Bar Service Mat 45 x 30cm, Rubber, Raised Edge

For bartenders who always work in the same spot on the bar and find that spot wet. It is a working square, not a strip for glasses: shaker, jigger and bottle sit on it while you pour, with room left to strain.

It suits a single station worked all evening. Bars with two or three bartenders in line usually already have a long mat along the front, and this one goes where the shaking really happens.

The difference from a long, narrow bar mat is the shape, and the shape follows the use.

A 60 or 70cm mat covers the front, where glasses stand in a row before they go out: it is long because the row is long, and narrow because a glass takes little room. This one is shorter and deeper because it covers the area where the hand moves back and forth between the ice, the tin and the bottle.

30cm of depth is what lets a full tin and a mixing glass stand side by side without one of them ending up off the mat, on the wood. On a 10cm strip they do not both fit, and whatever sits over the edge marks the spot you then wipe with the cloth.

The principle is the usual one: the ribbed surface keeps the tools on top and the liquid underneath.

What changes in service is that a spilt drop does not spread across the bar. It stays where it is, runs down between the ribs and collects underneath. The bar top stays dry after twenty drinks, and the cloth comes out at the end of the shift instead of every five minutes.

The raised edge works on the same principle for bigger spills: if half a jigger gets away, the liquid stays inside the edge instead of reaching the front of the bar and the feet of whoever is sitting there.

Then there is the noise, which nobody puts in the specifications. Rubber under the tin takes away the metallic knock each time it goes down. During peak service that sound comes a hundred times over, and the guests at the bar hear every one.

• Dimensions: 45 x 30cm
• Material: rubber
• Weight: 0.9kg
• Edge: raised on all four sides
• Brand: The Bars

Where you shake, not in the middle of the bar for symmetry. You find the spot by looking at where the bar top is most marked: that is where the drops land, and that is where the mat goes.

With the ice well in the centre, set it between the well and the front, so the path from ice to tin to glass stays on the rubber. If you pour standing in one place, keep it in front of the back bar.

It depends on what you need to protect, and the two do not rule each other out.

If the problem is the mixing area, this size covers all of it. If the problem is the row of glasses on the front, you need length: see the 60 x 20cm bar mat, the 70 x 10cm, or all the bar mats in the range.

Well-run bars have both, and they do two different jobs.

Lift it and rinse underneath, not just across the top.

The liquid collects on the underside, and that is where it starts to smell if left. It is the reason bar service mats get thrown away after a season, and it has nothing to do with the rubber: it depends on how often the mat was turned over.

A rinse at the end of service and drying in the air are enough. Dry it flat, so it keeps lying flat on the bar. If syrup or sugar goes on it, rinse straight away rather than at the end of the shift: once dry between the ribs, it only comes off with a brush.

FAQ

How big is it? 45 x 30cm, deep enough for a full tin and a mixing glass side by side.

Does it stay put on the bar? It weighs 0.9kg, and that weight keeps it still under a full tin.

How do I clean it? Lift it, rinse underneath where the liquid collects, and let it dry flat.

The more you buy, the less you pay: 4 pieces -5%, 6 -7%, 8 -10%, on the same item.

Dispatched from Rome, Italy. 15-day returns, free of charge. Questions before you order? Message us on WhatsApp on +39 351 929 6937.