What’s in Your Bartending Toolbox?

Tools are important in any trade. Carpenters need hammers, nails, and saws. Musicians require instruments, and writers require a pen and paper, or a computer keyboard.

Bartenders are no different, and since the first drink slinger crafted a cocktail for a thirsty patron, they have used certain tools to create their concoctions.

As bartenders, we have all heard of the jigger, the muddler, and the strainer. Let’s face it: Certain tools have become such standards behind the bar. People even have them in their bars at home, which usually consist of some tequila bottles, vodka, and triple sec on top of a chest in their dining room.

We asked Chilled 100 Ambassador Ryan Puckett of Nashville, TN, what his favorite bartending tool was, and why.

Chilled 100 Ambassador - Nashville, Ryan Puckett

Chilled 100 Ambassador – Nashville, Ryan Puckett

What’s your favorite bartending tool?

My favorite tool is my Jackson Cannon bar knife. It makes garnish and juice prep a breeze, and the flat end makes a great bottle opener. It’s a versatile knife.

What unique tools do you use at the bar?

At the bar that I am about to help open, Pearldiver, we’ll be using a sugarcane press. We’ll be pressing fresh sugarcane juice for our Daiquiri, and it makes the best damn Daiquiri you’ve ever had.

What do you think is most important bartending tool?

A notebook. Every bartender should keep a journal with ideas, recipes, guest notes, and day-to-day tasks. It is the most useful organizational tool [we] can have.”

If you are a bartender and want to share your story, feel free to email Chilled magazine marketing manager, Max Ferro: Max@ChilledMagazine.com.

Sponsored by San Antonio Cocktail Conference. Save the Date: January, 2019.