitters, Fee Brothers Celery Bitters, and (my personal favorite) Bar Keep's Apple Bitters. These will set you back at first (costing 10-20 bucks a bottle), but they will last you a long time. Pick them up overtime.
    
    A lot of the brand suggestions in here are surprising, the other comments are suggesting typical sponsor brands a lot. I would steer clear of brands you are used to seeing at dive bars.

Three things I like about myself...

• I am a good hostess, and can throw a mean dinnerparty.
  
  
• I have very pretty hair and eyes.
  
  
• I am an extremely kind and loyal person.
  
  I would really love these Serving Spoons as it became very apparent that i weas lacking some when I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for the family... lol How are these motivational? Well, I take a good deal of pride in my housewifely duties, and that means being able to set a proper table for when we have company. so... Treat yo'self
  
  But in all honesty, I love surprises too.
  
  Thank you for the contest!

You should replace your spoon with a stainless one, which can be sanitized endlessly and should not stain. Here is one on Amazon that is affordable: Stainless Spoon

http://www.amazon.com/Gallium-Spoon-Mold-By-Rotometals/dp/B0061DPTW4

One of the "hidden" costs of brewing is upgrading equipment. If it's something you really think he'd be in to, getting some equipment that's worthwhile can save you/him money in the long term. I've had a few friends that got in to it, purchased cheap/small stuff, and spent the next year upgrading things again. Buy it once. Now, I'm not saying refit your garage into a full HERMS setup, but getting not-dirt-cheap items & items you can grow with really is invaluable.

When I started, I went with this which has most of what you'll need. The only things left are the kettle, mash tun, propane burner, and a good metal spoon. Here's what I went with, and still use.
Kettle
Spoon
Burner

For the mash tun, I went with a 10g igloo and converted it over following these instructions. I've since upgraded that to a 15g stainless steel pot w/ false bottom, but the igloo definitely served its purpose.

If you are doing big melomels, you might want a hydrometer with a high range (I'm assuming the one you linked is standard). Also maybe an 8g/30l bucket. otherwise those items are fine for normal strength meads w/o tons and tons of fruit.

Get the metal spoon, IMO (https://www.amazon.com/Brewing-SYNCHKG011311-Spoon-Stainless-21-Inch/dp/B001D6KF8M/ref=asc_df_B001D6KF8M/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=222720245886&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9783685370321181631&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061189&hvtargid=pla-384544715503&psc=1)

you don't need the paddle (that's more for mashing grain for beer brewing) - maybe get a wine whip instead?

​

--You have 2 buckets there, are you planning on aging in plastic? I'm usually a bit leery of that myself (I prefer steel for aging, so I use kegs but lots of folks like their carboys just fine). 2nd bucket is handy for sanitizer, etc while working though.

--suggestions: get a good gram scale with 1/10 gram resolution. Comes in handy for yeast, nutrients, spices etc. mesh bags are good if you are adding whole fruit and the like.