Bar technique
How to muddle and press fruit and herbs
Muddling crushes fruit, sugar or herbs in the bottom of the glass or tin to release juice, oils and aroma. Citrus and firm fruit can take a real press. Herbs need a light touch.
Mint is the one most people get wrong. Pressed gently it smells fresh; ground to pulp it turns grassy and bitter.
How to do it
- 1Put the fruit or herbs in the base of a sturdy glass or the small tin, with the sugar or syrup.
- 2For citrus wedges, press down and twist a few times to get both the juice and the oil from the peel.
- 3For mint and basil, press gently three or four times, just enough to bruise the leaves.
- 4Add the spirit and ice after muddling, never before.
- 5Taste and check: you want the flavour of the fruit, not bits of shredded leaf in every sip.
Common mistakes
- Shredding mint into small pieces that end up in the guest’s straw.
- A varnished wooden muddler. The coating wears off into drinks. Use plain wood or plastic.
- Muddling hard in a thin glass, which can crack it.
- Trying to muddle with ice already in the glass.
Related: crushed ice, swizzle and churn, fine straining, garnish.
