Equipment
Cocktail equipment guide
What each tool is for, whether you really need it, and a household alternative if you don't have it.
Beginner cocktail equipment
What to buy first if you're just starting out.
Cocktail making without specialist tools
Great drinks with what's already in your kitchen.
Glassware guide
Which glass for which drink, and why it matters.
Ice guide
Why ice size and quality change how a drink tastes.
Shaking
Cocktail shaker
A sealed vessel used to combine and chill ingredients quickly with ice.
Boston shaker
A two-piece shaker made of a metal tin and either a second metal tin or a mixing glass, favoured by professional bartenders for speed and capacity.
Cobbler shaker
A three-piece shaker made of a tin, a built-in strainer cap and a small cap, designed for home use since it doesn't require a separate straining step.
Stirring
Straining
Muddling & pressing
Citrus tools
Ice
Glassware
Martini glass
The conical stemmed glass most people picture when they hear 'cocktail'. Its wide mouth releases aroma readily, and its sloping sides are also why it spills so easily — the coupe has largely displaced it behind bars for exactly that reason.
Hurricane glass
A tall, curved, footed glass holding around 450ml, designed for long tropical drinks served over crushed ice. Its capacity is the point: tiki and blended drinks need room for ice, liquid and a substantial garnish.
Tiki mug
An opaque ceramic vessel, usually figurative, for tropical rum drinks. Worth knowing that the form is an American commercial invention of the mid-twentieth century rather than a Pacific tradition — the drinks are serious, the iconography was borrowed.
Champagne flute
A tall, narrow stemmed glass that preserves carbonation by minimising the liquid's surface area. The narrow bowl that keeps bubbles also restricts aroma, which is why sparkling-wine specialists often prefer a tulip or even a white-wine glass.
Coupe glass
A shallow, stemmed glass with a wide bowl, traditionally used for stirred or shaken cocktails served 'up' without ice.
Rocks glass / Old Fashioned glass
A short, sturdy tumbler used for spirit-forward drinks served over ice.
Highball glass
A tall, narrow glass used for long drinks topped up with a mixer.
Wine glass
A large stemmed bowl, typically 500-650ml, that has quietly become the standard spritz and gin-and-tonic glass across Europe. The volume is the point: it takes a full ice load without the ice crowding out the liquid.
Copper mug
The lined copper vessel associated with the Moscow Mule and its family. Copper conducts heat quickly, so the mug itself goes cold in the hand and frosts on the outside — a genuine sensory difference rather than pure theatre.
Heatproof mug
Any vessel that takes near-boiling liquid without cracking — a handled glass mug, a stemmed toddy glass, or the mug already in your cupboard. The handle is not decorative; a hot drink at serving temperature is genuinely too hot to hold.