Just curious: do y’all use the julep strainer concave-side-up or concave-side-down?
Whichever way works best? (I find I seldom use julep strainers any more—maybe I would if I had a magical fit?)
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Like Martin, I seldom use a julep strainer, so I usually adopt this approach:
- Insert strainer concave side down.
- Lift mixing vessel, with finger pressing down on strainer handle.
- Realize it feels terribly wrong and may be about to torque apart to deleterious effect.
- Curse very quietly while quickly returning vessel to counter.
- Flip strainer concave side up.
- Glance furtively to make sure no one saw.
- Strain drink successfully into a chilled glass; garnish as directed; fail to learn from mistakes.
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I still like using it, for presentation purposes at home. I have a dry bar in my living room, and one of the two Hawthorne strainers is probably already dirty from making another drink.
I like concave side down, due to the slope of the handle.
But as others mentioned, it truly doesn’t matter. It’s what works best for you and your situation.
Cheers!
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I use a julep strainer for stirred drinks (not a fancy one) and it’s always concave side down. Lately I leave the barspoon in as well. It’s thumb/middle/ring/pinky around the top of the mixing glass and index finger holding the strainer in place.
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The consistent theme here is fit. Of course, fit can be a problem with Hawthorne-type strainers, too, but they have those tabs that make it easy to keep in securely in place with a finger, whereas the julep has to be within some compatible range of diameter to the vessel, plus you have to have enough of something (ice, usually) for it to press up against, or things get awkward. The latter probably has a lot to do with the concave/convex question.
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I have a lovely julep strainer that sits, almost eternally unused, in the drawer. Every once in a while I use it out of guilt, and as I do so, I think: “You know, I’d rather be using my Oxo Hawthorne strainer.”