{"id":995,"date":"2009-05-13T20:35:43","date_gmt":"2009-05-14T03:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=995"},"modified":"2009-05-14T06:34:24","modified_gmt":"2009-05-14T13:34:24","slug":"shaken-or-stirred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=995","title":{"rendered":"Shaken or Stirred?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know the iconic phrase uttered by Bond each time he orders his, now traditional, Vodka Martini.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of us even have friends who have ordered the drink using the phrase (yes, there was laughing, at said friend).\u00c2\u00a0 You see Bond always wants his cocktail “shaken, not stirred”.\u00c2\u00a0 But why?\u00c2\u00a0 This request goes against all things right and proper in the cocktail chilling world.\u00c2\u00a0 One never shakes a cocktail made completely with clear spirits.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, I must ask why.<\/p>\n

\"Shaken<\/a>
Shaken (left) and Stirred (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

I’ve heard a few answers.\u00c2\u00a0 First, shaking introduces much more ice crystals to the drink which do two things.\u00c2\u00a0 One, they cloud the drink (which is readily apparent in the image above) and two, they dilute the drink (which is also noticeable).\u00c2\u00a0 Second, shaking chills the drink far more than stirring, more about that in a bit.\u00c2\u00a0 Third, and I’d say most interesting, shaking introduces more ice (and thus more water) and therefore fundamentally changes the cocktail.\u00c2\u00a0 Cocktail recipes are usually tuned for the technique when they’re developed.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

I decided to put these to the test.\u00c2\u00a0 My method was as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Equal Quantities (3 oz Gin, 3 Ice Cubes)<\/li>\n
  • Same Hardware (Shaker Tin)<\/li>\n
  • Same Time (30 seconds)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The results really amazed me.\u00c2\u00a0 First the temperatures.\u00c2\u00a0 30 seconds of shaking produced 26F gin where 30 seconds of stirring only produced 46F.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Second was the clouding.\u00c2\u00a0 Not much I can say here.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s quite clear (pun fully intended) from the picture how much additional ice and air was introduced by the shaking process.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, the additional volume really floored me.\u00c2\u00a0 The shaken cocktail appears to have gained as much as 1 oz of water and air.\u00c2\u00a0 I can’t say for certain how much of each is present, but I’d guess nearly 50% is air.<\/p>\n

    Baffled by the not-so-low temp of the stirred cocktail I executed one final test, stirring for 60 seconds.\u00c2\u00a0 This brought the gin down to 32F which is in the same range as the shaken cocktail, but it still remained crystal clear.\u00c2\u00a0 However, it did melt more ice and therefore increased in volume more than the 30 second stir.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say about on par with the shake.<\/p>\n

    So, some interesting findings from this one.\u00c2\u00a0 It seems to me that one should certainly stick with the general rule of stirring drinks composed exclusively of clear spirits.\u00c2\u00a0 If for no other reason than the visual appeal of the final product.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Water, although not explicitely stated, is a key ingredient in all cocktail recipes, you know.\u00c2\u00a0 One final note.\u00c2\u00a0 Shaking a metal shaker tin will bring your hand to a new level of cold.\u00c2\u00a0 In my case actually slightly freezing it to the tin.\u00c2\u00a0 I have a much deeper level of respect for those who shake tins all night long.\u00c2\u00a0 I know not how you deal, but I am awed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We all know the iconic phrase uttered by Bond each time he orders his, now traditional, Vodka Martini.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of us even have friends who have ordered the drink using the phrase (yes, there was laughing, at said friend).\u00c2\u00a0 You see Bond always wants his cocktail “shaken, not stirred”.\u00c2\u00a0 But why?\u00c2\u00a0 This request goes against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,26],"tags":[205],"class_list":["post-995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-hack","tag-hack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=995"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}