Cocktail Strainers, A Quick Guide

A cocktail strainer is a must have for any home bar or professional business that mixes and serves drinks. Whether you’re a career bartender or hobbyist, knowing the different strainers and how to use them is key in creating the smoothest drinks.

There are 3 primary types of cocktail strainers, each working with the other equipment in your bar tool kit in specific ways.

Table of Contents:

• Hawthorne Strainer Intro
• Benefits & Details of a Hawthorne Strainer
• Fine Strainer
• Julep Strainer
• Boston Shaker to go with Strainers
• Final Thoughts

The most common type of strainer is called a Hawthorne. You’ll find this indispensable tool in pretty much any and all professional bar settings; if you use a Boston shaker, mixing glass, or pint glass for mixing up drinks, you’ll absolutely need one in your home bar as well.

A Hawthorne strainer is (typically) stainless steel and has a handle that leads up to a flat, round plate with several holes along the top. Above the holes sits a removable round coil n a semi-circle, which catches shards of ice and chunks of fruit.

We actually make two versions here at A Bar Above; both have an ergonomic handle for less hand strain, are durable enough to stand up to a busy bar, and features tightly-coiled springs (some are really loose, meaning they don’t catch much!).

Because they’re only one piece without welds, the simple design won’t break or rust. Plus, it comes in several different colors– beautiful and practical!

A fine mesh strainer is so handy– every professional bartender or cocktail enthusiast should have one for creating silky smooth drinks.

So what is it used for? For cocktails, use this type of cocktail strainer in tandem with a Hawthorne strainer to double strain your cocktail ingredients and remove more particles from your finished product– like bits of pulp, fruit seeds, and muddled leaves.

It’s great in the kitchen, too; it’s the perfect tool for making soup stock and can also be used as a tea strainer or for kombucha or baking ingredients.

Here’s how you use it: Place the mesh strainer in your cocktail glass, and pour the liquid through the Hawthorne first and into the mesh. This double-straining ensures the smoothest cocktail without unwanted chunks of ice, fruit pulp, or herbs.

A julep strainer is named after the drink it was designed for, the Mint Julep. This strainer was originally made for drinkers of the Mint Julep so they didn’t get a bunch of ice in their faces when drinking it. Nowadays, it is used mostly for spirit-forward cocktails that are stirred in mixing glasses; this classic tool removes larger shards of ice, seeds, bits of fruit pulp, or chunks of herbs from the finished drink while still allowing in some ice shards and muddled ingredients.

When making certain cocktail recipes with muddled ingredients, you actually want to include some of the “debris”– like bits of mint leaves or fruit pieces, and the holes of the julep strainer allow this more than the Hawthorne bar strainer does. It also lets in more ice chips, which is nice in an extra cold Martini.

Another method of straining a drink is by ‘breaking the shaker‘ which is when you strain through the small crack made by a Boston shaker so the ice doesn’t fall into the drink. It is tricky to do but removes the need for a strainer– of course, there is more possibility that things will pass through, even bits of ice.

There are also shakers that have a built-in strainer, like the cobbler shaker; but in our opinion, they just don’t work that well as using a separate strainer– They’re hard to remove & get stuck easily. Plus, the strainer design isn’t very big, so it gets clogged often.

Pick the Perfect Strainer

If you’re looking for a beautiful, reliable, ergonomic, and high-quality cocktail strainer, definitely check out ours– sold individually or as a set if you want to take your mixology skills to the next level– as well as all our whole arsenal of bar tools in our shop.

We take a lot of pride in crafting our products; they’re designed by an experienced bartender for bartenders, mixologists, and at-home enthusiasts, so you know great care has been taken in their design. Plus, they come in a range of gorgeous colors: stainless steel, gold, black, and antique copper.

So when you’re stocking your cocktail bar, make sure to grab our strainers and everything you need to go with them so you can make some delicious drinks!