Poll: What do *you* want for Christmas?
Polls! February 19th, 2009Occasionally, life presents opportunities that get you really jazzed and thanking your fortuitous fusion-fired orbs of Helium gas that you’re in the right place at the right time to potentially seize them. And, recently, there’s been some chatter about an opportunity to have high-end bartending supplies, rare and antique books and barware, and imported bar supplies and bitters made available for sale in the United States. But, as with any business venture, you need to know what you can sell or know your product will work before putting it out on the market. And I assume, since you’re here, that you may have an opinion.
So, help me, help you. Please let us know what types of cocktailian baubles or bartending gadgets would you be most excited about seeing made widely available (pick all that apply):
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
I think, perhaps you should have made the list of items capable of being numbered by priority, as I think many of us out in the cocktail world would love to see more of EVERYTHING!
That said, I had just recently opined over at The Chanticleer Society the lack of availability in the US of such gorgeous items as bulbous bitters bottles, larger Parisienne shakers and so forth. Getting some of those into the states is a mite easier than some of the bitters products, at least from a regulatory standpoint. Of course, if you have the means, patience and skill to wade through all the Feds red tape, then please do! I will happily be a customer!
I’m fairly utilitarian in my bar tools. I searched high and low to find my Ebaloy juicer, which qualifies as antique, but would be happy to dump it for something new and stainless-steel if it proved a better juicer. (Seriously, why do modern juicers suck? Juice extraction is a solved problem. There is no excuse.)
On the other hand, I did buy a fancy antique nickel/silver bar spoon, mostly for the flare.
Juicers!
How someone can have a bar without a decent juicer is beyond my understanding. One might as well try to get by without ice.
I have found two types to be useful.
The old fashioned dome shaped squeezer is great if you can find one made out of glass. The plastic ones are useless, but the hard sharp glass edges will reduce a lemon or lime to pulp in about two quick twists. No idea where they can be got, I found mine in a flea market.
The glass gizmo was largely put out to pasture when I got my big shiny Mexican juicer. Labeled ‘Alagande Juicer’, it was sold for a while by Restoration Hardware, but I haven’t seen them in a while. It uses a lever arrangement to squeeze out every drop of juice in one quick pull.
@callisto23
You’re still twisting your lemons? Meh. Check out this baby:
http://cocktaildb.com/barwr_detail?id=123
You can see Robert Hess using one in this video:
http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/video/5/the_last_word
Best juicer, ever. But they stopped making them like 50 years ago. Oxo or someone needs to remake this one and market it to the masses.
How about a repeal of the inane patchwork of interstate liquor laws that can make it near-impossible to find certain liqueurs and small-batch spirits?
That said, from the above list I would like the rare bitters and a better juicer. I’ll definitely keep my eyes open for an Ebaloy-type next time I go to an antique show.
How about glassware designed specifically for cocktails. A gorgeous 4.5 oz cocktail in a 10 oz martini glass can’t help but look sad.
I’d like to see smaller martini type glasses as well as bowl shaped glasses each big enough to hold one perfect cocktail.
How ’bout relaxed laws that make it easier to get our hands on a wider variety of high-quality absinthes? A mere 15 or so are currently approved for sale in the USA, while the rest of the world can get upwards of 70 (though in a sense, we’re protected from the Czech-style swill by the same arcane laws, so it’s a double-edged sword…).
JohnTheBastard – Oxo does make one
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“How about glassware designed specifically for cocktails. A gorgeous 4.5 oz cocktail in a 10 oz martini glass can’t help but look sad.”
May I recommend you check out the Libby Mini-Martini glass? A traditional martini shape holding a walloping 3oz pour, they are quite solid – they survive either the sink or the dishwasher – and they have enough mass, enough glass that when you chill them, they stay cold for more than 30 seconds. And they are about $2 per stem delivered. We explain that (1) cocktail glasses used to be smaller (2) and that they promote ‘tasting’ not just drinking.