Home bar equipment

Every tool lists an honest substitute — you can start with what the kitchen already has.

Shaker

Two-piece tin or a three-piece cobbler. Chills and dilutes anything with juice or cream in 15 seconds.

Substitute: A mason jar with a tight lid.

A 25/50 ml (or 1/2 oz) double measure. The single cheapest upgrade to your drinks.

Substitute: A medicine cup or a shot glass with marks.

Long twisted spoon: stirs a Negroni, layers a shot, measures 5 ml.

Substitute: A chopstick plus a teaspoon.

The spring-rimmed lid that holds the ice back when you pour.

Substitute: The shaker lid held ajar.

For the double strain: catches ice shards and fruit pulp before a straight-up serve.

Substitute: A small tea strainer.

A wide glass for stirred drinks; the pros' is heavy and etched, yours can be a pint glass.

Substitute: Any sturdy pint or jar.

A blunt pestle for pressing mint, berries and sugar.

Substitute: A rolling pin handle.

Halved limes and lemons give juice in seconds; fresh juice is non-negotiable in sours.

Substitute: Squeeze over a fork.

Cuts wide citrus ribbons for twists without the pith.

Substitute: A sharp paring knife.

Large cubes melt slowly: your Old Fashioned stays a drink, not a puddle.

Substitute: Freeze water in silicone muffin moulds.

For straight-up serves: Daiquiri, Manhattan, Martini. Chill it in the freezer first.

Substitute: Any stemmed wine glass.

The two workhorses: short and heavy for stirred drinks, tall for anything with bubbles.

Substitute: Sturdy water glasses of both shapes.