Although the popularity of cocktail shakers indeed waned shortly after the “Mad Man” era of the 1950s and 1960s, they’re now back with a vengeance. More and more consumers have discovered mixed drinks once again and have begun to whip up their own alcohol-infused libations at home. It’s why we’ve decided to write this article on buying and using the best cocktail shakers available. We sincerely hope that this guide not motivates our readers to equip their own home bar with a cocktail shaker, but we hope it also inspires them to make some great drinks at home for their friends and family.
List of the Best Cocktail Shakers
- Best Overall: Appolab Stainless-Steel Boston Cocktail Shaker Bar Set (Amazon) – Review
- Best Value: Cresimo 4-Piece Boston Shaker Bartender Set (Amazon) – Review
- Best Affordable: Cresimo 24-Ounce Budget Cocktail Shaker Set (Amazon) – Review
- Also Consider: Godinger Dublin 17-Ounce Martini Shaker (Amazon) – Review
Best Overall: Appolab Stainless-Steel Boston Cocktail Shaker Bar Set
Anyone looking to buy a cocktail shaker for the first time not only needs the shaker itself but also needs accessories to go with it. Accessories that allow alcohol to be doled out in proper dosages, to grasp ice and to help pour the liquor. Fortunately, this cocktail shaker set comes with everything the home bar owner needs to get set up for making drinks. The accessories that come with this set include a muddler, double jigger, ice tongs, a strainer, four liquor pourers, and two bottle stoppers. That’s everything a person needs to start mixing up drinks. Think of it as a way to almost instantly stock a bar with the cocktail tools needed for a great time.
This set also comes with an 800ml stainless steel shaker that has a mirror finish and is resistant to denting, scratching and rusting. This shaker provides a watertight seal that’s great for shaking drinks and is very easy to handle. To go along with this shaker, there’s a 600ml shaker tin that completes the package.
It’s also great to see that this set is packaged in such a way that allows it to be easily given away as a gift for Christmas, house warming parties or weddings. And since it’s a high-quality and well-crafted set, we’re sure that it’s going to provide whoever receives it with the tools they need to make an assortment of drinks. Drinks that include Dry Martinis, Margaritas, Mint Juleps or Mojitos.
Best Value: Cresimo 4-Piece Boston Shaker Bartender Set
We understand that not everyone wants or needs the best cocktail shaker in the world, or one with a ton of different accessories either. Some people just need a reliable shaker set that comes with the basic tools and doesn’t cost a small fortune. And it’s for these people that we discovered this great shaker set. It’s a high-quality set that will provide the home bartender with years of service and it’s one that’s a great value. Although the shaker lid on this set is difficult to remove at first, after a little bit of practice, just about anyone will be shaking and mixing up drinks like a true professional. Let’s take a look at what makes this set such a great value, shall we?
The first thing we’d like to mention about this Boston shaker set is the professional shakers. This set comes with a 28 oz and 18 oz shaker, and each of them fit together well, and each is made with 18/8 stainless steel. The shaker’s surfaces are easy to clean, and because they’re made out of stainless steel, they won’t corrode over time. This set also comes with a handy cocktail strainer and a double jigger. In our estimation, that’s just about everything a person needs to start mixing up some of their favorite drinks.
Best Affordable: Cresimo 24-Ounce Budget Cocktail Shaker Set
Consumers who are searching for an even more inexpensive cocktail shaker set might want to think about giving this set a try. Okay, it might be somewhat of a misnomer to call it a set because it only consists of three pieces, but it’s enough to get most people started on mixing their own cocktails. This set comes with an 18/8-grade stainless steel shaker that has a 24-ounce capacity and has a strainer built right into it.
It also has a top that fits on top of this shaker. Unfortunately, the seal of the shaker isn’t the best, so if the top and the shaker isn’t held together tightly, then it is prone to leaking. Not a huge deal, but something that consumers might want to consider before purchase.
Fortunately, this product is backed by the manufacturer’s two-year warranty, so users should get some peace of mind from that fact. This “set” also comes with an illustrated cocktail recipe guide, so the consumer can immediately put the shaker to good use at their home bar. It doesn’t matter if the consumer wants to make Apple Martini’s, Long Island Iced Teas, or Whiskey Sour, this set is ready to perform up to their expectations. And since this set is so inexpensive, it’s a good one for beginners to start with to see if they even like shaking their own cocktails.
Also Consider: Godinger Dublin 17-Ounce Martini Shaker
We couldn’t resist adding this martini shaker to our list because we feel it’s one of the most attractive and classic looking cocktail shakers we’ve ever seen. And that’s not surprising considering that the company that manufactures it, Godinger, has been making handcrafted wedding gifts, barware, candlesticks, tea sets and frames since the early 1970s.
This is a company that’s known for making fabulous gifts made out of pewter or silver, stainless steel, and crystal. So the fact that they made a Dublin martini shaker that’s made out of lead-free crystal wasn’t a surprise at all. The only thing that surprised us was the fact that we hadn’t noticed this beautiful shaker sooner.
This martini shaker has a 17-ounce strainer and comes with a chrome metal lid and strainer. If there was anything that we didn’t like about this shaker, it has to be the way that the metal lid occasionally sticks to the strainer and can sometimes be difficult to remove. However, even that slight flaw isn’t enough for us to disregard the value of this great cocktail shaker. It’s not only useful, but it’s beautiful enough to become a true centerpiece of any bar. It’s also a shaker set that’s perfect for giving as wedding presents, birthday presents, or for giving away to friends and family for Christmas.
A Handy Guide To Cocktail Shakers
For many people reading this article, it will be the first time they’ve ever considered using a cocktail shaker. Sure, they may have seen them used at their local watering hole, but they may not have considered getting one for their home. On the other hand, there may be other people who are reading this article who already have considerable experience buying and using cocktail shakers. That’s okay because we’ve designed this article to be useful to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen a cocktail shaker in your life or if you use one every day. We’ve designed this guide to educate everyone who reads it on this subject. We’re confident that anyone who reads this guide will find some little nugget of information that they’ll find useful, so let’s jump right into the thick of things with a discussion on how to buy the best cocktail shaker available.
This guide will help consumers buy the best cocktail shaker. And when we say the best, what we mean is not a cocktail shaker that’s great according to someone else’s standard. No, we mean one that suits the user’s needs and provides them with the tool that he or she needs to make a great mixed drink. So let’s look at what consumers should consider when buying a new shaker.
Step One: Consider The Type Of Shaker
In today’s market, consumers have four different types of cocktail shakers available to choose from, and each of these types of shakers has its own pros and cons. The four shakers that consumers usually have to select from including the Boston Shaker, The Cobbler Shaker, The French Shaker, and the Dublin Shaker. Let’s take a quick look at each of these shaker types to see if they may be beneficial to you and the way that you mix drinks.
The Boston Shaker
This shaker comes with two metal pieces that fit together. Traditionally, it consists of a 28 fluid-ounce bottom part and a 16 fluid-ounce top part. These two pieces are usually made out of stainless steel, but some models are made out of glass or plastic. The top and bottom parts insert inside each other for shaking, but each of them can also be used for stirring drinks or for muddling drinks. Some of these models have built-in strainers, an innovation that goes back to the 1870s, but other ones either feature a separate removable strainer or none at all.
The Cobbler Shaker
This cocktail shaker set consists of 3-parts that are designed to taper at the top and have a built-in strainer. This shaker also features a cap as well. The cap can be removed so that it can be used to measure various liquors or other ingredients for the cocktail. This shaker is often considered to be the workhorse of shakers because it can be used in a variety of different ways for making martinis and other cocktails.
The French Shaker
The French Shaker is another innovative cocktail shaker that more and more people are beginning to use. It’s a 2-piece shaker that consists of a metal cap and a metal bottom. This makes this a simple shaker that doesn’t have a lot of parts that can end up getting lost. However, because of its simplicity, the consumer is going to either have to buy a strainer separately or master the technique of using the two halves to strain solids from the cocktails being poured.
The Dublin Shaker
This is another type of shaker that’s beginning to gain in popularity. These shakers are made out of leaded crystal that has been etched with beautiful designs, so they’re very ornamental as well as useful. They also have a metal cap and sometimes they’re equipped with a built-in strainer as well. These shakers are not only attractive enough for display in just about any bar, but they also work quite well. And because they look so good, they also make great gifts for weddings, birthdays, or other special occasions.
Step Two: Consider The Accessories
The final thing that the consumer is going to want to consider is the accessories that may or may not come with the shaker. Some shakers come with little more than the shaker itself, while others come with a whole suite of accessories. How few or many accessories that are needed are completely up to the consumer and whether they already have cocktail shaker accessories or not. Below are some of the more common tools that often come with some of the bigger shaker sets available.
List Of Common Cocktail Shaker Accessories:
- Muddlers
- Strainers (Hawthorne, Fine Mesh, & Julep Varieties)
- Stirrers
- Jiggers
- Mixing Spoons
- Liquor Pourers
- Liquor Caps