More cocktails developed in the last 10 years than probably any decade since Prohibition; some of them have emerged as modern classics.

via Scientists With Cocktail Shakers – NYTimes.com.

Techniques to know:

– Measuring

– Shaking

– Stirring

– Straining

– Muddling

– Making a citrus twist

– Using herbs

– Rimming glasses

– Chilling glasses

– Rinsing glasses

Read more about each bartending technique at How to be a superstar bartender.

Rounding out my kit is a pair of bamboo tongs, a small Microplane grater for cinnamon and nutmeg, a channel knife for doing long strips of zest and my desert-island tool, the clam knife: a dull, short, pointed blade I employ for everything from opening blister packs to prying off stuck bottle caps — in short, all the tasks you don’t want to dull your good knives with.

via Case Study | Stocking the Bar – T Magazine Blog – NYTimes.com.

Chris Raph is the new world’s fastest bartender, verified by the Guinness Book of World Records. He smashed the old record of 389 cocktails by making 662!

via Burnsville bartender shatters cocktail record .