- barware
The origin of the word cocktail is much debated. One theory is that it comes from the French word for egg cup “coquetier” as people would use them to serve digestive alcohols. In early 2016, spirits historian David Wondrich published an article revealing what could be the true story of how the word cocktail came to be, a story that will most likely make you want to gag, rather than order a drink. Last fall, I was strolling on Portobello Road in London and, quite unusually for me, I was perusing the antique stands. I was looking for vintage shakers
You know how it is with Ikea: even though you don’t need anything for yourself, you always end up going back from the store with a few things. In my case, I returned with a brand new “bartending bag”! A little thing about me: as hard as I try, I don’t know how to pack lightly. Even when I manage to leave with a reasonably filled carry-on luggage, 90% of the time I end up either checking it in or carrying it back like a dead body because I bought too much stuff during my trip and it’s become too
To give texture to cocktails, such as Pisco sours, and top them with a nice foam, egg white can be added to the other ingredients in the shaker. Ingredients will first be dry shaked (i.e without ice) and then regularly shaked with ice. The first method allows for a thicker foam, while the second is necessary to cool the drink. Cracking an egg and separating the egg white from the yolk is quite easy. Simply crack the egg in the middle over the edge of a bowl or your mixing tin (make sure no shell falls in the recipient and,
If you want to look for barware in Athens, head to barequip.gr, which is both the name of the boutique and the address of its online shop. A nice selection of barware The shop is small but well equipped. You’ll find a decent selection of shakers, bar spoons, mixing glasses, drinking glasses and jiggers. They also have bartending bags, including the one I bought online from Mavenhal! There are also a few books in English and in Greek of course. Bitters, syrups and shrubs The most interesting part of the shop is the ingredients section: the (nearly) complete range of bitters by
Once I became actively interested in making cocktails myself, I started attending courses and buying equipment to prepare drinks at home. My friends were keen to be my tasting panel and suggested I prepare cocktails at dinners they would host. I soon realised that transporting my shakers, jiggers, bar spoons and, especially, bottles in regular shopping bags was not very convenient. Things might hit each other and break. While reading articles on trade websites I found several articles promoting a bartender bag developed by a Seattle bartender. After reading various reviews about Mavenhal (at the time still called Barkeeper &