When Should You Double Strain a Cocktail?

Double straining can give a cocktail a silkier texture, but it isn't a step every recipe needs, and finer isn't always better. In this article, we'll walk through what double straining is and when it's actually worth doing.

Jump to:

• What Is Double Straining
• Double Straining vs Single Straining
• When Should You Double Strain
• How to Double Strain

What Is Double Straining

Double straining, also called fine straining, is a bartending technique where the liquid passes through a Hawthorne or julep strainer first, then through a fine mesh strainer, all in a single pour.

This method helps remove the finer bits that regular straining tends to let through, such as ice shards, fruit pulp, and muddled herbs, giving the cocktail a smoother texture and a cleaner look.

Double Straining vs Single Straining

Single straining means using just a Hawthorne or julep strainer for the final straining step, the way most cocktails are made. It effectively removes larger solids like ice cubes and fruit chunks, though for recipes with fine sediment, it isn't quite precise enough.

Double straining builds on that by adding a fine mesh strainer for a finer result. It adds an extra step, so it's a little more involved and slightly slower. Whether it's worth doing comes down to the finished drink and what you actually need.

When Should You Double Strain

Whether a drink needs double straining comes down to its condition and what you're after, not its name.

Is Double Straining a Must? 

No, it isn't.

You may have heard people say that a Daiquiri, a Whiskey Sour, or a Margarita served up always needs a double strain, but that isn't really a hard rule. Whether you do it also depends on how fast you need to serve and your own preference.

When you're just mixing a drink for yourself at home, or serving a party where speed matters, you can skip it entirely.

Some people also don't want an overly clean result. Straining too finely can carry off tiny aromatic compounds clinging to the solids, and dull some of the complexity you actually wanted to keep. For them, single straining is enough.

And for a cocktail that has little fine sediment to begin with, like a Martini, double straining is unnecessary. It won't make the drink taste any better, and it just comes across as an extra step for its own sake.

A Simple Way to Decide

So instead of following the crowd or guessing by the drink's name, you can set up a simple way to decide. That way, in your future home bartending, you can rely on the same standard to make a clear call.

Once you've mixed a cocktail, start with 2 questions:

1. Did the mixing process create fine bits that regular straining can't catch?
2. Are those bits unwanted, or something you'd rather not leave in the final drink?

If the answer to both is yes, the drink is a good candidate for double straining.

Common Examples

Here are some situations where it's worth doing.

• Recipes with muddled fruit: Citrus or berries break down into very fine bits once muddled. Straining them out gives a smoother texture and a cleaner look.
• Recipes with muddled herbs: With herbs like mint, the flavor and aroma have already blended into the drink after mixing, so straining out the bits keeps them from sticking to your teeth or lips as you drink.
• Recipes that produce a lot of ice shards: Shaken cocktails especially can throw off small ice shards after a vigorous shake, and those add a bit of extra dilution once they land in the glass.
• Recipes with egg white: If some egg white hasn't fully broken up after shaking, double straining helps make the liquid and foam smoother and more even.

How to Double Strain

For tools, you'll need a Hawthorne or julep strainer, plus a fine mesh strainer. Here's a sample process.

1. Set the Hawthorne strainer over the shaker tin holding your finished cocktail, and hold it securely with one hand. If you mixed the drink in a mixing glass, you can use a julep strainer instead. And if you used a cobbler shaker, its built-in strainer can serve as the first layer.
2. With your other hand, hold the fine mesh strainer directly above the serving glass. Keeping it close to the rim helps reduce splashing as you pour.
3. Pour the cocktail slowly, letting it pass through both strainers in turn. The first catches larger solids like ice cubes, while the second captures the finer bits that slip through the first, such as ice shards, fruit pulp, and herb fragments.
4. When you're done, rinse the strainers right away to keep residue from building up.

If the fine mesh strainer gradually clogs and the flow slows down while you pour, here are 4 ways to deal with it.

• Tilt or rotate the fine mesh strainer slightly so the liquid passes through an unclogged section of the mesh.
• Tap the edge of the fine mesh strainer to loosen the buildup and break it up a little.
• Hold the shaker tin a bit higher as you pour, using the force of the liquid to clear some of the clog.
• Use a bar spoon to gently scrape the debris off the mesh and move it to one side, though you'll need to stop pouring first to free up a hand.