Great Tools Maketh A Great Bartender - That, and the deft art of shaking a cocktail while flashing your megawatt smile a la Tom Cruise in the movie "Cocktail". While he may not exactly be famous for bartending any more, this is the movie that launched him into superstardom. If that's what nifty bartending skills can do for you, it's definitely worth equipping yourself with some great bartending tools.
While great tools may make a GREAT bartender, don't forget it is practice that will make you a PERFECT bartender. Here are some of the tools you'll need if you intend impressing your guests with your bartending skills.
Shaker
Used to mix two or more drinks that normally do not easily combine together, a shaker is an absolute must in any bartender's tool kit. Two of the most popular types of shakers are the two-piece Boston shaker and the three-piece Cobbler shaker.
The Boston shaker comprises of two tumblers; a glass tumbler that has a 500-ml capacity and a stainless steel tumbler that can hold up to 900 ml. Measure out the various ingredients including the spirits, liqueurs, mixers and ice and add them into the glass tumbler. When the metal tumbler is placed over the glass container, it forms a tight seal, allowing you to shake the cocktail without the fear of anything spilling. Most professional bartenders favor this shaker because of its ease in cleaning, which can be of great importance when you know you are going to be spending the night shaking cocktails.
The Cobbler Shaker is easier to use and is the one you will see in most households. This shaker is made up of three parts; a metal tumbler, a snug-fitting lid with a built-in strainer and a small cap that fits tightly over the lid. All you need to do is add the ingredients and ice to the tumbler, close tightly with the lid as well as the additional cover, shake well. When its done, simply open the outer cover and pour the drinks out through the strainer.
Corkscrew
Take your pick - there's plenty to choose from in a wide range of styles, from the zaniest to the most staid. You'll need it to open up that bottle of bubbly and for all kinds of wines as well. Buy the best one you can afford; it's worth it.
Jigger
More popularly called a bar measure because that's exactly what it does; a jigger is indispensable for measuring your ingredients accurately. Pouring the various alcoholic and non-alcoholic components in approximate quantities does not a good cocktail make. Too much alcohol will ruin a drink as much as too little will. Glass jiggers allow you to measure out only 1 oz at a time whereas steel jiggers are calibrated to measure a 'pony' or ¾ oz at one end and a 'jigger' or 1 ½ oz at the other.
Can/Bottle Opener
You'll need it for opening all kinds of bottled drinks from beers to coolers and juices.
Champagne Stopper
Not to be confused with other kinds of bottle stoppers, champagne stoppers are specially designed to keep the bubbly, well… bubbly. If champagne is a must at most of your parties, the champagne stopper cannot be far behind.
Ice Bucket and Tongs
Using tongs to pick up one ice cube at a time and drop it into your glass may test your guest's patience to the limit, especially if your guest is drinking scotch on the rocks, but it sure beats having anyone reach in and grab a few handfuls of ice.
Tools Of The Trade Stainless
Before you start optimizing your site for search engines, there are some tools that you should arm yourself with. These tools can become your best friends when it comes to SEO, especially when you're just starting out. The first and most important step in any search engine position campaign is recognizing which keywords you should optimize your site for, and there are several pieces of software that are useful for this, including Wordtracker, Optilink, Zeus, and Agent Web Ranking.
WordTracker's keyword research service is the only one on the Internet that provides a comprehensive database of the most popular keywords in a particular industry. It can help you recognize associated keywords that you may have never thought of. One of the differences between WordTracker and other tools is that it can spot subtle differences, for example singular and plural keywords, or often-misspelled ones, and tell you which versions are more popular.
Optilink has become very popular in a short period of time because of the power it gives you over search engines. Every site that links to you boosts your ranking, especially if its content is relevant to yours. Optilink helps you to come up with strategies to improve your link structure and get a better ranking. Here are some of the things it does:
1. Analyzes the link structures of your top-ranking competitors.
2. Tells you why your competitors rank well, so you can try to copy what they're doing.
3. Tells you what kind of rankings you can expect if you adopt similar linking strategies.
4. Helps to monitor sites you've exchanged links with, to ensure that they're still linking to you.
Zeus has an excellent way of increasing the link popularity of your site -- by exchanging with other sites that are related to yours, giving you a head start on your SEO. Zeus does the work for you, identifying sites that it thinks you should try to exchange links with. If you look for the sites yourself you'll often find it's not worth the time, but an SEO tool like Zeus lets you do it instantly. Once you've got links, you can manage and maintain them automatically.
Agent Web Ranking helps you to check your sites rankings ? this is good to see how your SEO efforts are working. Many people just optimize and submit, thinking the work is done, but they're wrong. You need to continuously check your site's rankings, and Agent Web Ranking is a reliable and quick tool for doing this.
The only real problem you might have with any of this software is that search engines can change the way they display their results, breaking the tools until their authors update them. This means that most position reporting software gets outdated very quickly. It's not that much of an issue, though, as most software is provided on a subscription basis with updates included, rather than bought only once.
If you really want to stay ahead in the SEO industry, you should try as many different tools as you can. By paying attention to what tools others are using and learning how they work, you will have the edge in the SEO market. So get out there, and download these SEO tools of the trade!
Both Lisa Paterson & Anton Cheranev are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Lisa Paterson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cooking Tips, Food and Drink and Cooking Tips. She might not be a bartender but she sure knows how to cook. You will find Lisa's easy to follow at www.A-Crock-Cook.com. Be sure to try one of her del. Lisa Paterson's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.
Anton Cheranev has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, SEO Search Engine Optimization and High Cholesterol. Anton Cheranev Has Created An Ultimate SEO Spy Software That Help You To Investigate Your Competitors' Websites & Reveal All Necessary Information To Dominate Over Them! More Info Here ==>. Anton Cheranev's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
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