Stirring sticks

Choose the length to suit your tallest glass. A stirrer of 18 cm just clears a highball glass and stays visible; in a tall hurricane or a tulip-shaped beer glass it disappears and you are better off with the 20 cm version. If the stirrer sticks out too far, it tips over when you set the glass down and drags the garnish with it.

After that it is a question of finish. Stainless steel stays neutral in colour and suits almost any bar. Copper is warmer in tone and works well with tiki, with mule-style drinks and anywhere copper mugs are already on the table. The shape of the top decides the rest: the pineapple suits tropical serves, the shaker suits a classic bar and the flat disc is the most neutral choice when the stirrer is purely there to stir. The shaker version is available as a set of six, which is handy when you serve a whole table at once.

Set the stirrer against the wall of the glass and stir with short, vertical strokes from bottom to top, not in circles. That brings the heavier syrup up from the bottom without smashing the ice; ice that splinters dilutes your drink too fast. With a mojito or a caipirinha, press the mint or lime down first with the broad end.

Always serve a highball with the stirrer in it, top turned towards the guest. With stirred drinks in a coupe the stirrer stays out: those drinks are finished the moment they hit the glass, and stirring at the table breaks the temperature.

Stainless steel needs the least care: it can go in the dishwasher, does not discolour and takes acidic drinks without tarnishing. Copper needs a little more attention. Contact with air and citrus gives the surface a dark glow in time, which some bars find rather handsome and others polish away with a soft cloth and a little lemon juice.

Wash copper stirrers by hand and dry them straight away, because a long dishwasher cycle attacks the coating and leaves spots. Store them upright in a holder or flat in a drawer, so the decorative top does not bend.

For garnish you push through the drink rather than alongside it, there are cocktail picks, and for real stirring in a mixing glass you use one of the bar spoons. The glassware these stirrers come into their own in is with the highball glasses and the cocktail glasses. For the drinks themselves, head to the mojito and the Cuba Libre; the rest of the kit is with the bar tools.