The jigger is an essential for every (home) bartender as balancing each ingredient within a cocktail is the key to making a great drink. Therefore, the accuracy with which ingredients are measured is critical to the finished cocktail. Enter the jigger: saving us all from a fate of disproportioned cocktails.

A traditional jigger is made of stainless steel with two opposing cones in an hourglass shape on the end of a rod. It is named for the unit of liquid it typically measures, a 1.5 fluid ounce (~44 ml) jigger or shot. Counting pours (measuring shots by counting time and estimating the amount of liquid flowing through a bottle’s spout) is impressive, but a good jigger is your key to making great cocktails without the possibility of getting it wrong.

So, next time you’re in the store, pick up a jigger to ensure that every cocktail is perfectly poured.
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