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When making cocktails sometimes we need to strain out the solids before they go into the final drink. Strainers are an essential tool for any bartender and learning how to use them is a staple of bartending technique. There are three types of strainers: fine strainer, Julep strainer, and Hawthorne strainer. Each type has its own purpose and will affect your cocktail differently depending on what you want out of it.

Not all strainers are created equal

A cocktail recipe is a delicate, complex mixture of ingredients and flavors. As such, it’s important to strain the shaken or stirred concoction before serving so that potential clumps don’t end up in your glass. There are many types of strainers you can use to do this, but here we’ll focus on three common tools: the Hawthorne strainer, the Julep strainer, and the fine mesh sieve.

These three types of cocktail strainers offer a variety of benefits and can make a world of difference when it comes to making quality cocktails.

Hawthorne Strainer

Invented by Nathaniel Hawthorne at his bar in Boston around 1850, this strainer has two prongs that hold onto the cup while allowing liquid to fall through its screen into an awaiting serving glass. Operated with Boston Shaker, the Hawthorne strainer is usually used for solid ingredients like fruit, vegetables, and ice. There is an easily removed spring on the inside that helps to keep pulp, crushed ice, and other unwanted particles from getting into the cocktail.

How to Use a Hawthorne Strainer:

• Take your shaken drink and hold the strainer over the top of the mixing tin, keeping it in place with one finger
• Slowly tip the drink through the screen, allowing all of the ingredients to drain through into your serving glass

Hawthorne Strainer

This is a spoon-shaped perforated metal strainer that is used for filtering cocktails without damaging ice-cold ingredients like fruit pulp. Before the modern drinking straw was invented in 1888, Julep strainers allowed cocktail drinkers to hold back the crushed ice in a mint julep while sipping (essential for those bushy mustaches). It’s an ideal strainer for stirred cocktails made with a mixing glass where you won’t have room for any other type of strainer.

How to Use a Julep Strainer:

• Take your shaken drink and hold the strainer over the top of the mixing tin, keeping it in place with one finger
• Slowly tip the drink through the screen, allowing all of the ingredients to drain through into your serving glass

Fine Mesh Strainer

The fine strainers are small circular wire mesh screens that fit into a metal ring or globe and are often used in combination with a Hawthorne or Julep strainer as an extra precaution (double straining). They can be used to make drinks without the worry of herbs, egg whites, fruit pieces, etc ruining their texture. These would work well for liquors like raspados (a slushy drink made from fresh strawberries), cordials such as limoncello which includes lemon peels and pulp, among others!

How to Use a Fine Mesh Strainer:

• Add your primary strainer to the cocktail shaker to remove the larger particles such as ice cubes, whole herbs, etc.
• Hold the fine mesh wire strainer over your glass by its handle and pour your cocktail through both strainers into the serving glass

A *VERY* Brief History of the Cocktail Strainer

Starting in the early 1870s, cocktail strainers were created that utilized a slew of different methods to better serve those who mix their own cocktails. This tradition can be traced back to ancient Chinese tea strainers as they used screens that would filter both leaves and plant matter from what is being consumed for fear that these smaller particles could spoil one’s experience with bitterness or unwanted texture. 

However, it wasn’t until improvements in ice storage technology occurred (i.e., year-round availability) that people began to put more importance on filtering out ice to keep the cocktail from being diluted. It was during this time period when bartenders and drinkers alike started considering straining one’s drink an essential part of any cocktail-making routine.

With the history of cocktail strainers, it should be quite obvious to see why these specific types of devices have stuck around in the bartending world. A simple design to solve a simple problem and get the best results possible.

Plus 5 Tips on How to Make the Most of Your Virtual Meetings

Remote Team Building Activities And Games For Your Remote Employees Working From Home

Virtual teams are a great way to increase collaboration and productivity. However, they can sometimes feel more like an online conference call than a team meeting where people know each other’s names and have meaningful relationships with one another.

Virtual teams are growing in popularity, and successfully managing these teams is important for success. The problem is that many remote workers live in silos, working on their own tasks without the benefit of shared knowledge or resources.

Leveraging the power of technology to communicate, collaborate and share information is key to keeping virtual team members motivated and happy.

There are many ways that you can build a strong team spirit in real time within your remote workers by using workplace activities such as ice breakers, group challenges or games, collaborative exercises like whiteboarding sessions or brainstorming sessions, etc.

Virtual team-building activities are the perfect way for virtual teammates to get together even though they’re not in the same physical space and to build company culture. These 30 activities will help remote workers feel like part of your company!

You’ll create memories & boost morale with these 30 virtual team-building activities. Bonus: Your teammates will love you for it!

Icebreaker Questions

Virtual teams need to come together on a regular basis for team-building sessions. The problem is that individuals working remotely can sometimes feel disconnected from the rest of the group and may not know how to get started when trying to break the ice with their teammates.
Fortunately, there are some simple icebreaker questions you can use with your virtual teammates to help them bond and enjoy each other’s company more easily!

Virtual Icebreaker Questions

• – If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• – Which of Snow White’s seven dwarfs describes you best?
• – If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
• – If there was one thing that would make your day perfect, what would it be?
• – What would be the most surprising scientific discovery imaginable?

How to Use Ice Breaker Questions in Virtual Meetings

It can be difficult to start a round of virtual icebreaker questions because, unlike in-person groups, remote teams do not sit at the same table or they may not know what order they are expected to participate in.

• – Introduce the activity
  • Be sure to introduce the activity by telling remote team members that they can participate either together in a group on video call, or solo by submitting answers via chat. Some participants may be more comfortable participating one at a time.

• – Set your expectations
  • If there are a large number of virtual teammates on your call and you want them all to answer questions simultaneously – a fun way to do this is to have them all answer in a “yes-no” format. Make sure to set up your video conference room so that everyone can be seen and hear each other.
  • If there are only two or three people, consider doing this as an individual activity where they take turns answering the questions in more detail.

• – Take your time and make it fun!
  • Make your way through your last icebreaker questions and be sure to give your virtual teammates enough time to answer. Keep the tone light and fun – this is an opportunity for everyone to get to know you and their teammates better.

Use Technology Wisely!

If you’re running through your list of icebreaker questions too quickly, consider using an icebreaker generator. These generators use AI to come up with questions you can use with your team.

Create a space for shared learning that motivates your team, makes them feel like they belong, and keeps them engaged.

Online Team Building Games

Working in a virtual environment can be difficult, especially when it comes to building team cohesion. It’s important for teams to have opportunities and activities that help them get to know each other on a personal level as well as increase their productivity.

One of the best ways is through online team-building games. A recent study conducted by Stanford University found that teams who play online team-building games are significantly more likely to collaborate with one another and work well together.

Work from Home Bingo

Remote work Bingo is a fun way to get remote teams out of their chairs and interacting with one another. It’s also a terrific icebreaker for new virtual teammates who are just getting acquainted with the people they work alongside but never see in person. There are a number of free and paid templates available online, or feel free to get creative and make one specialized for your team!

Pictionary

A classic game that can be played remotely using shared screen software like GoToMeeting or Google Hangouts. Simply split everyone into teams and have each team make a list of words. Then have your teams take turns drawing pictures of those words until someone guesses correctly.

Lightning Scavenger Hunts

Creating a successful digital scavenger hunt begins with the best of intentions, but not all crawls are created equal. With Lightning Scavenger Hunts, you’re attacking with a series of quick-fire clues that have teammates sprinting to find objects, solve puzzles, and win points. It may sound silly or unorthodox on paper, but in practice, it’s an electrifying way to interact with your team members online.

Collaborative Storytelling

In this virtual team-building activity, team members take turns adding one sentence at a time to the story, without repeating themselves until they’ve all contributed. * The last person to contribute should be sure not to end on an incomplete thought!

Typing Speed Race

One of the most popular team building activities among virtual workers is a typing speed race. With this activity, all participants are given one minute to type as many words as possible in a specific timeframe (usually 1 or 2 minutes) then add up how many words they were able to type in that time limit. The person with the highest number of typed words wins! If there was ever any doubt about who is your fastest typist, now you know!

Keep your remote employees connected and engaged with fun online games designed to promote teamwork and creative thinking.

Employee Engagement Apps

Many employees feel disconnected from their company and coworkers. They often feel overwhelmed, unappreciated, or not valued enough. This can lead to high turnover rates and low productivity.

There are many apps that help make these feelings go away or at least lessen the effects. These apps take a team-based approach by encouraging collaboration, communication, and feedback among members of an organization to improve engagement within the workplace.

Clickup

ClickUp is a business management suite that helps teams organize and manage tasks. It has many features for efficient project planning, tracking time, and sharing files.This app can be used on any device with internet access which makes it easy to stay connected as a team no matter where you are in the world. This will help your virtual team feel like they’re all working together even though they might not actually be physically in the same location at the same time.

Flock

Flock chat channels help keep things on track by simplifying decision-making and organizing conversations about specific projects in one place. Create a channel to facilitate collaboration and discussion of shared projects and company-wide initiatives.

Blink

Blink is a video chat app that lets you call anyone anywhere in the world with just one tap. It also includes an easy-to-use group messaging feature which helps your virtual team stay connected and collaborate on projects.

Chimp or Champ

This app works as an anonymous weekly employee happiness meter. Chimp or Champ helps managers improve employee well-being and achieve better results for the company! 

88 Miles

This app lets you chat, share photos and videos, and collaborate with your team. It also enables users to create a virtual bulletin board which is an easy way to brainstorm ideas, problem solve, and keep everyone engaged.

These unique team-building apps can really help your remote workers feel like they are an integral part of the group.

Brainstorming Apps

Brainstorming is a popular and effective way to generate ideas in groups, but it can be challenging for virtual teams. Virtual brainstorming has its own challenges that traditional face-to-face brainstorming does not have, such as lack of visual cues like gestures or facial expressions. 

The following are several apps you can use with your remote team to help them come up with great ideas:

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a diagramming and mind-mapping app that allows teams to create, share, edit, review or present their work in order to gain insights. This tool also provides an integration with Google Drive so your remote team can collaborate on documents from the convenience of their own devices!

Evernote

Evernote is a cross-platform app that allows remote workers to create and sync notes across all kinds of different devices.  It’s a great way to share ideas with your teammates who are in other time zones or places!

Mindmeister

This mind-blowing app is an online brainstorming and mapping tool that allows users to create custom mind maps. It can be accessed from any browser or device, making it perfect for virtual teams that use different devices.

Trello

Trello is a project management software that offers a digital whiteboard where you can organize your team’s projects into different boards. You can take each board and break them down into cards to keep track of the project progress.

Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a voice-based note-taking app that utilizes artificial intelligence to empower you to recall, locate, and share your thoughts. It is a great tool for virtual teams because the app’s transcriptions are accurate, and it allows team members to update one another on their progress.

The best way to find a good solution is by brainstorming. It doesn’t matter whether you do it on a whiteboard, in a zoom call, or over the phone – get your team together and make magic happen!

Problem Solving Exercises

Have you ever been in a situation where you are tasked with solving a problem and had no idea where to start? You’re not alone, and this can become particularly difficult when your team is spread out in a virtual environment. 

There’s an art to finding solutions, and it takes practice. The following list of exercises will help jumpstart your brain and your team work together flawlessly when you’re stuck on what to do next:

What If? 

For any given situation what would happen if X happened? Suddenly you have more options than just sitting around waiting for something good to come along! By imagining various scenarios, virtual team members can work together to find solutions.

The Tortoise and the Hare

One of our most popular exercises, this game is perfect for those who enjoy strategizing and trying out new approaches. It’s designed to let employees think outside the box by brainstorming with others on how they could solve a real-world business challenge. This activity has helped teams conquer obstacles like overcrowded seats, too many meetings, or lower than expected revenue!

 

Dumbest Idea First

Present your team with a question. It could be a real-world problem that your team is currently facing, or it could be a made-up dilemma. Don’t be afraid to get creative with it. Encourage your team to come up with the dumbest possible solution – the more ridiculous the better. After discussing a few ideas, rank them according to which are the most feasible – the worst idea wins!

Team Pursuit

Team Pursuit is a high-energy team-building activity. You can do this anywhere and for any size group. Mental, physical, skill, and mystery challenges make for engaging activities your team can all enjoy together.

Online Escape Rooms

Online escape rooms are a type of puzzle activity that requires you to use your wits and collaborate with other people in order to find hidden clues within the “room” to work together and escape. There are many platforms available online to try with your team.

The best way to learn is by doing. These problem-solving exercises are the perfect tools for learning how to be a stronger virtual team or finding new ways of problem-solving when all else fails.

Zoom Team Building Virtual Happy Hour

Virtual teams face many challenges, but one of the most significant is building relationships with their teammates. Although it’s easy to chat about work-related tasks and deadlines, socializing can be a challenge since you might not know what your co-workers do outside of work or have much in common with them. **Note – Happy hour drinks do not need to be alcoholic **

Zoom Team Building Virtual Happy Hour provides a fun way for virtual teams to get to know each other in an informal setting without worrying about getting work done.

Virtual Happy Hour Trivia

Trivia is always a fun and engaging activity. Pull out your smartphone, tablet or laptop and set up a Zoom call with the trivia app of your choice. An online quiz can be hosted by one person who will ask questions to their teammates from any device that has access to an internet connection; this is most easily done on laptops but if you have other devices available feel free to use them!

“I’ll Drink to That”

To play this game, you should select a phrase that will act as a trigger to drink. The phrase needs to be a commonly used one – but also a little obscure; for example: “can everyone hear me?” When people hear the trigger phrase ( or phrases) everyone says “I’ll drink to that,” and they all take a sip of their drink.

Noisy Charades

The idea is that you are trying to get your teammates to guess the object or action of what’s happening on screen. To do so, you have to make noise and gesture wildly while being as funny as possible without making any actual words.

Ocean’s Whatever

Break into teams of five and plan a heist! Make your case to the other groups in round-robin fashion. The best team will be declared victorious at the end, or maybe there’s no wrong answer here; it all depends on who you ask.

Virtual Craft Cocktail Class

A Virtual Cocktail Class is like the class you wish your old college professor had taught when they told you to read Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. Imagine being able to enjoy an intimate drink while having fun with your team and learning about drinks from around the world alongside other participants in real-time? If this sounds right up your alley then be sure to check out our upcoming virtual cocktail classes!

Virtual happy hours are the best way to keep team morale up and celebrate your wins with each other. Try these out with your team!

Zoom Team Building Activity Tips & Tricks

Virtual teams are on the rise and so is the need for team-building exercises. This presents both challenges and opportunities for team building. Virtual team-building can be tricky at times because the presence is not always there as it would in a regular office environment. 

With these virtual team-building activity tips and tricks you should see an improvement!

Plan Ahead

Create agendas and assign activity roles, including an agenda-setter, note taker, timekeeper, facilitator–make sure you all know your respective responsibilities. You may even want to prepare a few questions in advance to help keep discussions focused on appropriate topics. 

Take Breaks

Encourage team members to take intermittent “walking” or stretching breaks from their computer screens by giving them permission (or accountability) with these short exercises; they’ll be more productive when they’re back at it!

Use Video Conferencing Software Wisely

Make use of the video features available on your system so that remote workers can see one another while they talk. Before instituting the rule “Video ON” for all employees, take a few minutes to consider your employees’ needs and parts of the job in which they may not feel comfortable.

Don’t Forget the Introverts

Make sure to include some team-building activities that are designed for the quieter members of your remote team so they can contribute without feeling like an outsider. This will help your introverted team members feel included without making them uncomfortable.

Get Everyone Warmed Up

One way to get virtual team-building activities started off on the right foot is to get everyone in the mood to share and have fun. Ask everyone to share a short clip, story, or GIF that made them laugh recently. 

Try to plan to make as many personal connections as possible. This is especially true with video-based team-building activities.

Team Building Activities: Virtual Edition

Do you work with a virtual team that rarely – if ever – see each other face-to-face? Are your remote employees spread across the country or even around the world? If so, then you know how difficult it can be to keep them engaged and working well together. 

These 30 virtual team-building activities should give you a roadmap to bringing your remote workers together and working as a team.

Stay tuned for updates and more ways for remote workers to collaborate, communicate and get to know each other without needing to be in the same room.