Guides / Basics
Bar Tools & Bartending Basics
You don’t need a back-bar full of gear to make great shots — a handful of tools and four core techniques cover almost everything on this site. Here’s the starter kit and the skills that make your shots taste like someone who knows what they’re doing made them.
The essential tools
- Jigger (or measure): the most important tool you can own. It keeps every pour consistent, which is the whole secret to a balanced shot. A double-sided 1 oz / 1.5 oz jigger is ideal.
- Bar spoon: a long, twisted-handle spoon for stirring — and, flipped over, for floating layered shots.
- Shaker: a Boston shaker (two tins, or a tin and a pint glass) or a three-piece cobbler shaker. This is how you chill and combine anything with juice, cream or citrus.
- Strainer: a Hawthorne strainer (the one with the coil) holds back ice; a small fine-mesh strainer catches pulp and shards for a cleaner pour.
- Muddler: for pressing fruit, herbs or sugar — useful for fresh-fruit and mock shots.
- Small knife, peeler and board: for wedges, wheels and citrus twists.
That’s the whole starter kit. For the specific tools we reach for most, see the Bar Tools page.
The four core techniques
1. Shaking
Shaking chills a drink fast and blends ingredients that won’t combine on their own — anything with juice, cream, egg or syrup. Fill the shaker with ice, add your ingredients, seal, and shake hard for 10–15 seconds until the tin is frosty, then strain into chilled glasses. Try it on a Green Tea Shot or a Lemon Drop.
2. Building / stirring
For clear, spirit-forward shots, you don’t shake — you build, pouring ingredients straight into the glass (or stirring them with ice and straining). This keeps the drink silky and clear instead of cloudy. Browse built shots to see the style.
3. Layering
Pouring ingredients so they float in separate bands. It runs entirely on density — we break it down step by step in how to layer a shot.
4. Chilling & rimming
Cold is non-negotiable for shots — a warm shot is a bad shot. Chill glasses in the freezer, and keep cream liqueurs and anything you plan to serve neat in the fridge. To rim a glass, wipe the edge with citrus and roll it in salt or sugar, which adds a flavor accent to dessert and margarita-style shots.
Beginner mistakes to skip
- Eyeballing pours. Use the jigger — even a splash too much liqueur can flip a balanced shot into a sweet mess.
- Skimping on ice. A half-filled shaker melts fast and waters down the drink. Fill it up.
- Warm ingredients. Chill first; it fixes half of all “this tastes off” problems.
- Adding citrus to cream. Acid curdles cream liqueurs — keep them apart unless a recipe says otherwise.
Where to go next
Put the tools to work with our full shot recipe collection, or tell us what’s in your cabinet and let the What Can I Make? finder do the thinking. New to stacking? Start with how to layer a shot.
Shot Chef is for adults of legal drinking age. Please drink responsibly — see responsible drinking.