Americans have been perfecting the cocktail since the early 1800s. And it’s now hard to find a restaurant, bar, or club that doesn’t have a lengthy drinks menu. But you don’t have to be a professional mixologist to make a tasty sidecar or an old fashioned. The secret to home bartending is using the proper tools and equipment. We’ve put together a list of everything you need (besides premium spirits, of course) to make great cocktails at home. Just don’t blame us if you wind up making drinks for your friends all the time.

Shaker:
Even if you prefer your martini stirred, no bar would be complete without a shaker. Not only does it look cool, but shaking gives your cocktail a delicious frothiness. You can find this ubiquitous tool in all shapes and sizes, but to match your classic cocktails you need a classic shaker. Stephen Visakay, author of Vintage Bar Ware, recommends browsing  online for elegant vintage pieces.

Muddler:
A muddler is a professional bartender’s secret weapon. Not having one is the reason your at-home mojitos never taste quite right. The tool, which looks like a miniature baseball bat, is used to crush fresh fruit at the bottom of your shaker or glass. It’s also great for bruising mint leaves. The best muddlers, such as the TAG Muddler ($18, themodernmixologist.com) from celebrity bartender Tony Abou-Ganim’s line of tools, have fat barrels with lots of surface area to make grinding easy.

Juicer:
One way to make your cocktails immediately taste better is to use fresh fruit juice. It sounds obvious, but the difference is huge. The best bars juice dozens of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits each night. If you plan to make drinks often, it’s worth investing in an oversized juicer, such as the Amco Houseworks Ojex model ($120, www.focuspg.com). It’s constructed out of enameled cast iron and 18/10 stainless steel.

Mixers:
It seems criminal to mix premium vodka or gin with cheap, sugary tonic water or weak ginger ale. Some bartenders are even making their own tonic and ginger beer. But you can upgrade your mixers without getting into the soda business. This past summer the gourmet tonic water Q Tonic ($9.99 for a four-pack), which is made with quinine from the Peruvian Andes and organic agave syrup, was introduced. The British company Fever-Tree also sells a line of premium mixers, including a tonic made with African quinine, a tasty ginger ale, a bitter lemonade, and a highly carbonated club soda, which sell for $5.99 for a four-pack of bottles.   

Jigger:
Tom Cruise’s antics in the movie Cocktail made pouring shots freehand the modern style. But there’s no shame in actually measuring out your ingredients. It will also ensure that your drinks are consistent in taste. Kikkerland’s aluminum cube jigger ($24.95) is one of the handiest and best-designed tools you can have behind your bar. It features six common measurements. Designer Josh Owen was inspired by the shape of square Japanese sake cups.

Ice Crusher:
For the best mixologists, even something as simple as the right ice is very important. For most cocktails, you want to use the biggest ice cubes you can find, since they won’t melt immediately and water down your drink. (They’re also good for whisky served on the rocks.) But for drinks that call for crushed ice, you need a good ice crusher, such as one from Metrokane. They make quick work of ice cubes—perfect for mint juleps or for snow cones.     

Glassware:
The recipe for a great cocktail calls for more than just fresh fruits and premium spirits. Presentation is a key ingredient. And to impress your guests, you need the appropriate glasses. Riedel, known for its wine glasses, also makes 26 specialized glasses designed for different types of spirits, and another eight glasses, including the Riedel Vitis Martini glasses ($35.00 for a set of two), for specific types of cocktails.

Noah Rothbaum is the author of the new book The Business of Spirits: How Savvy Marketers, Innovative Distillers, and Entrepreneurs Changed How We Drink