Cheesecloth & Superbag

Usage

Straining infusions, syrups and fat-washed spirits, and clarifying milk punch. A 250-micron bag catches pulp and herbs; 100 and 50 micron take out progressively finer solids until a cloudy liquid runs genuinely clear.

Two Different Tools

Cheesecloth is woven cotton gauze, sold by grade, and even the finest grade has openings measured in hundreds of microns with a good deal of variation between them. It catches pulp, herbs, spices and citrus flesh, and it is cheap enough to treat as disposable.

A Superbag is a precision-woven nylon mesh made to a stated rating, commonly 800, 250, 100 and 50 microns, with uniform openings. That uniformity is what makes it a clarifying tool rather than a straining one, because you know exactly what will pass and what will not.

For most bar work cheesecloth is enough. For clarification, only the calibrated mesh does the job.

Clarified Milk Punch

The technique that made these bags standard equipment, and it is genuinely eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin wrote out a recipe in 1763.

You build a punch of spirit, citrus and sugar, then pour it into warm milk. The acid curdles the milk instantly, and the curds form a mesh that traps the tannins, proteins and colour compounds as they settle. Strain the whole thing and what comes through is clear, silky and completely unlike what went in.

It is one of the few historical techniques that modern bars adopted wholesale rather than reviving as a curiosity. The filtration is slow: an hour of dripping, and squeezing undoes all of it.

Coffee Filters and Substitutes

A paper coffee filter clarifies well, at roughly 20 microns, which is finer than most Superbags, and it is the cheapest way to try the technique.

The problem is throughput. Paper blinds quickly as solids build against it, so a litre of milk punch means changing filters repeatedly across several hours, and paper also absorbs a measurable quantity of liquid and some aromatics with it.

A nut milk bag is the practical middle ground: nylon mesh, roughly 100 to 200 microns, and a fraction of the price of a branded Superbag. For a home bar clarifying occasionally, that plus a coffee filter for the final pass covers everything.

Washing and Reuse

Rinse immediately in the hottest water it will take, inside out, before anything dries. Solids that dry into a mesh are extremely difficult to remove and permanently reduce the flow rate.

Never use washing-up liquid. Fine mesh holds detergent in a way that rinsing does not clear, and a bag that has been soaped will put that straight into the next infusion. Hot water and a soft brush is the method.

Air-dry completely before storing, hung rather than folded. Damp mesh folded in a drawer grows mould in the weave, and at that point the bag is finished.

What to Look For

• Unbleached, food-grade cheesecloth
• A superbag around 100 micron for clarity work
• Seams that hold a hanging weight
• A size that fits over your biggest bowl

Professional Tips

• Let it drip. Squeezing forces fine solids through.
• Wet the mesh first, or the first pour absorbs into it.
• Coarse then fine. One pass through 50 micron clogs.
• Wash immediately in hot water, never with detergent.

Specifications