Reddit reviews OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger, Stainless Steel

Hey, I'm a drinky ex-mormon myself. Welcome to the other side! A couple of my sisters asked me for similar advice when they were first trying out alcohol and they seemed to like sweet wines and low-octane, sweeter drinks best. Maybe try out some fresh fruit blender drinks.

As for equipment, most of what you need may already be in your kitchen. I get the most use out of my hand-held citrus press, my peeler and my OXO angled jigger. Shakers are fun-looking and could be a good gift, but I rarely use mine. Glassware is always a fun gift!

I hope this helps! Good luck!

I use this OXO measuring jigger. I wanted one that had a 2oz capacity, and having both oz and tbsp gradations is also nice.

Yeah I have one of those. I never use it anymore now that I have two of these.

The ones in the picture are awful and you're torturing yourself. They definitely look cool, but they're just too small. If you want a full measure, you have to be super careful with it or you'll spill.

I really don't think a julep strainer is necessary, especially if you are using a metal tin for a mixing glass.

I also think with that jigger you are going to run into trouble not having 1/4 oz line on it. It's got less flair but I know many people on here (myself included) use this

Edit: you are also definitely going to want to get a citrus press, I have this guy if you're already ordering from cocktail knigdom

I forgot to mention that while I have several traditional jiggers, I find myself using the OXO Steel Angled Measuring Jigger most often. But that is entirely preference.

Not stupid. It's a type of jigger or, more expertly, alcohol pouring cup. ;)

https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Angled-Measuring-Jigger-Stainless/dp/B00B6LUAPW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1542243652&sr=8-9&keywords=alcohol+measuring+cup

I use this more than my Cocktail Kingdom jiggers

Oxo Stainless Steel Jigger
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6LUAPW/

Love it for things like this.

OP is looking for something that could store and dispense a measured amount though.

Generally, you don't want to buy a set (this applies to most consumer goods) as they usually are compiled of subpar or superfluous items, aimed for the uninformed beginner who just want to get started, but instead pick good stuff yourself.

• I'd say buy a shaker from one of the places mentioned here - buy a 'Tin on Tin' Boston shaker. Cobbler shakers need to be kinda expensive before they're good, while Boston shakers are great, even if the machining isn't ultra precise. They are also simpler to work with and clean.
  
  
• Downside is that you are going to need a strainer for a boston shaker as well. The one I see recommended the most is the OXO Hawthorne strainer (Link) - which I own as well, it's great and cheap. Most other hawthorne strainers are fine too, as long as they are big enough to cover the shaker, and won't fall in.
  
  
• If he doesn't have one already, I would also get him a fine strainer. This one you can buy from any kitchenware store / amazon, and it doesn't need to be fancy.
  
  
• He will probably also need a measuring device. If he likes showmanship, get him some jiggers from one of the cocktail sites, or if he's more practical, get an OXO Clear measuring cup (Link). I would reccomend the latter to any home bartender. For a compromise between the two, there's also the slightly fancier steel measuring cup (Link) or the OXO Stainless double jigger (Link).
  
  
• Finally, I'd also recommend some kind of juicer, as most drinks contain some kind of acid, usually citrus. Personally, I like the Chef'n'FreshForce Citrus Juicer (Link), but others are available.
  
  With a Shaker, a Strainer, (a Fine Strainer), (a Juicer), and a Jigger, you can make pretty much any shaken drink. If you want, you can look into a muddler as well. I'd recommend staying away from buying anything expensive. Best deal is buying a french rolling pin and chopping it into two muddlers (Link).
  __
  
  Even though shaken drinks are the majority, most of my favourites are still stirred drinks. If you want you can splurge on a mixing glass from one of the cocktail sites which are pretty but really expensive, or you can check IKEA. Their VARDAGEN or BENUNGE cups are pretty perfect for this (Link). He'll also need a cocktail spoon for stirring. Either buy one from the cocktail sites (Avoid those with the red tip), or find a neat pair of chopsticks. The chopsticks are untraditional, especially in the west, but are functionally as good or better as a spoon for most use cases.
  
  __
  
  Apart from gear to make cocktails, one thing which is always nice to get, is glasses for serving them in. I don't know if this applies to your dad, but some fancy stemmed glasses are always cool to get.
  
  
  
  If you're in Europe, check out Cocktailkingdom.co.uk or Cocktailian.de. Otherwise, Amazon is great (remember to check .co.uk and .de for better deals). I bought my shaker and cocktail spoon from Homestia.com, and am happy with them; good quality, great price, and arrived in a fancy box. The only downside is that I think they ship from China, so it might not arrive prior to christmas.

I only recommend Cocktail Kingdom or Barfly tools to pros who use them hard and can justify spending the money. I have stainless tools, of lesser quality, that I've used hard for 30 years. They still work as good as they did when new. I suppose a good analogy is automobiles. You can buy yourself a Toyota. It's affordable, reliable and does pretty much everything most of us ask of it. You can also get yourself a new BMW or Benz. Are the German cars nicer? Sure! But you pay for the luxury. The only things "Cocktail Kingdom" that I own are weighted tins that I purchased soon after they were released (many years ago). But I was Manhattan based and Cocktail Kingdom was the only brick and mortar store that actually carried weighted tins. Today, we have more options.

I know at least 6 pros who are very happy with this set @ <$40. You get the weighted tins, which is the biggest change in modern bartending. You also get a lifetime guarantee and Prime shipping. If you want one, you'll need to add a heavy-bottomed mixing glass for stirred cocktails, a Y-peeler and perhaps an OXO jigger and microplane. I suggest you save yourself some cash and put it towards ingredients. Otherwise, Barfly sells a decent kit for $171 that you'll still have to add to. Cocktail Kingdom is even more expensive.

TL/DR: The fancy tools aren't necessary at all. If you want the Cadillac of bar gear, however, go for it.

Depends on the alchohol and if you like sweet or dry drinks. The beautiful thing about cheap alcohol is that it's perfect for cocktails. Never mix good alcohol with cheap mixers. Using a good Rye whiskey with coke or ginger ale is a waste, but mixing it with Absinthe, Peychaud's bitters, a sugar cube and shaken over ice will yield my favorite cocktail a Rye Sazerac.

Here's my suggests for the basics

Vodka: Moscow Mule
Ingredients: 4 oz Ginger beer, 1 1/2 oz Vodka, 1/6 oz Lime juice, and mint to taste. It's important to either muddle the mint or to slap it against tour hand a few times to get those oils to come out and flavor the cocktail.

Rum: Dark and Stormy
Ingredients: 2 ounces Gosling's or Myers's dark rum, 5 ounces ginger beer, Lime wedge.

Tequila: Classic Margarita
Ingredients: 2 ounces tequila, 1 ounce triple sec (orange schnapps mixer 15% alchohol), 1 lime, add simple syrup to taste. Salted rim or splash of OJ optional.

Whiskey or Bourbon: Old Fashioned
Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Bourbon or whiskey,
  
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters,
  
• 1 Sugar cube, orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
  
  Muddle cherry orange and sugar cube with the dashes of bitters. Pour whiskey over top.
  
  Gin: don't buy cheap gin....gin isn't like vodka. Gin has a different flavor depending g on the brand. My favorite brand Hendricks had notes of cucumber and rose tips in it and is amazing in a variety of drinks.
  
  Best recipe I can do for gin: Tom Collins
  Ingredients: 2 ounces gin, .75 ounce lemon juice, and .5 ounce simple. Pour over ice and stir.
  
  Another option is to just use lemonade. Never shake gin and you'll bruise the juniper in the spirit and really take away from the liquor.
  Get yourself one of these a shaker and a cocktail book. Start experimenting.
  
  
  
  This channel has some decent drink receipts if you're looking for some.
  
  
  
  Prost!

I don't know what a "tip-jigger" is, but I use this guy and it's fantastic. Has measurements in tablespoons and ounces and it looks pretty slick too.

Or these.

Though, to date, I've been more of a funnel guy and just picked up a jigger recently.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/

Just a lot easier to pour. You should be able to find them locally no problem too.

Personally, I think this cocktail would be better up than on the rocks, but that's really your call.

I would definitely batch everything except the citrus and then do 2.5 oz of batch and .5 oz of citrus juice to order. If you're concerned about keeping up with volume, you might want to invest in some OXO measuring cup jiggers like these. If you look very closely inside the jigger, there's a dimple near the pour spout--that marks 3 oz. So you can measure .5 lemon and then just fill to the dimple with batch. It's less accurate, but it's fine for high-volume settings and it's much faster than jiggering with a Japanese or American jigger.

Anyway, it seems like you have a pretty good handle on things! Best of luck and let me know if I can help!

Bar spoon

Tin

Hawthorne strainer

Jigger

This is a fairly cheap startup kit that will cover your bases.

Old Fashioneds are stirred in the rocks glass directly. Bitters, simple syrup, orange peel -> muddle -> add ice -> add whiskey -> stir til diluted properly.

Use a pint glass with the tin for shaken cocktails. You can also use a pint glass for stirred cocktails that are served up (Manhattan, Martini). Throw down on a Yarai mixing glass if you get really serious, they're awesome.

If you decide to get more serious tools, I've got a ton of stuff from Cocktail Kingdom - really high quality, sees 4 days a week of hard bar use and a bit of work at home, but not cheap. I'd start with their shaken kit, add a spoon and a muddler, and possibly a Yarai glass and fine mesh strainer. Their shipping is a little outrageous, so I usually pick up as much as I can at once to justify it.

Somebody here pointed me to this which works very well. I forget who it was, not an original idea though.

You mean the little buckets? I just picked up an old darkroom jigger that I think I could build most things in. I’ll let you know.

For friends, I use a mixing glass and strain.

For myself, I go for convenience and build in my measuring cup.

• I put a large ice cube in a 5.1 oz whiskey glass and put that in the freezer.
  
• Then I add 2 oz of spirit to a 2 oz Oxo measuring cup. (e.g. Buffalo Trace bourbon)
  
• I add the sweetener and bitters to the cup. (e.g. 2 bar spoons simple syrup, 3 dashes Angostura bitters)
  
• I add a small ice cube to the cup and carefully slosh it back and forth with the bar spoon until the ice melts.
  
• I retrieve the glass and fresh large ice cube from the freezer and pour in the cocktail from the mixing cup.

The basics:
Shaker: http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Cocktail-Shaker-Set-Stainless/dp/B000796F1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017012&sr=8-1&keywords=cocktail+shaker

Spoon: http://www.amazon.com/RSVP-Endurance-Stainless-Steel-Handle/dp/B000F7JY00/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017049&sr=8-3&keywords=cocktail+spoon

Muddler: http://www.amazon.com/Tablecraft-H4258-Stainless-Muddler-Plastic/dp/B0032FOQY6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017078&sr=8-8&keywords=cocktail+muddler

My fav strainer: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-1058016-SteeL-Cocktail-Strainer/dp/B0000DAQ93/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017130&sr=8-1&keywords=cocktail+strainer

Jigger: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017174&sr=8-6&keywords=oxo+measuring+cup

These few things should get her to a good start. If she prefers a Boston Shaker (http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Cocktail-Shaker-oz/dp/B000NNO2X0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017243&sr=8-6&keywords=cocktail+shaker), all you'll need is a typical pint glass to go with it.

Oh, you've gotta get these big ice cube trays. Only way to enjoy your cocktail, if you're serious about your drinks.(http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-KING-Cube-Trays-Blue/dp/B00395FHRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017434&sr=8-1&keywords=big+ice+cube+tray).

Does she has glassware? Collins glasses, old fashioned glasses, highballs? Might be good to look for some of those too. Also, people often give away glassware on Craigslist for free or for next to nothing.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back to this. Should get you off to a good start though.

Not to mention those small compartments would be a bitch to clean 2:1 simple syrup out of. All pouring "problems" solved without any gimmick: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6LUAPW

I like using this one or it's plastic counterpart, although the plastic one doesn't have a 3/4 mark which is odd.

I'm a bit behind schedule from my "back in 30." You may notice in my assembled ingredients pic the plastic graduated shot recycled from some long-ago bottle cough syrup. I fell back to that because in assembling that picture I fumbled my nice glass graduated shot and shattered it on the floor, necessitating a thorough sweeping. Now I finally have the impetus to order one of these. Also that glass shot, got from some thrift store, inexplicably had teaspoons graduated at 4 per tablespoon...

As you may recall from the book the parentheticals are direct quotes and he wasn't lying about the orange juice (the bracketed "repeat as needed" is my own and we'll just see how this evening goes). I'll use concentrate in a pinch but fresh squeezed is really where it's at. Tonight I only had some clementines and they added a certain bitterness but I like that. I think the Luxardo syrup is fine, just a different fruity complexity than the pomegranate. Here's the final result. I'm glad I didn't fumble that glass, an exceedingly fragile gift from a neighbor.

The drink remains fantastic to me, if in this case a bit flat at the beginning of the sip, probably just because it's less sweet than usual. That flatness, not unlike a dark chocolate milk, gives way quickly to a shifting complexity as multicolored desert sands making and remaking a dunescape, really everything for which I started mixing cocktails in the first place. This feels like a drink with which I could both start and end a perfect day.

Mixing it I looked up to notice the cover art of Typhoon's Hunger & Thirst on my radio and momentarily thought it appropriate but now I'm not sure that's an orange, or what it is at all in fact. In any case I shook vigorously at the disjointed end of Belly of the Cavern and it felt apropos:

all my life i've spent wasting time, wasting my time
just to forget again but i don't mind
i'll take my medicine and i will be fine

I agree with grerab, you definitely want to start small and build it up. Nothing feels worse than buying an expensive liqueur that is a "required" bottle for a bar only to find out that you don't enjoy any drinks that use it. That said, it's pretty safe to have a nice high quality bottle each of whiskey (bourbon or rye), gin, and rum.

I'm a "buy once, cry once" kind of person when it comes to tools. You can find some lovely vintage cocktail coupes at antique stores for a reasonable price that will add a lot of character to your bar. I also like the quality of the basic tools available from Cocktail Kingdom, if a touch overpriced.

Again, to echo grerab, I would also suggest a long-handled bar spoon, Boston shaker set, hawthorn strainer, and one of these jiggers. If you find you like a lot of drinks with citrus and want to forego the citrus juicer, I would suggest at least picking up a cheap tea strainer to catch all of the bits from your fingers.

I'm not affiliated with this author in any ways, but I always suggest Dave Stolte's website and book to anyone getting started.

I use my trusty OXO jigger... love those things.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/

If you make cocktails, ever, one of these will do you good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00B6LUAPW/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1503884161&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=jigger&dpPl=1&dpID=31ptFJfmK-L&ref=plSrch

I don't mean to shill but like... It's why I'm here