7 ms·
Why shaken, not stirred?
- iuguy 16y agoAs a self confessed Martini nut I can tell you two things, one of whom was told to me by Allesandro, head barman at the Duke's Hotel, London where they have a special Vesper Martini that's as close to the original as you can get. In the old days people didn't mix vodka and gin in cocktails as they were much stronger than they are now. In Casino Royale Bond acts a particularly flashy, arrogant show-off type gambler. In the early 50s when the novel is set (although please do bear in mind that the story was heavily influenced by wartime events in the Naval Intelligence Division) people never mixed Gin and Vodka in a Martini, and a Martini was always stirred with a special spoon to avoid chipping the ice. Bond, being the flashy type ordered his Martini with Vodka, which would then need to be shaken in order to avoid the oilyness that came with the potato-based vodkas of the time as per the wikipedia article. The act of it being shaken would've aroused much interest from people who would have asked what the gentleman was drinking, to which the response would seem incredible in a kind of 'who does this guy think he is' type of way. The casino is supposed to be a high brow csaino that will have seen better days, Bond was breaking etiquette to show off how big his balls were and to attract Le Chiffre's attention. The other thing on a more technical point is that a modern vesper cannot be made with the same ingredients as the original (as the formulas have changed). In order to get something close you need a strong but fairly easy drinking vodka (at least 43% ABV), a neutral Gin as close to 53% as possible, Lillet Blanc (a white vermouth) and either a tincture of quinine or a dash of orange bitters. My personal recommendation would be for Berry Bros No. 3 Dry London Gin, Potocki Vodka, Lillet Blanc and Orange Angostura Bitters. Stirring takes longer to cool the drink down to the right temperature (around 1-3 degrees C), whereas shaking takes considerably less time, but you'll get ice particles in the resulting drink. As the drink cools more water melts into the drink, diluting the cocktail. Thus a shaken Martini is generally slightly stronger than a stirred one. The oxygenation of the mix also gives the drink a sharpness that you don't get in a stirred martini, but most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The TL;DR for all of this is, vespers should be shaken and not stirred, or poured and layered (as per the Duke's bar), no other martini should be shaken - unless it's pure Gin and Vermouth in which case it can be gently shaken to waltz time.
- jimfl 16y agoUse caution, however, as vodka can make you drunk if you are able to swallow enough of it.
- nixy 16y agoThanks for that, very interesting reading! I prefer my Martini made with Hendrick's gin and Nolly Pratt, but I've only had it shaken---not stirred.
- iuguy 16y agoYou heathen! Just kidding, Noilly Prat is a great amber vermouth, you should definitely try Lillet Blanc if you get the chance. Nice Gin choice too, have you ever tried Tanqueray 10? If so, what did you think?
- panacea 16y agoI'd like to see the results of a blind taste test by persons who swear it would make a difference to the taste. I have my suspicions of what the outcome would be.
- Retric 16y agoI don't know about this drink, but if you stir an oil based salad dressing you are not going to get the same result as shaking it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion
- wlievens 16y agoI'm now picturing James Bond ordering a Salade Niçoise in said manner.
- foljs 16y agoAnd I'd like for people making similar comments to perform a test for Asperger's. I have my suspicions of what the outcome would be.
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- tokipin 16y agoi had thought it was a manifestation of James Bond's personality: assuming the ingredients were mixed on the spot, a stirred drink would have a uniform flavor, while a shaken drink would have a more erratic 'spontaneous' flavor
- gordonguthrie 16y agoBest to avoid any connection with ice altogether by keeping your spirits in the freezer. There is nothing more dispiriting that paying over the odds for a cocktail and watching the ghastly wannabe shaking it for half-an-hour with slush so he can fill a 'large glass' with basically water. Stir or shake is then a matter of choice as to how opalescent you want your drink. At hypernumbers we only serve cocktails from Schumann's American bar: http://astore.amazon.com/hypernumbersc-20/detail/1558598537 http://astore.amazon.com/hypernumbersc-20/detail/1558598537 In particular I would recommend a Claridge, stirred and not shaken. If you are a sloshed geek you might find this engineering schematic of cocktails amusing as well: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27580670/Engineers-Guide-to-Drinks http://www.scribd.com/doc/27580670/Engineers-Guide-to-Drinks
- iuguy 16y agoReally? I've never read American bar although I heard it leaves a lot of common drinks out on the grounds that Schumann didn't like them. I'd also find it strange that you'd limit yourself to drinks prepared for a mock-American bar in Munich. If you're going to limit what you do, doesn't it makes more sense to limit the menu to IBA cocktails? (I don't know, never ran a bar, know a few who do though). Also why the Claridge recommendation? Any particular reason? I'm interested to know.
- gordonguthrie 16y ago> it leaves a lot of common drinks out on the grounds that Schumann didn't like them Given that most 'cocktails' I have ever been served in bars are basically 'alcohol disguised as fruit juice' leaving them out is not a bad thing. Essentially if a cocktail has a name like a porn film, don't drink it. Given that he ran the Cocktail Bar at the Ritz in Paris I think "drinks prepared for a mock-American bar in Munich" is a tad snippy. We Europeans have been drinking strong drinks for a long time. I recommend Claridges because I like them. Drink of champions.
- iuguy 16y agoYou're right about my comment, it was a bit snippy. Even so, I find your reference to porno cocktails both understandable and snobbish at the same time. Every time someone asks me to mix them a sex on the beach I die a little inside. In fact I get that with mojitos (if they ask for Bacardi) and Margheritas (with Jose Cuervo) too, so I can't exactly exclude myself from the snobbish end. Europeans I find don't have the monopoly on strong drinks - the Russians have been outdoing the whole of Europe (including us Brits and Irish) on the mad booze stakes for a while! Fair enough that you recommend Claridges - I'll have to give it a try. Is it acceptable to use Cointreau instead of something like Grand Marnier for this, or does it have to be a specific triple sec?
- jfb 16y agoI particularly like Fleming being prescribed bourbon to cut back on his gin consumption.
- sp332 16y agoReminds me of Nick Charles from the movie The Thin Man: "The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time." :-)
- iuguy 16y agoThat's precisely where I got the waltz thing from. Good find!
- protomyth 16y agoFor the TV trivia inclined, there is an episode of West Wing (Stirred Season 3 #18) where the President lectures on it saying JB is ordering a weak drink. Take with grain of salt, as the series also reports some stories like the whole "NASA Pen/USSR Pencil" story as fact. Fiction tis fiction.
- iuguy 16y agoThis is definitely ficticious. In the Duke's they'll only serve you two Vespers because of the strength of the drink.