During the summer, it’s always happy hour! Whether you’re making cocktails for your customers or practicing at home with friends you will need the essentials. We have a range of excellent glassware and bar equipment for making and serving cocktails, as well as purees and cocktail mixes for establishments that perhaps don’t have the time or skill to make cocktails from scratch. If you are new to cocktails then don’t go overboard, stick to a small selection and make sure they are served perfectly.

To state the obvious, a cocktail shaker is the main component, and will be needed more often than not when it comes to making them. For the added details, it’s beneficial to invest in a muddler, strainer and mixing spoon. A muddler is like a pestle and it’s used to mash fruits and spices in the bottom of the glass to release their flavour...the much needed tool if you want to make mojitos for example. To prevent bits from floating around in your cocktail a strainer is the key utensil, and the mixing spoon is necessary for stirring and layering.

In my opinion, they are always best served chilled, and one way of achieving this is with crushed ice - there’s nothing worse than massive chunks of ice in your cocktail. An easier solution than ice cubes, a plastic bag and a rolling pin (which never works out well, and doesn’t look very professional) is a hand operated ice crusher, not only is it quick and simple to use but it looks nice on the bar too.

To get you started with all your new equipment, below are three easy and popular cocktail recipes, along with the appropriate glassware to serve.

Elderflower Collins

Method Shake first 4 ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. Top up with soda. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Glass DP059 Salto Hi-Ball Tumbler

Old Fashioned

 Method Stir one shot of bourbon with two ice cubes in a glass. Add the sugar syrup and bitters and two more ice cubes. Stir more and add two more ice cubes and the rest of the bourbon. Stir lots more and finally add more ice. Garnish with an orange zest twist.

Glass GF718 Olympia Rounded Crystal Old Fashioned Tumbler

Espresso Martini

Method Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and fine strain into chilled glass. Garnish with 3 coffee beans (optional)

Glass GF731 Olympia Bar Crystal Martini Glass

By Charlotte Le Lohé