According to Grubstreet.com, the debate of free-pouring vs. jiggering is something to heavily consider in the coming weeks for people who are planning on tending bar at their holiday festivities, or maybe just curious about the “logistics of Mixology.”
The jigger, an hourglass-shaped piece used to accurately measure liquids, is seen in several cocktail establishments as an essential tool, exercising precision and accuracy in every drink. The free-pour is what it sounds like, pouring based on sight, second-counting, an overall feel for the right amount being poured. The free-pour is being seen as outdated, whereas the jigger is making its comeback.
Gary Regan and Eben Freeman, two very well-established mixologists, weighed in on this debate, with Regan being for the free-pour, and DeGroff for the jigger.
Regan describes a method for free-pouring which utilizes a counting method; four seconds equals two ounces. “If you learn how to free-pour using the method I just described to you it’s so damn easy. It becomes instinctual.”
Freeman sides with the jigger saying its less about aesthetics and more about practicality, because of the amount of money a bar manager is saving by being precise with liquor pours. “A lot of bartenders do use jiggers more for show-they fill up the jigger most of the way, empty it in, and then keep pouring from the bottle, thinking they’re adding what was missing from the jigger, which is basically free-pouring. It is a growing trend, but more than a trend, it’s the easiest argument to make for accuracy.”
So which way reigns supreme? It’s up to you!
