Bar spoon

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Bar spoon and jigger
Different bar spoons

A bar spoon ( English bar spoon or cocktail spoon , as a unit of measurement abbreviated to BL ) is a long-handled spoon that is used in the preparation of cocktails and is therefore one of the bar tools .

A bar spoon is used on the one hand to measure small amounts of liquid, but above all to stir mixed drinks that are not shaken in a cocktail shaker, but rather stirred in a mixing glass . The particularly long and often spiral-shaped handle makes it possible to move the liquids to be mixed and the ice in the mixing glass at high speed and thus to mix a stirred cocktail quickly and, above all, to cool it effectively.

to form

Bar spoons are mostly made of metal and are often made of polished or brushed stainless steel. They are almost always over 20 cm and often around 30 cm long. Since the 2000s, particularly long bar spoons originally from Japan with a length of up to 50 cm have also spread in European bars.

The end of a bar spoon opposite the spoon is traditionally designed as a small pestle . On the one hand, this forms a counterweight so that the spoon is better balanced during circular stirring. On the other hand, the pestle can be used to lightly press or “ muddle ” fresh fruit, herbs or spices in the glass or shaker (that is, to crush or muddle , from English to muddle 'to mess' ). Japanese bar spoons often have a fork instead of a pestle so that they can pick up fruit or garnishes, for example.

Use when stirring

Bar spoon in a mixing glass filled with ice cubes

When stirring with a bar spoon, the handle is held loosely between the fingers, rotated around its own axis with the wrist and at the same time the back of the spoon in the mixing glass is guided in a circle along the inside of the glass so that the complete ice cubes move in a circle as a block until the cocktail is cold enough and the mixing glass steams up on the outside.

Bar spoon as a unit of measure

A “bar spoon” (abbreviated BL) is also a certain amount of an ingredient used in cocktail recipes. This unit of measurement corresponds roughly to a teaspoon (see kitchen measurements ), i.e. 5  ml or 0.5 cl. The abbreviation BL is often used in recipes. In English-language recipes, the unit is often abbreviated to BS ( barspoon ) or TS ( teaspoon ).

Layers of cocktails

Finally, bar spoons are also used to achieve the desired stable layering of the individual ingredients when preparing pousse cafés , i.e. layered cocktails (e.g. as with the B52 ) by not pouring them directly, but carefully over the back of one The bar spoon held on the inside of the glass rim allows it to flow onto the heavier layer underneath.

Cocktail (drinking) spoon, ice cream spoon

In any case, bar spoons are only used to prepare cocktails and are not served with the finished drink. So they are not to be confused with the long- handled cocktail spoons or ice cream spoons , which with a length of around 20 cm look like elongated teaspoons and can be served with the drink to be stirred or the dessert to be spooned. If the stem itself is designed as a drinking straw, it is also called a cocktail spoon . But long drinks are often served with a stirrer , a simple stirring rod without a spoon.

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