Shaken or Stirred?

We all know the iconic phrase uttered by Bond each time he orders his, now traditional, Vodka Martini.  Some of us even have friends who have ordered the drink using the phrase (yes, there was laughing, at said friend).  You see Bond always wants his cocktail “shaken, not stirred”.  But why?  This request goes against all things right and proper in the cocktail chilling world.  One never shakes a cocktail made completely with clear spirits.  Again, I must ask why.

Shaken and Stirred
Shaken (left) and Stirred (right)

I’ve heard a few answers.  First, shaking introduces much more ice crystals to the drink which do two things.  One, they cloud the drink (which is readily apparent in the image above) and two, they dilute the drink (which is also noticeable).  Second, shaking chills the drink far more than stirring, more about that in a bit.  Third, and I’d say most interesting, shaking introduces more ice (and thus more water) and therefore fundamentally changes the cocktail.  Cocktail recipes are usually tuned for the technique when they’re developed.  A clear drink, such as the Martini is developed with the knowledge that it will be stirred and as such the ingredients are added in sufficient quantities to balance this.

I decided to put these to the test.  My method was as follows:

  • Equal Quantities (3 oz Gin, 3 Ice Cubes)
  • Same Hardware (Shaker Tin)
  • Same Time (30 seconds)

The results really amazed me.  First the temperatures.  30 seconds of shaking produced 26F gin where 30 seconds of stirring only produced 46F.  20 degrees is a huge difference, not just in the flavor of the cocktail but also in how long it will remain pleasantly cool while sipping.  Second was the clouding.  Not much I can say here.  It’s quite clear (pun fully intended) from the picture how much additional ice and air was introduced by the shaking process.  Finally, the additional volume really floored me.  The shaken cocktail appears to have gained as much as 1 oz of water and air.  I can’t say for certain how much of each is present, but I’d guess nearly 50% is air.

Baffled by the not-so-low temp of the stirred cocktail I executed one final test, stirring for 60 seconds.  This brought the gin down to 32F which is in the same range as the shaken cocktail, but it still remained crystal clear.  However, it did melt more ice and therefore increased in volume more than the 30 second stir.  I’d say about on par with the shake.

So, some interesting findings from this one.  It seems to me that one should certainly stick with the general rule of stirring drinks composed exclusively of clear spirits.  If for no other reason than the visual appeal of the final product.  While shaking for 30 seconds produced a much colder cocktail I think going forward I’ll be making sure to stir my drinks for at least 60 seconds to get them down to temperature and to melt some additional ice.  Water, although not explicitely stated, is a key ingredient in all cocktail recipes, you know.  One final note.  Shaking a metal shaker tin will bring your hand to a new level of cold.  In my case actually slightly freezing it to the tin.  I have a much deeper level of respect for those who shake tins all night long.  I know not how you deal, but I am awed.


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18 responses to “Shaken or Stirred?”

  1. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    Nice little article :)

    As a general rule, if a cocktail uses dairy or fruit juices, it should be shaken. If a cocktail is composed entirely of spirits and/or liqueurs (also, simple syrup, bitters, etc.) it should be stirred.

    A couple months ago my family was having a big old gathering at our house. I felt like having a drink so I took out my tumbler and started making a martini. Everyone was asking what I was making and were confused when they saw me stirring instead of shaking. I explained to them why it’s better to stir instead of shake, but they required more convincing. The final product (2oz Hendricks, .25oz dry vermouth, 2 dashes orange bitters) was passed around and tried by 7-8 of my extended family members, all with nothing but good things to say. They said it ‘didn’t taste like a martini!’ and that they would actually drink it.

    It’s sad that such great cocktails such as the martini and manhattan have been reduced to, for lack of a better word, shit.

  2. kyle Avatar

    i think your designation of right and left is off. the diluted, white liquid is clearly shaken and is on my left. awright! good experiment for sure

  3. Reese Avatar

    Dan -> I’ve heard great things about this style of Martini in the past and have been lax in trying one out. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction.

    Kyle -> You’re absolutely correct. I’ve changed the image caption. It seems I should perhaps write these posts prior to enjoying the subject. :)

  4. […] over at Cocktail Hacker, has a post that I’m going to steal more of than I should, including the picture above, just […]

  5. Max W Avatar

    Wait, so all those 27 oz. martinis we used to drink . . . they were mostly air?

  6. Ryan Avatar
    Ryan

    Superb article. I’d heard that shaking “bruises” the gin and makes it taste different. I’m not sure how much of this is just bar tenders making things up (I cant’ taste the difference, but I hardly have a sophisticated palette…) or is actual fact. I have no idea what brusing means in regards to spirits. Any ideas?

    I’ll never have the balls to ask for a Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred, so perhaps I’ll just ask for a well stirred Gin Martini in future and spare myself the embarassment.

  7. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    Reese, vermouth is your friend :)

    Hendricks makes for a smooth, buttery Martini that goes down easy. A London dry gin is going to throw a little more juniper in your face and have some bite to it, which some people prefer. Tanqueray 10 has become a favorite of mine – huge flavor profile with a lot of citrus to it that works well with the orange bitters and a lemon peel garnish.

    Most people profess their love for dry Martinis without ever really having tried a Martini in the traditional sense, with gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters.

  8. Reese Avatar

    Ryan -> Bruising gin generally refers to the belief that if one shakes a gin martini the flavor of the gin is altered. Usually the claim is that the flavor of the spirit becomes sharper when shaken rather than stirred. I’m not sure I believe the hype.

    There is a small discussion of the topic on Chow.
    Jonathan (JMF) claims that the cause of the sharper flavor is the oxidation of aldehydes in the spirit. And while aldehydes do oxidize relatively easily I see two issues. One, if the aldehydes were going to oxidize they would have done so as soon as they came in contact with a oxygen source. Two, although aldehydes do provide some flavor components in a gin they are usually minimized by distillers as they are one of the chemicals known to contribute to hangovers.

    I think it’s more likely that the difference in flavor comes from the increased amount of ice and water in the cocktail and the vast difference in temperature at which the drink is served.

    In Doug’s post about the topic he mentions that he prefers his Martinis “looking as if you could peer closely and see Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio clinging to a piece of flotsam amidst the ice flakes”. While a humorous mental image there is a good piece of wisdom to take away. Enjoy your cocktails however you prefer them. While there are some guidelines on how things should be done none are set in stone. Your enjoyment of the final product is much more important than doing things “the way they should be done”.

  9. Dirty Martini Avatar

    Two words, you rock. Thank you for this awesome and completely educational blog which answered a fundamental question I didn’t realize I’d been asking myself for years. Hmmm. Thanks. I, of course prefer mine shaken and a bit dirty. As for the frozen hand, a bartender friend of mine keeps clean, warm and wet dishrags just under her station and a quick pat pre and post shake assist in the digit thaw when she’s knee deep in fancy drinks.

  10. […] week I posted about the differences between shaking and stirring.  Since the post was focused on the merits of shaking or stirring Martini like drinks specifically […]

  11. […] end up with freakishly large arms. Now, I just did a post on ice, and that research (spurred by Reese) along with Robert’s video leads me to suggest a better way. Note that the ice Robert uses is […]

  12. […] end up with freakishly large arms. Now, I just did a post on ice, and that research (spurred by Reese) along with Robert’s video leads me to suggest a better way. Note that the ice Robert uses is […]

  13. Doug Winship Avatar

    On the subject of “bruising the gin”, Embury states that it isn’t the gin that is bruised, but the vermouth. This makes sense to me, as vermouth is both more perishable and more volatile than gin.
    In that case, if your take yours as a Montgomery, i.e. with little or no vermouth, you can shake with no likely consequences.

  14. Rick Avatar

    Reese,

    Why did you only use 3 ice cubes? I wonder if your temperature results would be different with a full glass of ice…

    Awesome post!

  15. Reese Avatar

    Rick – I went for 3 cubes because that was all that was needed to chill the amount of gin I used in the stirring test. However, in thinking more about it I would think adding more ice would increase the temperature range even more as there would be much more surface area in the shaken drink.

    Hmmmm….something to try out.

  16. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    Reese,
    To work out how much of the additional volume in the shaken martini is air you should leave it to sit for several hours at room temp. Remember also that ice (crystalline water) actually takes up more room than liquid water due to Hydrogen bonding.

    I would be very interested to know the final volume because as stated above taste is all about temperature and dilution.

    Cheers matt.

  17. Tony Harion Avatar
    Tony Harion

    Great post Reese!

    I´ll probably do some testing in this area in a a near future, i´ll let you know how it went.

    Cheers,

    Tony

  18. MattD Avatar
    MattD

    I actually went to a seminar on ice at Tails of the Cocktail (look it up) one year. When shaking a drink, you should reach the final temperature with about 20 seconds of shaking. More shaking won’t really chill it further, and won’t dilute the drink more (well – unless you’re breaking up the ice more and it makes it through your strainer to melt later). When stirring a drink, you can control the chilling and dilution by deciding how long to stir, as you found out.