Measuring cocktails in the home bar

Cross posted from http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org

I've always used a pharmacists jigger (little pyrex shot glass with every sort of increment and measurement you could want molded into it and a tiny pour spout on one sides lip) to measure out my cocktails.

Problem is that it leaves me doing the old "pour the liquid and then lift the glass into the light so that I can see the amount marked on the side" manuever. I can be fairly quick about this, but even still I find this slows me down. I've often done conversions of the measurements for cocktail recipes ahead of time, so that I can make multiple drinks with larger quantities of ingredients and thus shave minutes of the process, but when trying to get that one Grog Log recipe just right, or making everybody a different drink, I'm still there reading and squinting.

On less complicated drinks I can just count the pour. This is rapid since I don't have to read off little hatch marks. But I don't often drink too many simple drinks given my tiki tastes.

One night I'm hanging out at friends house who makes a mean Singapore Sling and digs on mixology like I do. I've got the bar job that night and the house is packed. I'm getting killed mixing diffrent drinks for everyone there, many of which are old recipes that require small amounts of multiple ingredients. I'd been using my jigger when my pal says, "Here, use this instead. I just picked it up."

He hands me a plastic Oxo brand tiny measuring cup. I take a look at it and note that it has pretty much the same markings as my jigger, and it has the pour spout too. But what really makes it slick is the fact that the markings are on an angle inside the cup. So when ya pour, you can just look down at the measurement. Half the time I didn't ever have to lift the thing off the bar save to dump the mixture into the shaker or glass. I flew through the rest of the nights mixing like a champ, and was able to get out from behind the bar in record time.

Now I'm nto much of a gadget guy, and honestly most of Oxo's gear just looks like normal kitchen junk with big-ass black rubber grips on it, but this thing is brilliant. It's also plastic, so like my pyrex jiggers, it doesn't shatter if ya drop it. And it's cheap.

If you are mixing from the Grog Log or other books with complex vintage cocktails (or even new cocktails that need to be precise), I can't recommend this thing enough.

Anyway, just wanted to pass that along. No, I'm not working for Oxo.

Ahu (Anybody need a well used set of pharm jiggers? :wink: )

That's the cat's ass KuKuAhu!

I have the two cup version of that and find it indispensable, but I didn't know they made a shot version!!

I'll have to find me one of them there handy dandies!

Wow, that does look great. What's the best deal/place to buy these?

Well, that was fast. Official OXO site has three of 'em for $10. Can't beat that!
http://www.oxo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=468

KuKuAhu, you sold me - already placed my order! I see great things ahead for you with OXO - possibly a promotion. :wink:

On 2005-02-08 16:06, johntiki wrote:
KuKuAhu, you sold me - already placed my order! I see great things ahead for you with OXO - possibly a promotion. :wink:

I don't use this cliche often, but LOL!

Ahu

$9.99 on Amazon and free shipping if you spend over $25. I got them and Taboo Table and another book. Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002YTGQ8/qid=1107913760/br=1-6/ref=br_lf_k_6//102-4644688-5610509?v=glance&s=kitchen&n=297632

I love that thing! Been using it for a year or two now. I think you can still find it at Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens n Things, etc...

Picked mine up yesterday, and made myself a mai tai last night!

Too bad the ounce measurements are on the side, but it's easy to figure out the conversion. (30mL=1oz)

Thanks again!

On 2005-02-09 08:24, tikitucson wrote:
I love that thing! Been using it for a year or two now. I think you can still find it at Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens n Things, etc...

Agreed. I love it to. I bought mine at "Linens n' Things" a couple years back. It's PERFECT!

On 2005-02-09 10:34, Tikiwahine wrote:

Too bad the ounce measurements are on the side, but it's easy to figure out the conversion. (30mL=1oz)

Huh? Mine has ounce increments on the inside. Yours has milliliters?

Could there be a metric and a standard version of this item?

Ahu

In the pic I posted above there are oz measurments and Tbsp measurments inside with cups and mLs on the outside.

Ahu

mL must be the canadian standard, DOH!

Who the hell uses mL? Not I!
Hey wait, I guess I do now.

Saw these in a cocktail video online and had to have one! When searching I found a stainless steel bar version too. So you lose the benefit of the exterior markings, but the thing will likely last forever.

http://www.oxo.com/p-955-stainless-steel-mini-angled-measuring-cup.aspx

Well, i have to say "meh". I had one and quickly buried it in a kitchen drawer. Handy for the kitchen but not a time saver for the bar....especially dimly lit bars. No thinking involved with proper set of jiggers for half to teo ounce

I have the 2 ounce version and love it. I've used them exclusively ever since I bought several a couple of years ago.

The main benefit is being able to accurately measure from 1/4 oz to 2 oz while looking down at the measuring cup.

It is worth trying so to see if you like it.

I use them exclusively also except when measuring 1/8 tsp or something.

The metal ones feel great in the hand and are durable but the plastic ones are actually easier to read in the dark behind the bar. I only wish they had a 3/4oz measure marked on them.

If you agree please go here, select "Product Selection" on the feedback form and encourage them to add that to the product. Having teaspoon marks on the exterior side would be nice also.

http://www.oxo.com/contactUs.aspx

I use those as well, i think the 1/4 oz mark is a bit inaccurate though on ours (to the high side). i try to use a 1/2 Tablespoon instead.

I'll tell ya what's really handy and hard to find-- 1/8 teaspoon measurers...

I'll chime in support of OXO's "double jigger" as well as their standard platic one which I also love.

http://www.oxo.com/p-866-double-jigger.aspx

One thing I also use a LOT is a mixing glass on my Boston shaker which has ounce/half-ounce increments on the side. Pretty cheap and, hey, your Boston shaker needs a mixing glass as well, right?

http://www.amazon.com/KegWorks-Cocktail-Shaker-Recipes-Mixing/dp/B001CDV9M2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309939425&sr=8-2

(I don't have THIS one, exactly, but one pretty much like it. I generally ignore the recipes on the side.)

AND! I generally love OXO's bar stuff.

-J.

P.S. For smaller/weirder increments, I use a pharmacist's (large) dropper which holds about 1oz (30ml) and goes down as far a 1/16th teaspoon. Got it when my kids were very little and repurposed it for bar duty.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2011-07-06 01:08 ]

I personally use a pharmacists jigger also but when i saw Robert Hess use one of the (at least it looks like it) OXO measuring cups on The Cocktail Hour i thought, "Ooh, i like the look of that, wouldn't mind one of those". Unfortunately they are not available here and it's just too expensive for what it is to have one posted to Australia.

My bartender friends started using one of these a while ago and although they seem quite useful, i don't believe that they have the versatility a pharmacists jigger does.

http://uberbartools.com/ProductProJig.aspx

[ Edited by: swizzle 2011-07-06 01:41 ]

Swizzle, I feel the same way about Uber Bar Tools. Looks like brilliant stuff, but the expense of sending them over here from Australia makes it cost prohibitive. (Grr.)

What I imagine is frustrating for you is that OXO stuff is available in Australia, but I couldn't find the various jiggers. (Double grr.)

Count me in as another person who uses the OXO clear 2 oz behind the bar. Good stuff.

They have lots of them at Bed Bath and Beyond and I usually keep several around and give them to friends interested in mixing.

The only real issue I have with them is the miniscus (sp?) makes it hard to be really really accurate, but, nothing is perfect and it is far better than trying to bed over and look at the side of a standard utensil.

As with all things mixological, time behind the bar is what makes you good and knowing your tools and your mixers. Nothing will replace that, and good taste!

I bought one of these after reading an entry on http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com a while ago.

I find it OK (the angled scale make it a bit imprecise because of the surface tension), but I really do not understand why it lacks 0.25 oz increments all the way?

It would help immensely when measuring to have 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75 and 2.00, instead of just 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00.