Shaken or Stirred?

by ,

Mixology

                                Shaken or Stirred?

Shaken, not stirred. This is the famous line from James Bond, Ian Fleming’s fictional British secret service agent, spoken the first time in the film Goldfinger. James Bond called it a Martini, but in truth it was a Vesper..... Vodka, Gin and Kina Killet. The age old question still remains-- shaken,or stirred? I am asked this question often, especially when instructing new bartenders, so I decided to make it the subject of my February article.

There are a few traditional ways you can order a drink and i think it is important to discuss that first: 

Neat, which means the bartender is simply pouring a spirit into a glass from the bottle, without ice.

On the rocks, which is when the bartender pours the spirit out of the bottle into a glass and then adds ice.

Up, which signifies the bartender chilling the drink first with ice, and then pouring it into a martini or coupe glass. This method can be done by either stirring it or shaking it.

Ordering the drink “up” is the subject of this article, and how do you know whether to stir or shake?? Well, that depends on what is in your shaker. A general rule of the thumb is this: if the ingredients in the shaker are All SPIRITS, you will want to add ice and stir it until it is cold. If the ingredients include citrus, juice, syrups, dairy, or egg, you need to shake it.

There is some real science behind this, and over the last few years many people in the mixology world have researched it. The first thing you need to know is that shaking a cocktail with ice not only chills it, but also aerates it and dilutes it. Many cocktail recipes account for this dilution. The amount of time you shake it depends on what is in the shaker. A heavy syrup, for instance, will need more shaking time than a cocktail with a lighter syrup. If you are shaking with egg white, you need to shake for a long time to take that goopy consistency to the light and fluffy texture you are trying to achieve. Here is a recent analogy I used when trying to explain it to a guest at my bar:

Imagine making an iced coffee at home. You fill a glass with ice, pour in cold coffee, and 1⁄2 & 1⁄2 cream. Stir it and set it aside. Now make the same drink but shake it first with ice before pouring it into the glass. The second method gives you a well mixed, frothy iced coffee. There is a big difference not only in the look but also the taste and mouthfeel. There are people out there who ask for a shaken Martini, and sometimes even order it “bruised”. This refers to shaking the heck out of it until there are little shards of ice floating on the top of the drink. This will add a considerable amount of water to it, and perhaps for some people this makes a martini glass full of cold gin easier to drink. To each his own.

So in regards to stirring --- any cocktail that is All SPIRITS -- (Manhattan, Martini, Negroni, Vieux Carre, Vesper, etc...) is meant to be stirred over ice, and not shaken. These are drinks that showcase the spirits, and the last thing you want to do is dilute and aerate them. By stirring with ice, you can absolutely get that drink as cold as you wish, while maintaining not only the flavors but also the colors  if you have ever seen a shaken Manhattan, you know wha

t I mean....it becomes cloudy and tastes watered down.

Ice plays a role in all of this as well--- in cocktail bars around the world bartenders have discovered that ice is an ingredient as opposed to an afterthought. In my bar I have what we call “bar ice” but I also hand chip perfectly clear ice cubes for spirits served on the rocks. This is not only for the aesthetic purpose but also because that ice is dense and melts much slower, therefore not diluting the drink. It is also perfect to use in a stirred drink, because depending on the type of ice maker you have at home or in your bar, the ice may be “wet”. Put a couple of cubes in your hand and see how quickly your hand is wet. This will also affect your stirring and shaking and dilute the drink even faster.

The moral of the story? Put thought into how you chill your cocktails, whether by stirring or shaking.... And if you typically order your martini shaken, I very much encourage you to stir it next time. James Bond may have been a handsome, debonair, international man of mystery, but he was ruining that delicious Vesper by ordering it shaken!!

---Article written by Cris Dehlavi, The Muse of Mixology---

My name is Cris Dehlavi and I  am a native of Arizona, but have lived in Columbus, Ohio for

the past 13 years with my daughter, Desi. I have been running the bar program at “M”, of the Cameron Mitchell restaurant group since 2005. I am currently the President of Columbus USBG as well as a consultant for bars and restaurants nationally.

In 2013, I attended the rigorous B.A.R. 5 day spirits Certification and have been recognized as one of the top mixologists in the U.S.A. I am one of the senior managers of the prestigious apprentice program at Tales of the Cocktail and work as a mentor to many bartenders around Ohio.

My contribution to Got Rum? magazine will include everything from reviews of national cocktail events, articles on mixology, garnish trends, recipes and techniques, to interviews with some of the leading bartenders in the industry.