Pour Spouts ain’t really sexy, but every bartender uses them. In this review, I talk about the two most popular types of pour spouts: the Spill Stop 285-50 Metal Pourer and the Spill Stop Plastic Pourer.

You can watch the review of me bumbling on about pour spouts (I may have had a drink or two before this) but the nuts and bolts boil down to this:

• Spill Stop 285-50 Metal Pourers are the standard for most bars and flair competitions.

• Spill Stop Plastic Pourers are perfect for everyday practice.

The 285-50 metal pourers are consistent in their pour and they work like a pour spout should – perfectly every time. They’re usually around $1 apiece. They should last a long time for with normal bartending use; however, flair bartenders can go through them like popcorn if they’re not careful. They are made up of 3 pieces which can come apart when they’re banged up or slammed on the floor – which is what we flair bartenders occasionally do. Unfortunately, they will also stab you like a mother#$%$ and make your palm bleed if you catch them wrong. Which is why…

Plastic pour spouts are perfect for everyday practice. They’re made up of 1 piece of molded plastic, so they’re durable as heck. They’re also cheap – usually about $5-7 for a 25-pack. They also come in all kinds of pretty colors which is nice, if that’s your thing. The only reason I don’t prefer these for working behind a bar or during a competition is that they often suffer a “hiccup” if you turn the bottle upside down to pour too quickly. If liquid rushes at the pour spout all at once (when turned upside down quickly), it can take the air a second or two to enter the bottle through the spout, causing a slightly annoying pause before pouring. In general, they work just fine for most scenarios but when you’re flipping bottles or moving really fast, they can slow down your game.

Practice with the plastic, perform with the metal.

 

• Posted 2013-10-17  | 
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