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mojito, margarita, caipiroska, caipirinhas ...
drinks of summer ...
because it's always summer ...
somewhere ...
Before cocktail shakers and electric blenders, primitive people used sticks to
mash fruit. 'Mashing sticks' are still used in cocktail bars today ... and are called
'muddlers', muddle sticks or muddling sticks ... or, mojito muddlers.
Muddled cocktails are heavy on full fruit with robust flavours ... full of tropical
romance. Muddling releases oils and flavour from the fruit's skin.
My muddlers - Muddler Mojito, XL and LongHorn - are unique. Great to feel, each
one is a piece of artwork ... and ... they work!
Most other muddlers are manufactured on a lathe and resemble a rolling pin with
one handle cut off. Many are not very attractive or comfortable to use.
I hand-shape my muddlers ... freeform ... by eye ... each one is different.
A muddler from my collection will be so pleasing to feel and admire, that
you'll never stop thinking of reasons to use it ... and it will attract so
much attention from your friends.
As well as making great drinks, muddlers are also wonderful
for crushing garlic, spices or nuts on a board or for use
as a pestle in a bowl ... or for muddling mint and herbal tea.
Whilst it is true that in a totally utilitarian world, a simple stick will suffice just fine for muddling a mojito, the full experience goes far beyond pure practicality. Cocktail making is an art which employs few tools ... few opportunities to embellish the showmanship which we have come to associate with the process.
The Muddler Mojito is an all-round performer of moderate size with elegant lines that exudes sculptural beauty.
The size is appropriate for use in a cocktail shaker as well as fitting neatly into any glass. Furthermore, the Muddler Mojito is by far the best choice for use in the kitchen as a crushing tool. This muddler is perfectly balanced and can be gripped by the shaft or held by the knob of the handle.
The Muddler Mojito is heavy enough to feel very substantial, yet can be left standing in most glasses without fear of toppling over. This is a beautiful implement with sensuous lines that will be most welcome in any cocktail bar or household.
Red Mahogany - Eucalyptus resinifera
Red Mahogany, also known as Red Stringybark, grows between coastal rainforests and the drier hinterland open forests. It's range is extensive, occuring as far south as Sydney and ranging to far north Queensland. Red Stringybarks reach heights of 45m (150ft) in ideal conditions with girths up to 1.5m (5ft). A dominant eucalypt species of the fragile coastal wet schlerophyll zone, Red Stringies are valued for their deep red, often highly figured, heavy timber.
Although red mahogany has been used extensively as a construction timber, including bridge building, it has also been favoured as a furniture timber.
Longhorn is the Show Pony of the range. This muddler is a serious show-off candidate.
At over 420mm (16 inches) in length, Muddler Longhorn is a big muddler. It has a long shaft and handle, but is also full-bodied down at the business end, thick in diameter slimming gradually into the handle. Longhorn is a heavier bodied muddler than XL.
Like XL, Muddler Longhorn is really best used in a cocktail shaker or jug, with plenty of handle protruding for good grip and enhanced 'showmanship' by the bar-person.
Muddler Longhorn is quite flat across the base, making it very useful for pressing 'difficult to muddle' fruits. The flat base also makes muddler Longhorn the best muddler in the range for use in the kitchen.
Used on a board, Longhorn makes short work of pasting garlic cloves or crushing spices. Muddler Longhorn will reduce cummin seed to powder in no time at all, or will create pesto from chopped basil.
On top of it's great functionality, Longhorn is also beautiful. Reminiscent of Constantin Brancusi's "Bird in Space" impressionist sculptures, Longhorn is functional art.
Muddler Longhorn is seriously desireable.
Northern Sassafras - Daphnandra spp.
Northern Sassafras is a medium to large rainforest hardwood growing in North Queensland. It reaches heights of 42m (140ft) and girths up to 1.2m (4ft). The timber is light creamy yellow in colour and is of medium hardness. Although it has been used in furniture making, it is not a common commerical species.
Red Mahogany - Eucalyptus resinifera
Red Mahogany, also known as Red Stringybark, grows between coastal rainforests and the drier hinterland open forests. It's range is extensive, occuring as far south as Sydney and ranging to far north Queensland. Red Stringybarks reach heights of 45m (150ft) in ideal conditions with girths up to 1.5m (5ft). A dominant eucalypt species of the fragile coastal wet schlerophyll zone, Red Stringies are valued for their deep red, often highly figured, heavy timber.
Although red mahogany has been used extensively as a construction timber, including bridge building, it has also been favoured as a furniture timber.
XL stands for Extra Large ... although, it could equally be short for Excel ... because, that's what this muddler does. It excels in it's task of helping to create sumptuous cocktails. It also excels in helping to make the person making the cocktails look great!
The Muddler XL is a large muddler, suited only for use in cocktail shakers and jugs/pitchers. It is shaped so that the balance point is toward the bottom and the shaft is slim and elongated to allow maximum movement in the shaker vessel. The crushing end is slightly rounded to allow for a rocking motion in which to muddle the fruit.
At over 420mm (16 inches) in length, most of the handle protrudes from the cocktail shaker, so the Muddler XL can be gripped around the shaft for up and down pounding or by the thickened handle for a more twisting action.
The Muddler XL is guaranteed to be a much talked about item at any cocktail party.
Spotted Gum - Eucalyptus maculata
Spotted Gum is a tall tree growing in open
coastal forests from Victoria all the way to far
north Queensland. It attains heights of up to 50m
(160ft) and diameters up to 1.5m (5ft) with almost
perfectly straight trunk sections for over half of
its height. The latter feature, together with it's
excellent strength characteristics and slightly
greasy nature cemented this timber as one of
Australia's principal heavy boat-building timbers
during the past 200 years.
Although Spotted Gum is a heavy timber and not
generally used for furniture making or craftwork, it
finishes extremely well due to it's close grain and hard
surface. Stability of the timber is good once properly
dry and it is extremely strong. Spotted Gum is an
excellent choice of timber for kitchen utensils.
Jarrah - Eucalyptus marginata
Jarrah grows in the southern forests of Western Australia. It's a tall tree reaching 40m (130ft) in height and up to 2m (7ft) in diameter that is often found in almost pure growth stands. Jarrah is highly valued as a first rate furniture timber because of it's colour and fine grain as well as exceptional stability.
Colour ranges from light reddish pink in younger timber
through deep red in old growth trees to almost black
in fungal-spalted Jarrah.
In times past, Jarrah was so plentiful that trees were extensively felled to provide railway sleepers for Australia's desert-spanning railways due to excellent tolerance of the elements.
Today, the Jarrah forests of Western Australia are Government-protected with closure to logging of all crown land forests such that timber in the future will be provided from managed regrowth forests, current stockpiles and salvage operations. Sadly, this will ultimately result in very limited supply.
Jarrah, along with Australian Red
Cedar, Huon Pine and several others, is regarded as
one of Australia's finest timbers.
