Shaken vs. Stirred: A Tale of Two Gins

I thought it best to just address this one head on and early given how often the poorly executed Bond impersonation (oh, it's gotta be the face, the body swagger and a bad accent, doesn't it?) comes up when I bring up gin for the first time with someone: "Shaken, (upper body swagger) not stirred." Here's the real rub on this for me: Bond is ordering a vodka "martini." And yes, the quotations are because there is no such thing as a real martini made with vodka.

So, let's look beyond the foolery of Bond's "martini" ordering ways. What's the difference between shaking and stirring? Is there a difference? If so, how should you order your martini to optimize the gin drinking experience? Well rumor has it that if you shake a gin martini you will "bruise" the delicate molecules of infusion that makes the gin so wonderful. You'll also shake air bubbles into the drink and cut some of the vermouth-iness (thicker, oiliness) out of the martini. Now, Bond doesn't really have to worry about all of this because he started with an inferior drink. I'd angrily shake the glass if I was given a vodka "martini" too. On a potentially positive note, the shaking will most likely get the martini cooler faster (the gin will be more exposed to the surface area of the ice,maybe?!) Stirring is a gentler way to treat one's martini,but it does require a spoon or stir stick. While it takes longer to mix when you stir versus shake,remember that's working to your benefit because gin is enhanced by interacting with small amounts of water that melt off the ice.

Now, to be clear, I'm not a true connoisseur, rather I'm a gin enthusiast who is a dishwashing dis-enthusiast; so I swirl my martini. That's right, part stir, part shake. I'm one rebel with a cause: delicious, cool martinis that I can enjoy instead of loading the dishwasher.

Thanks to the straight dope for their "shaken, not stirred" article. I loved this book growing up.

Up Next: Taking on the Tanq