What Happens If You Over-Muddle Fresh Herbs?

Muddling is a common bar technique you use when you want to incorporate the flavor of fresh herbs into your drinks. All it involves is crushing your herbs using a muddler, which is a basic bar tool experts recommend you keep in your home bar kit. A muddler is simply a tamping device with a wide and flat bottom, which allows you to crush herbs with little effort, sort of like a pestle.

It's easy to get a little overzealous when muddling herbs, because the action takes little effort; you simply crush them at the bottom of your glass with the muddler and use a few subtle twists to release their essential oils, which then transfer to your cocktail. Because it's so easy, that means it's also easy to over-muddle them. And when you do that, you'll know, because the leaves will change color and flavor in ways you don't necessarily want.

The Takeout interviewed Jordan Hughes, author of "Twist: Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails," about muddling. He told us, "Over-muddling is definitely possible, especially with herbs. When muddling mint, basil or other leafy herbs, the leaves will turn black if they are overly muddled or crushed and can turn bitter." Fortunately, he saiid that under-muddling isn't a concern — so an easy hand is a good one. You just want to crush the herbs a little bit, and your classic white rum mojito will taste as refreshing as you're hoping it will.

Herbs aren't the only thing you can muddle to release flavors into your drink. Fruit makes a great candidate too, from berries to citrus, and Jordan Hughes explained, "When muddling fruit, you want to muddle it enough to release the juices, so as long as you see that fruit start to break down, you are good to go."

One gin cocktail we endorse with muddled fruit is the Slippery When Wet, which features a few muddled strawberries to add a seasonal flavor to the glass, along with a small amount of a secret ingredient, yogurt, which adds a creamy and tangy flavor. When it comes to the muddling technique, you just want the fruit to start disintegrating, and in the case of the Slippery When Wet, the ingredients will take a trip through a shaker as well, so no need to pulverize it — the ice in the shaker will continue to do that for you, and the pulp will be strained out.

Muddling is a terrific way to add fresh flavors to your cocktails with little work, and what's great is that the experts say that less effort is actually the better route. Just apply the bare minimum of pressure, twist just a touch, and your drinks will taste as fresh as summer feels.