Muddlers

Start with the head. A toothed or ribbed head grips lime wedges and sugar cubes better and is what you want for heavy work. A flat head is gentler and better for mint, because it presses rather than tears. Then look at the length in relation to your glass: 25 centimetres is enough for a tumbler, and 26.5 centimetres also gives you room in a tall highball glass without your knuckles hitting the rim. The material mainly determines the weight and the feel in your hand. Plastic is light and safe against glass, wood sits warm in the hand and cushions the impact, and copper and stainless steel are heavy enough to do half the work for you, so you need less force and the glass is at less risk.

Place the fresh ingredients at the bottom of the glass, add a splash of sugar syrup, and press two to four times while twisting a quarter turn. More is not better. For a Mojito press the mint gently against the bottom and leave the leaves intact. For a Caipirinha you can press the lime wedges firmly instead, so that juice and oil are released from the peel. For an Old Fashioned muddle only a sugar cube with a few drops of bitters, and do this in the glass you will serve it in, so you do not have to transfer anything. Only then add ice and spirits.

Rinse a muddler straight after use, because sugar syrup dries hard between the teeth of the head and is then almost impossible to get out. Stainless steel is dishwasher safe. Wood is not: it soaks up water, swells and then cracks along the grain, so wash it by hand and let it dry standing upright. Copper is coated and loses its colour in the machine, so treat it just like wood. Throw away a muddler with a cracked head, because a crack holds on to moisture and sugar.

The glass you muddle in matters, because you need a thick base. See the mojito glasses for the tall models and the old fashioned glasses for the low, heavy tumblers in which you can work directly in the serving glass. Stir with a bar spoon and shake in a cocktail shaker. More tools and explanations for each item can be found on the page about bar tools.