How to Muddle Fruit

Unlike muddling herbs, which requires a light touch, muddling fruit calls for force. In the case of fruits with rinds, like lemons or limes, you want to press hard to release the oils in the skin and the juice in the fruit. If you’re crushing up berries or stone fruits, you want to squish the heck out of them for as much juice as possible. There are times for restraint. This isn’t one of them.

Tools

Muddler with teeth
Pint glass or shaker tin

Step One

Place your fruit into a sturdy glass like a pint glass or shaker tin. Set the glass on a hard, stable surface.

Step Two

Following the recipe, add any ingredients that need to be muddled with the fruit like bitters, sugar or simple syrup.

Step Three

Insert your muddler into the glass at a slight angle and press down hard (but not so hard as to break the glass). Twist the muddler to extract all that juicy, zesty goodness. When you have gotten all that you can out of the fruit, stop muddling and continue to build and prepare your cocktail.