Muddling, Muddlers, and Muddled Drinks

[thirtyoneknots]

you can probably decimate the mint all you want.... as long as you run it through a cocktail sieve before you serve it....

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If you aren't careful this can sometimes lead to bitterness in the drink. I think it has to do with your mint and maybe even the time of year (in regads to how it has affected the mint).

[ada]

What's a decent substitute for muddling mint leaves? Blender? Shaking?

[jsmeeker]

What's a decent substitute for muddling mint leaves? Blender? Shaking?

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why not muddle? Is it because you don't have an "official" muddler?

If that's the reason, get creative. Use the end of a tapered rolling pin or the end of a citrus reamer. That's what I do.

[phlip]

Big ice. If your ice is big enough there isn't any need to muddle mint. You'd just over work it. Otherwise your only other option than muddling in the case of berrys or fruits would make a puree ahead of time with a food processor. But than its not as fresh, can go bad, and wasted. Why not muddle?

[ada]

I had this delicious cocktail at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park today. I asked for the recipe, and it called for muddling mint. When I later told my bartender son about it, he told me that they no longer muddle at his place of work, and they shake, shake, shake when making mohitos. I was wondering if this is the best way after muddling. I don't mind if I am making a few drinks, but I remember having a large party and the muddling, in addition to everything else that needed to be done was a pain.

[hathor]

I have a muddle mentor: Weinoo.

He taught me that over working mint makes it bitter. On my own I learned that I don't have a strainer fine enough and bits of green stuck to your teeth are just not sexy.

You've already picked apart and cleaned all the mint leaves, the muddling is just one more step in the process.

My Muddle Mentor is teaching me that sometimes you cannot cut corners and I must know when not to over do it.

[HungryChris]

Make a simple syrup with boiling water, sugar and mint, kind of a mint sweet tea. I have tried the puree and find the pulp annoying.

HC

[slkinsey]

It used to be the case that all the mint drinks I made were either not shaken or sufficiently strongly flavored to mitigate any bad effects of hard shaking (the Juniperotivo comes to mind). As a result, it was my practice to shake hard with big ice and double-strain through a fine strainer. At some point, I started making some more subtly flavored shaken mint cocktails, and quickly learned what can result from overworking the mint: bitter, brackish flavors and an off-brown colored drink. Most drinks with overworked mint need extra sweetness, richness, tartness or flavor to compensate. The Juniperotivo has all four in spades, but usually the main compensation is sweetness -- hence, the super-sweet Julep.

These days, if the cocktail calls for mint shaken with the ice, I'm more likely to give the mint a few taps with a muddler and roll the drink with cracked ice between two large metal mixing tins. Maybe one day I'll be able to toss it in an arc from one tin to the other old-school style.

Ada, a few thoughts:

First, you can use practically anything for muddling. I've seen video of someone making good use of the wooden handle of a potato masher. Also, if you like making cocktails, why not pick up a muddler? They can be had quite inexpensively.

Second, and with all due respect to your bartending son, non-cocktailian bartenders take all kinds of shortcuts all the time. Just because the people at his bar are shaking the heck out of their Mojitos doesn't mean it's a good idea. I would argue that it's not a good idea, and actually don't quite understand why they would be shaking a Mojito anyway. What it is, most likely, is easier and faster than gently muddling and building the drink in the glass. That's all good and well if you're working in a place that does tons of volume and where people the customers aren't expecting the pinacle of refined mixology, but there's no reason you shouldn't do better at home.

HungryChris: IMO mint syrup tastes not right. Definitely no substitute for fresh mint, and it degrades too rapidly to be practical. I don't want a cocktail made with week-old mint syrup.

(Edited to fix typos)

Edited March 21, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[HungryChris]

I was thinking more along the lines of making just a small batch of syrup for the occasion, as I agree with the week old observation. Heck, I can't see any reason not to muddle, frankly. I use the nonbusiness end of a wooden spoon to good effect. I also find that gently crushing mint between the fingers and wiping the leaves on the inside of the glass works well, but I wouldn't want to see a bartender do it that way.

HC

[slkinsey]

Right. I'm with you. All of these "muddling substitutions" with respect to fresh herbs (we also muddle citrus and other fruits) strike me as either unacceptably inferior to actual muddling, considerably more trouble than actual muddling, or most often, both. Making a mint syrup, for example, seems both more trouble and produces an inferior result compared to simply muddling the mint.

[Alchemist]

If I was making a mint syrup, I would not use hot water. I would make a simple syrup put it in the fridge, then loosely pack my blender with mint. Pulse a FEW TIMES. Let sit for 30-45 min. You will see it getting greener and greener. i would then hit it with some Angostura bitters.

On not having a muddler. A bottle with a secure top on it and a long neck. It's about the only use for bottles of Belvedere, and other vodka. I use the Wray and Nephew because it fits so nicely in my shakers.

Toby

[ada]

Thanks for the input. I have a pestle, so that should be okay.

[lperry]

I spent two weeks in Brazil drinking Caipirinhas, and now I want a muddler. (I've been faking it with handles from other kitchen tools). So I have a question for the cocktail experts.

If I understand correctly, balancing flavors in cocktails is very important. Because of this, I'm thinking that a muddler made from plastic or glass might be good because it will not absorb flavors from one drink and deposit them in another. My point of reference is my wooden cutting board that is dedicated to onions and shallots. Citrus and herb oils can also be pretty strongly flavored.

The issue, though is one of aesthetics. The wooden ones look so nice. Really nice. I like this one in particular. And the plastic ones look, well, plastic. And the glass one will inevitably bite the dust after a few drinks. And to top it off, most people who have responded here are using wooden ones.

So has anyone any problems with flavor transfer with a wooden muddler? Am I worrying about nothing?

[thirtyoneknots]

I spent two weeks in Brazil drinking Caipirinhas, and now I want a muddler.  (I've been faking it with handles from other kitchen tools).  So I have a question for the cocktail experts.

If I understand correctly, balancing flavors in cocktails is very important.  Because of this, I'm thinking that a muddler made from plastic or glass might be good because it will not absorb flavors from one drink and deposit them in another.  My point of reference is my wooden cutting board that is dedicated to onions and shallots.  Citrus and herb oils can also be pretty strongly flavored.

The issue, though is one of aesthetics.  The wooden ones look so nice.  Really nice.  I like this one in particular.  And the plastic ones look, well, plastic.  And the glass one will inevitably bite the dust after a few drinks.  And to top it off, most people who have responded here are using wooden ones. 

So has anyone any problems with flavor transfer with a wooden muddler?  Am I worrying about nothing?

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I would say that for the most part you are muddling the same kinds of things (lime, mint) in most drinks calling for muddling so the different flavors, if any, being transferred are minimal. I'm not a huge fan of muddling, I do it only out of necessity, but my experience is that the pungency of the liquor is going to overwhelm any trace flavors that might be carried by a wooden muddler. As long as you rinse it off thoroughly after use it should be fine.

[Tiare]

I`ve been using my wooden muddler for years and i haven`t noticed any problems with it. And yes, usually you muddle the same things.

[Chris Amirault]

Toby, in your Youtube video of the Southside (

), you really give that mint a few whacks -- not exactly Lizzie Borden territory but a lot more hammer-like than I would have guessed. I've tended to do a few press-and-turns when I muddle for French Pearls, but I'm game to change. Whither the five muddler pops?

[slkinsey]

I can't speak for Toby, but I think if you consider the stroke he's using there, you'll see that he's hardly applying any force to the muddler. If you're actually "pressing" the mint, you're applying more force -- and you're most definitely bruising more aggressively if you're pressing and turning. Also, the fist-sized bunch of fresh mint he's using means there is going to be a certain "cushioning" effect that will further lessen the force applied the herbage.

[Alchemist]

I am just starting to bruise the mint leaving the rest to the Kold-Draft. The bruising is to help infuse the liquids that are about to be donated to the shaker.

Toby