Strainer

What is a strainer?

The strainer is the gatekeeper between tool and glass: as soon as a drink is properly cold and properly diluted, the strainer separates it from the ice and lets it run cleanly into the glass. Cold and dilution belong in the drink, ice cubes, herb bits and fruit pulp do not, and that is exactly what the sieve watches over. Straining, by the way, is as old as bars themselves: already in the bar books of the 19th century, for example with Jerry Thomas, straining is simply part of the recipe.

The three classics

• The Hawthorne strainer: the icon with the coil. The spring sits on the rim of the shaker tin, seals it off and catches ice chips and pulp while the drink flows through the holes of the plate. Its home is the tin of the Boston shaker.
• The julep strainer: flat, with a large handle and many small holes. It sits inside the mixing glass rather than on the rim, and it is the classic partner for everything that gets stirred, the technique behind it is in our mixing glass entry.
• The fine strainer: fine-meshed and often shaped like a tea strainer. It comes into play in addition to the Hawthorne when a drink needs to become perfectly clear, which makes it half the work of double straining, the technique has its own entry.

Who pairs with whom

Behind the bar every sieve has its fixed partner:

• Shaker and Hawthorne: the coil seals, the tin releases the drink
• Mixing glass and julep strainer: flat on the glass, the stirred drink stays clear
• Fine strainer at the finish: it catches what slips past the Hawthorne

Remember: the Hawthorne belongs to the shaker, the julep strainer to the mixing glass, the fine strainer makes the finish.

Why drinks get strained

• The ice stays out: once the dilution is right, the ice has done its job, and in the glass it would only keep diluting. Dilution is the ingredient, over-diluting is the mistake, as our dilution entry puts it.
• The bits stay behind: pieces of herbs, pulp and small spice parts do not make it through the sieve
• The drink flows with control: a clean stream instead of a gush, landing right in the pre-chilled glass

Distinction: strainer and double strain

The strainer is the tool family, double straining is the doubling: when a drink gets double strained, it runs through a fine sieve in addition to catch the last floating particles. Tool and technique, both have their own entry, and together they make the drink crystal clear.

At our lounge

When a drink runs through the sieve at the bar, the sound is quiet, but the result is clear. The coil tells you about the shaker, the flat sieve about the mixing glass, and the fine strainer about a drink that is meant to turn crystal clear. Feel free to ask, the sieve usually tells you half the story of the drink.