Amusespot is pleased to represent Über Bar Tools, an Australian company specializing in a large selection of Bar Tools for the trade and home. The line is noted not only for its innovation but also its availability of tools is gold, copper, and stainless steel finishes. Additionally, the company stands behind many of its products with registration and guarantee programs. Amusespot recently sat down with co-founder Michael Silvers for a few questions. 

For a limited time take 15% off all Über orders with the code UBERTOOLS. Available here.

Michael Silvers is nothing if not enthusiastic about his Über Bar Tools company.  The energetic Australian says he leaps out of bed each morning, and wears his company’s umlauted “U” logo pendant around his neck.  “It’s the fuel that keeps me going,” he says of the business, which offers professional-quality, bespoke bar tools to both passionate cocktail culturists and bartenders, restaurants and hotels.  “It renews me daily as a business person.”

Silvers launched the company with partner Sam Tam, an industrial designer, in suburban Sydney in 2006–long before the un-umlauted transportation company came onto the scene.  But his fascination with all things bar goes back to his childhood.

“When I was about nine years old, my father built a man cave at home,” explains Silvers, “with a big bar that had about 70 bottles of spirits, beer steins on the wall and an ice machine. My father had a tremendous sense of hospitality, and we always had parties. That always impressed me.”

Years of travel also exposed him to bars and nightclubs around the world, where he observed the cocktail arts.  As a young adult, he and his brother joined his father in a men’s gift business (think decorative items, games, barware).  

In the early 2000s, he had epiphany as he sat in a bar and watched a bartender pour spirits to make drinks. “The generic liquor pouring devices waste a lot of alcohol, much of which winds up on the counter,” he says.  “The measures are inaccurate, so each drink tastes different.  Then and there, I decided to create the world’s best speed pourer–and Über Bar Tools was born.”

But things didn’t exactly flow smoothly at first for the company.  Aiming for a wholesale market, Silvers found that restaurant and hospitality supply companies were indifferent to the product.  Instead, he took the pourer to the end users–the bartenders–who were impressed with the product, gave Silvers input and requested more tools as well.

“Ten years later, we’ve got more than 70 patented items and we’re in more than 30 international markets,” says Silvers.  “We design our own products and oversee every step of the manufacturing process.”

And what are the products?  Shakers, strainers, muddlers, stirrers, ice picks, citrus presses, mugs, tweezers (so you can add those garnishes just so) and bar rolls–a set of bar tools in a roll-up case–so you can take your straight-up cocktail skills on the road. Most are crafted with durable stainless steel, but a few are also available in copper and gold finishes.  While the products are aimed at the professional market, the world’s current cocktail craze has made everyone an aspiring mixologist.

Silvers is always moving the product line forward, with about a dozen new tools in development at any given time. He still seeks inspiration by visiting pubs, bars and nightclubs around the world.

Does he have  a favorite bar or bartender?  Silvers is diplomatic. “I love them all.” He does, however, admit an admiration for Dale DeGroff (aka King Cocktail), the bartender, author and consultant widely credited with reviving the cocktail scene after his stint in New York’s Rainbow Room.  

At the end of the day, Silvers prefers lingering at his own home bar, where he kicks back with his favorite cocktail, a whiskey sour, made, of course, using Über Bar Tools.

Amusespot has a wide selection of Über Bar Tools available, ranging from shakers to fantastic ice picks to professional items like pour test kits and travel bar kits.Take 15% off all Über orders with the code UBERTOOLS
Available at Amusespot.