What to give an aspiring mixologist?
July 6, 2015 7:57 AM   Subscribe

Mixologists: What is a really awesome and useful (read: not gold-plated $75 shot glasses) bartending-related gift I can get for a friend?

A friend of mine did me a giant favor, and I am looking into repaying him with the most awesome bartending-related gift I can find.

I would like to get him something useful, because he's a grad student with the accompanying grad student's salary. Googling only takes me to super-expensive versions of common things that he likely already has. I would rather get him something durable and high quality to use for his craft, but suggestions of expensive and rare liquors he could experiment with would also be welcome. I know folks create their own liquors infused with different flavors, are there special tools one would need for that? Things like that. Assume he has all the basics.

Looking to spend ~$300ish.

Thanks!
posted by Tooty McTootsalot to Food & Drink (25 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's not $300 but a nice microplane is a fine tool to add to the kit.
posted by fairmettle at 8:11 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Again, not $300, but David Embury's Fine Art of Mixing Drinks belongs on every cocktail lover's bookshelf. (If you really want to spend more on it, eBay will have older copies for hundreds or thousands of dollars.)
posted by thinman at 8:25 AM on July 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Cocktail:the drinks bible for the 21st century by Paul Harrington, is a fantastic book.

It's out of print, and it used to be you could only get it for $100 or so, but apparently Amazon has used copies for $15 or so (including shipping, if you're in the USA).
posted by leahwrenn at 8:28 AM on July 6, 2015


What about a truly beautiful, durable shaker? Something they can use for years and years and always remember, "hey, my awesome friend Tooty gave me this." Some great suggestions in this previous Ask. Basics are nice, and really gorgeous basics are even better. E.g. I have some solid, serviceable knives, and I treasure the couple of super high end ones I have.

Beyond that... you don't really need special equipment per se for making your own infusions/bitters/etc. If he's more into the molecular end of things (spheres and foams and whatnot) there's plenty of starter kits/equipment you could get him.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:39 AM on July 6, 2015


Maybe a good blender?
posted by cazoo at 8:45 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


If you don't fancy a book, what about assembling him a kit of some ingredients, the ones he's less likely to have, for brewing/infusing?

For example, dried sloes, which you can use to make sloe gin or sloe whisky, dried elderflowers for elderflower wine, cordial or gin, and cocoa nibs, for chocolate vodka.

Note: Vodka infused with cocoa nibs is one of my favourite infusions and can be used to make a Dirty Russian, with milk and/or cream, which is the most supreme instead-of-a-dessert cocktail you can imagine and my finest invention
posted by greenish at 8:45 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


A Pug Muddler. They are great tools, unique, hard to find, and very useful.
posted by soy_renfield at 8:53 AM on July 6, 2015


I have used an iSi Whipped Cream Dispenser to make fast infusions, one of those with a box of cartridges might be welcome. If your friend uses bitters at all you might buy a collection of those, they can be very expensive but crucial for certain drinks.
posted by Miss Matheson at 9:02 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


A really fine paring knife, and a lovely handmade cutting board? Perhaps this Yaxell and maybe something from Gray Works Design.
posted by thinman at 9:12 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Some of the harder to find liqueurs, like Amer Picon, Creme de Violette, rose liqueur (Combier, Brovo, Edmond Briottet Liqueur de Rose) or Pimento Dram. Orgeat, kirschwasser and Cherry Heering can be hard to find in some markets--so if your friend lives far from a really comprehensive liquor store, a couple bottles of things that you use just a bit of in a cocktail but show up in a lot of drinks would be great. Think Chartreuse (both green and yellow), Maraschino, Strega, Benedictine, Campari, Domaine de Canton, Absinthe/Herbsaint, Fernet Branca or St Germaine.

Fee Brothers does limited edition bitters every year and they are quite delicious. There are lots of bitters available from all over, which are really fun to use in your standard generic cocktail: "stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters".
posted by crush-onastick at 9:20 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


From the beer department -- how about a mini kegerator?
posted by MattD at 9:24 AM on July 6, 2015


If he'd like to be mobile, perhaps a bar roll-up or bag (I haven't used either but Cocktail Kingdom is great)

A beautiful mixing glass

Luxardo Maraschino Cherries

Seconding soy_renfield's Pug Muddler recommendation.
posted by JackBurden at 9:58 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


What style of drink does your friend like?

Although most cocktail books say to mix tiki drinks in a blender, they only do that because most people are unlikely to have the proper tool, the restaurant grade drink mixer.

You can find home versions for about $40, but there really is no comparison.

The restaurant grade one has about a 1/4 horse power motor which will plow through anything if he wants to start making milkshake type drinks with hard, cold, ice cream. Its solidity and construction is the type of thing that will probably last his lifetime. That particular model (which I splurged for myself as a tiki drink present) is what is widely used at serious tiki bars across the country.

Is it overkill for home use? Oh yeah. But there's something nice about knowing that you have the same tools professionals use and that if I wanted to set up a bar tomorrow I could just plug it in and be ready to go.

This gift would be one of those things he'd probably laugh a bit at first, but over the years realize how awesome it is.
posted by bswinburn at 10:05 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


One of many Blenders v. Drink Mixer posts in many tiki forums.

Mike and The Bum referred to there are two widely regarded tiki experts. The Bum has a number of tiki history and cocktail books out as well as a bar in New Orleans.
posted by bswinburn at 10:08 AM on July 6, 2015


I second the Luxardo cherries. They are expensive and very, very nice.

For books, I highly recommend a rather obscure one from < a href="http://www.elementalmixology.com/embsamples">Elemental Mixology. It's dry but very encyclopedic and the guy does a very admirable job of imposing a fluid structure and consistency upon mixology. I have an older edition and it is the first book I check on any question. This newer edition is a significant improvement over previous editions.
posted by bfootdav at 10:21 AM on July 6, 2015


Another vote for luxardo cherries. Hard to find liquors/bitters is going vary by location: I can't find a good creme de cassis or creme de cacao to save my life here in MI, but could in Seattle. So some subtle snooping could be in order for that. Tonic syrups or good grenadine could be added to fill out the gift basket if that's the way you go.

Does he have a juice press? The best one I know of is the people's juice press (generally around $400), but that can juice a pineapple, so likely overkill (but if they love to do tiki drinks or anything with fresh juices it'd definitely be used). I think most decent ones are between $100-200 though.

Barrels for aging cocktails could also be nice (if that's his kind of thing). Bitters making kit.
posted by ghost phoneme at 11:15 AM on July 6, 2015


This is a bit of a cheat, but Brookstone has a food scale called the Perfect Pour that talks to your smartphone or tablet and uses a drink database to tell you how much of which ingredients to pour in realtime. It's on sale right now for $50.
posted by Skwirl at 11:24 AM on July 6, 2015


Nthing the Luxardo cherries, various bitters and expensive-but-necessary liqueurs. Vintage barware/glasses/shakers are nice and affordable as well.

Also, have you consdiered a Porthole Infuser?
posted by Work to Live at 11:37 AM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


In the books department, look no further than the new edition of Imbibe! by Dave Wondrich. While you're at it, a copy of Punch by the same author would not go amiss. If he wants to learn about cocktail families and the formulas that are behind them, perhaps a copy of The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan. Probably the best collection of modern-day drinks right now is The PDT Cocktail Book, and the best book on modern techniques is Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold. And, of course, just for the prose you can't go wrong with Volume 2 of The Gentleman's Companion by Charles Baker, sold under the title Jigger, Beaker and Glass.

In terms of equipment, sure he may already have a shaker and a mixing glass and a strainer, but how good are they? In this quest, the site to visit is Cocktail Kingdom. Their Koriko all-metal Boston shaker set is the best of its kind, but the Japanese style cobbler shakers in standard 500ml size or an 800ml size that can do two drinks at once are superb. Moving on, the Leopold banded jigger combines the advantages of a jigger with those of a graduated measure, or get a set of Japanese-style jiggers in 2:1 and 0.75:0.5. After that, there are lots of mixing glasses from which to choose (I like the extra large Asanoha as well as the Gallone) and a huge variety of barspoons. Finally, their Koriko strainer is really, really nicely done.

MixologyTech, in my opinion, offers the best iPhone apps around if that's his thing. Martin's List, in particular, is a treasure-trove of historical recipes and information.


(Full disclosure: these people are friends.)
posted by slkinsey at 11:49 AM on July 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Pretty much everything slkinsey said, plus:

Books: Death & Co and The Bar Book, by Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

Apps: note MixologyTech's PDT app has been described by Jim Meehan as a living document while the PDT book is more of a historical record. So getting both the book and the app is not redundant, is what I'm saying.

Most of my individual bar tools were pretty inexpensive. Mixing glasses are a nice upgrade over cheap pitchers and pint glasses, but I'm not sure the additional upgrade from a regular Yarai to a seamless model is worth the extra cost. Also I like a Parisian/Parisienne shaker better than a Boston shaker: it's easier to get a good seal, although it can also be harder to break the seal if it's too good (this happens to me about twice a year).

And I prefer OXO's 2 ounce angled measuring cups to any jigger. The plastic gets cloudy and they require frequent replacement, but they're so much easier to use. They're not fancy gift items though.
posted by fedward at 12:23 PM on July 6, 2015


Oh, and if you want things that are more obviously gift items, vintage glass barware (shakers, pitchers, cocktail glasses, punch bowls) are bigger ticket items that would still be useful, and you can also buy that sort of stuff new from, say, Simon Pearce.
posted by fedward at 12:36 PM on July 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Personally, I prefer a nice julep strainer over the more common (but difficult to clean) spring-sided Hawthorne strainer for most applications. If your friend doesn't have one, they're a treat.

Heavy crystal/cut glass bitters dasher sets aren't being made anymore (that I'm aware of) but they do show up on eBay from time to time. Super classy, particularly if he's making his own bitters.
posted by mumkin at 3:37 PM on July 6, 2015


In my side-by-side test, I prefer Tillen Farms cherries over Luxardo. They are larger, less syrupy, and all natural. More cherry flavored, but in a way that is easily combined with cocktails.
I have the jigger that fedward mentions, but in steel.
Something that's been fun to play around with is this carbonator.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:34 PM on July 6, 2015


Faretti biscotti liqueur is amazing, and hard to find, so maybe it's something your friend doesn't have? I've had success with local (larger) package store ordering me a bottle. It runs about $20.

This stuff is great because it's similar enough to amaretto or hazelnut liqueur that it can take its place, but different enough to make a noticeably different mixed drink. It's great in grapefruit juice.

It's made from cookies!!!
posted by jessicapierce at 6:53 PM on July 6, 2015


Response by poster: Wonderful all! Thanks! Gift has been ordered using your recommendations.
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 6:49 PM on July 7, 2015


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