Many warm weather cocktails use fresh ingredients such as herbs and fruit, and often, muddling is required. To muddle means to press the ingredients against the side of the glass with a muddler. Muddling helps to release the flavors of the fresh ingredients so that they bind with the alcohol better.

What does muddle fruit mean?

Muddling is a technique used in drinks to gently mash herbs or fruit to release their juices. This helps the flavors to bind with the alcohol better than simply using them whole.

What does it mean to mull fruit?

Muddled Up

Muddling, the act of crushing fruit, sugar and herbs to draw out flavors and help them mix with alcohol, sounds like one of the simpler tasks in the art of mixology. If you're not careful, however, a lot can go wrong. The good news is that these potential missteps are very easy to avoid.