About The Double Strainer
Cocktails, techniques, and bar systems made practical
Founded in 2024 by award-winning head mixologist Riccardo Grechi, The Double Strainer is a practical education and training platform built around cocktails, bar systems, and modern beverage operations.
The goal is simple: turn the kind of knowledge usually kept behind the bar or in staff rooms into clear, usable resources for bartenders, bar managers, hotels, and drinks professionals who care about quality, consistency, and stronger commercial performance.
Today, The Double Strainer reaches over 25,000 readers a year, with most articles read by bartenders, bar managers, and serious cocktail enthusiasts around the world.
Built by an award-winning head mixologist, bar consultant, and trainer with 10+ years of hands-on experience across Europe and Southeast Asia.
What you’ll find on The Double Strainer
Here you’ll find:
• practical articles on cocktail techniques, prep, and fundamentals
• recipes for classic drinks, modern signatures, and zero-proof serves
• deep dives on ingredients, equipment, and service logic
• bar-business insights on costing, menu strategy, team systems, and operations
• toolkits, bundles, menu engineering services, and on-site consulting built for real venues
Everything published here is shaped by real service, real training, and real beverage-program work, not theory removed from the bar floor.
What drives The Double Strainer
Behind every piece of content there are a few simple beliefs:
• good technique and solid fundamentals matter more than trends and gimmicks
• bar-business numbers, systems, and execution matter as much as recipes
• knowledge should be practical, honest, and useful in real service
• understanding why something works matters more than memorising steps
The aim is to help bartenders, bar managers, and serious drinks professionals:
• build stronger specs and more consistent service
• make better operational decisions
• create bars and teams that can perform even when the person in charge is not on shift
Who is behind The Double Strainer
Riccardo Grechi | Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Head Mixologist & Bar Consultant
The Double Strainer is led by Riccardo Grechi, an award-winning Italian head mixologist, bar manager, and bar consultant based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
With more than 10 years of hands-on experience across Europe and Southeast Asia, his work combines cocktail R&D, menu engineering, cost control, SOP development, training, and beverage-program design.
This is not a media project built from the outside looking in. It is built by someone who has opened venues, trained teams, engineered menus, managed costs, and worked live service across multiple international markets.
Every article, tool, and service on The Double Strainer is shaped by practical bar-floor experience, not recycled theory.
Selected experience
Over the last decade, Riccardo has:
• led cocktail programs as head bartender and head mixologist across bars, hotels, and multi-venue operations
• opened and relaunched venues in different markets, with a focus on standards, systems, and profitability
• trained bartenders and bar managers on technique, specifications, costing logic, and operational consistency
• built beverage programs designed to improve guest experience while protecting margins
His experience includes work across Prague, Korčula, Lisbon, Warsaw, Brașov, Bandung, and Kuala Lumpur.
Most recently, at Hotel Indigo Bandung, part of IHG, he opened and managed two new venues from scratch, built the beverage concept and SOP structure, launched two 12-drink signature cocktail lists at an average GP of 75%, kept beverage COGS in the low-20s range, and trained an 8 to 10 person FOH and BOH team.
In Kuala Lumpur, he also worked across multiple venues including The Sticky Wicket, Tickets Bar, PS150, Nero Nero, and CCB, where he redesigned menus for five venues, improved cocktail GP from roughly 70% to 75%, and helped keep beverage COGS around 23 to 25% across different concepts.
Training & Certifications
Riccardo’s practical experience is supported by formal beverage training and recognised industry education, including:
• Bartender Diploma, European Bartender School (EBS), Milan
• Advanced Mixology Course, European Bartender School (EBS), Milan
• Advanced Bartender Techniques, European Bartender School (EBS)
• Scotch Whisky Expert, Edinburgh Whisky Academy, Scotland
• Foundational Barista Certificate, Barista Guild Asia, Kuala Lumpur
This combination of hands-on service experience and structured training is one of the reasons The Double Strainer gives equal weight to creativity, standards, systems, and execution.
Awards & competitions
Riccardo has been recognised in multiple cocktail competitions and industry contests, including:
• Top 50 Bartender, Hennessy My Way Global (2024)
• 1st Runner-up, Gajardo Cocktail Competition, Italy (2024)
• 2nd Runner-up, Chivas 13 Extra Challenge, Italy (2024)
• Finalist, Viva Marini Bartending Competition, Kuala Lumpur (2023)
• 2nd Runner-up, Viva Marini Bartending Competition, Kuala Lumpur (2022)
• Champion, PVJ, Prague (2022)
These results are not the centre of the project, but they reinforce an important point: the knowledge behind The Double Strainer comes from someone who has been tested in real service, in commercial environments, and in competitive settings.
Work with The Double Strainer
For selected venues, hotels, and spirits-led projects in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and across Southeast Asia, The Double Strainer also offers direct support through bar training, menu engineering, and focused consulting.
Current focus areas include:
• Bar Training & SOPs
Structured bartender and bar-manager training programmes built to improve consistency, speed, and execution.
• Menu Engineering & R&D
Cocktail and mocktail menu development designed around flavour, cost control, service flow, and stronger margins.
• Brand Activations & Guest Shifts
Trade activations, workshops, and collaborative experiences for spirits brands and hospitality partners.