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25 Essential Bar Accessories: 21 - 25
Tool #21: Champagne stoppers
Though they are known as champagne stoppers, these specialized bottle stoppers can be used with any fizzy wine, including the light Italian and Germany whites that are gaining in popularity. In addition to a corking mechanism, these stoppers also have pinchers that grip the sides of the bottle or vacuum sealers that add resistance to the interior fizz. The ensures that when the bottle is opened again it will still have its distinctive pop.
Pressure from the bubbling liquids causes regular bottle stoppers to fly off after a few hours. With a champagne stopper, you will be able to preserve the fizz.
Champagnes and sparkling wines are some of the more expensive vintages on the market. There is no reason to let them go flat unnecessarily. You can toast the occasion repeatedly with a high quality champagne stopper.
Tool #22: Catering Bowls
Serving on an empty stomach can be a major faux pas. You may also find that you want to serve punch or another kind of dippable drink. With multipurpose catering bowls, you can offer treats or provide small punch bowls for your parties.
The issue of how to present snack items and how to simultaneously have the option of a punch bowl for your home bar is removed with catering bowls.
Most home bars suffer from limited amounts of space for serving and storage. When you get a dual use item for your bar, you can do more with less space and fewer products.
Tool #23: Wine Preserver
Bottle stoppers are short-term solutions to an open bottle of wine. For longer-term solutions, you need to turn to wine preservers. Based on the same formulas used by wineries, this solution is applied just before a final recorking to save wine for an indefinite period of time.
If you opened more wine than you intended to at your party, or if there is a particularly wonderful wine you just want to taste but not finish, then you have a problem. Wine doesn’t always keep well, but with a professional grade preserver, you can avoid wasting good wine and keep your bottles on the shelf until you need them again, even if its years before they’re opened next.
In addition to eliminating waste, this also has the advantage of letting wine continue the aging process. Some wines just need a bit more time to peak. Additionally, you can remove your guilt about opening a bottle just for one glass with this system, and remove your annoyance at guests who don’t make a dent in a bottle at a home party.
Tool #24: Wine glass cleaner
Cleaning up after serving drinks can take all the fun out of a party, especially if you have been serving wine. Streaks and discoloration on the glassware and unsightly and will make you reluctant to use your glasses for future events. With specially formulated wine glass cleaner, you can ensure that your wine glasses and other serving pieces are sparkling.
Acidity in wines and other alcoholic drinks can leave its mark on glassware. With wine glass cleaner formulas, you can neutralize the affects of the acid and reclaim your glassware for future events.
Instead of scrubbing for hours or tossing stained glassware, you can preserve your collection and ensure that everything looks good for the next party. This will also help you lose the guilt and worry about using nice or antique glassware for serving, as it can be cleaned again with no trouble.
Tool #25: Hangover Cures
While one solution to a hangover is the hair of the dog that bit you (which is to say, more drinks) savvy home bar tenders also have hangover pills on hand. Formulated especially for the specific combination of dehydration and overindulgence that leads to that pounding head, these single-purpose pills will make a big impression.
No one wants to wake up with a splitting headache, and no one with a splitting headache wants to put up with one for long. With a set of hangover cures on hand, the pain can be eliminated promptly.
When your event is over, you want guests to have a happy memory . . . or at least a pain free memory! You can do your final part as a host for your guests and for yourself with these pills.
Conclusion
All in all, there is a whole world of home bar tools available to you. By using this guide to help you with your home bar shopping, you will be able to focus in on the tools that will be absolutely necessary to you as a server and host. You’ll find that many of these tools are so useful it is hard to imagine life without them at your bar, and you will be pleased at your ability to impress your guests by appearing as a professional and comfortable host behind the bar.
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