I have long thought the art of the muddle is one of the easiest ways to take an ordinary drink and make it a perfect drink. For example, how many times have you been at a bar, ordered a vodka tonic and gotten the lime wedge on the rim of the glass. Of course, most people squeeze the lime and drop it in (or accidently squirt it into their spouse’s eye). Next time you are making such a drink at home try the art of the muddle. The simple muddler tool is all you need for this experiment.
Take a rocks glass and place a lemon or lime wedge (your preference) in the bottom. Use the rule of four when muddling. Place the muddler on the fruit and press down and twist four times with medium pressure. Then place a scope of ice in the glass on top of the pressed fruit and juices and then add your vodka and tonic and stir and sip. You will be shocked how that simple muddle will transform the drink from typical to stupendous by releasing not only the juices of the fruit but also the oils in the rind.
I use the four turns muddle for most drinks since you don’t want to destroy the fruit in the example above or the herbs for drinks like the mojito. Four turns medium pressure is just enough to let out the flavors and oils without creating a messy looking drink. There are also times where a pulverizing muddle is required, like I use for my root beer old fashioned. In those instances, you will likely strain the drink so no harm, no foul extracting every ounce of flavor you can.
Muddling is easy to do, takes 15 seconds to clean the muddler, and take a typical drink and elevates it to the perfect drink. Take time and experiment with the art of the muddle, and soon enough you be muddling through while drinking some fantastic cocktails.
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