The durable principle is disclosure: when a named drink has materially different recognized versions, service should make the consequential choice visible rather than assume one universal specification.
The source moves from a recipe-history disagreement to a service response that preserves guest agency.
After presenting the historical dispute over muddled fruit, Schmid recommends that a bartender ask the guest whether fruit should be muddled or describe the choice on the menu.
PDF sheet 29
PDF sheet 28
To muddle or not to muddle?
Verified against extracted text and rendered PDF sheets 28–29 during the complete 76-sheet textual and visual review on 2026-08-27.
Verified practitioner evidence from the complete 76-sheet review of The Old Fashioned.
Evidence
After presenting the historical dispute over muddled fruit, Schmid recommends that a bartender ask the guest whether fruit should be muddled or describe the choice on the menu.
Context
The source moves from a recipe-history disagreement to a service response that preserves guest agency.
Interpretation
When a named drink has materially different recognized versions, service should make the consequential choice visible rather than assume one universal specification.
Boundary
The principle concerns disclosure and preference, not proof that every variation is historically equivalent or equally well made.
Verification
- Text and locator checked against PDF sheets 28–29.
- Both sheets were visually inspected during the 76/76-sheet review.
- Source, Literature Note, Claim, Tag, and Citation relations are present.