When to Shake and When to Stir a Cocktail
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2014
- This is one of those galvanizing issues that can really show that you take quality cocktails even slightly seriously. Shaking a Manhattan is like serving your guests instant coffee. There, I’ve said it.
The question about When to Shake and When to Stir still confuses many, more so when you see contradictory information about this in different recipes for the same drink. The rule to follow here is really quite simple. “Stir drinks that are made with transparent ingredients, shake drinks that include cloudy ingredients.” The reason for this is mostly due to aesthetics. Drinks served in a beautiful clear glass, look better when they themselves are clear and transparent. Shaking a drink will often make it cloud up, and make it unappealing. Often it will also put a scummy looking foam residue on the top which makes it even more unappealing. If the drink already includes cloudy ingredients (such as a citrus juice, cream, or egg white) then no amount of stirring will make it clear, so go ahead and shake it.
A corollary of our simple rule, is this: “It is rarely wrong to stir a drink, but often wrong to shake it.” Which makes it all the more surprising when you see bartenders who not only shake all of their drinks, but don’t even have the tools necessary to stir a drink if they wanted to. So the next time you find yourself making a Martini, Manhattan, Negroni, or Derby, take a little extra time and stir it instead of shaking it.
Recipe:
2 oz American whiskey (rye or bourbon)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters: bit.ly/19xaUUA
Instructions:
Stir with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a cherry.
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I've never felt more illuminated. Great video with a very welcoming gentleman to explain everything.
While obviously not always true, a good rule of thumb for beginners is to have simple rules such as: If a drink has citrus added you should shake the drink, otherwise stir. That is a surprisingly accurate rule to follow, and you can learn the outliers as you gain experience.
Not just citrus, fruit juices, milk, cream, eggs, should all be shaken. The video didn't explain any of this, disappointing.
What a pleasant dude :)
I love you Robert Hess, I honestly think I've seen all your videos. You are one of the factors that got me interested in cocktails a while back and your knowledge has really brought that interest forward. Thank you for your videos and I hope for more to come!
3:39 for the actual talk about shaking vs stirring
Welcome Back Robert, glad to have you again.
We miss you Mr Hess. I'm so glad yo see you again. You are the best barman in the world and a great Teacher.... Sorry about my English. Un saludo desde México.
Decimo Maximo Meridio your english seems fine here, dude.
Love it I want to start this as a living . Being in a nice restaurant and serving good drinks to nice people and be part of the good time they having :) I have being a cook for about 5 years and it took that much time to realize that I was in the wrong side of the house now it's time for me to show them my pretty face and learn to make the best drinks in the world . thanks you for making this video it's so useful
U teach with such CLARITY THKS A MILLION
Awwwww Yiiiisss. Robert is back!
Now we're back in business!!!
Thank you for this!
Helpful!
Very informative. Thank you!
Love it!
I like it both ways , sometimes I like the creamy texture and foam head of the shaken . Especially when I add spiced brown syrup for a Caribbean Manhattan , but as always great video :)
I got it THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Finally! It's been too long.
Great to see Robert Hess again, it's been too long!
Absolutely, welcome back Robert!
I want that “Drink Boy” shirt
best explanation
Hi! I would have thought that, apart from the cloudy result of the shaking, the difference in method should also be thought in reason of diluition and chill. Do you have any tip on that?
Thank you by the way, smooth and pleasurable vid!
Thks for the wisdom 😍
Thank you. Very interesting :)
If its only alcoholic elements in the drink you should stir and if there is citric elements in there you should shake it.
So the tip the about shaken vs Stirring can be found at 4:30. Great guy, very knowledgeable, but took way too long to get to the point
Which one tastes better though?
What about the foam? Yesterday i created a cocktail (i love to do that, even if im not good at it), and i shaked it. The was so much foam, that i barely could drink it. And yes, i used the thing to prevent too mich foam.
I noticed the different size jiggers, I just realized my niche in mixology. Can u tell me about the different sizes of jiggers there are when making cocktails? Thanks🙂
Jiggers are usually the standard size of whatever country they're sold in, my one is 40ml with the half being 20ml, but others are 30ml and 15ml. Usually they'll have the actual measurements etched on the side so you can work out the measurements in relation to whatever recipe you're following.
If the recipe is vague and just talks about the ingredients as parts then it doesn't really matter as long as you maintain the correct ratios, the final drink will just be a little larger or smaller than the original recipe that's all.
All the alcohol and his shirt reminds me of Charlie Sheen!
I noticed that the stirred Manhattan seems a bit less in quantity than the Manhattan that was shaken. Does that just show that shaking a cocktail will always dilute the drink with more water from the melted ice as opposed to stirring? It may not seem like such a big deal to most people but I'm just wondering if the amount of water diluted in the cocktail will cause the drink to lose some of it's flavor or not.
Gary Tran
It all depends on how much ice you are using and how long you are stirring.
In General, if you want next to no dillution you have to stir with lots of ice, because then the drinks gets colder much faster and you have less meltwater.
Shaking it will produce more ice splinters and pieces that melt nearly immeditely so there is more water in the cocktail.
Whehter that is a good or a bad thing totally depends on your preferences.
quo reason?
aside from the clear vs. cloudy thing, all that foam and bubbles really messes with the texture (and, by extension, the taste) of the drink. Especially with a Manhattan or a gin martini
Failed to explain WHY we shake vs stir? As a general rule, fruit juices, cream, milk, egg products should be shaken...
Also, it would be nice to double strain to avoid the ice particles after shaking.
If you don't see the drink being made there is no way you can tell the difference in the taste if it was shaken or stirred. It's all in your head.
Botteld in Bond. :D :)
why are some bartenders give "harder shake" than you?
Is there any difference between light shaking and hard shaking? Even in the same cocktail?
EoFisherman,
In our experience, bartenders all have a different way of doing things. Some shake hard, some soft, some for longer than others. The key is to get the drink cold and diluted regardless of your technique.
Thank you for watching!
shaking it hard for a short period of time can be used for a drink like amaretto sour, where you want to create a froth, but not dilute the drink. other drinks, it doesn't matter if you shake it for a long time, lightly, or a short time, hard
hard shaken has a little more water bc of the broken ice
Really? Is the only difference aesthetic? If so, I don't see how you can compare a shaken Manhattan to instant coffee. In the cup, instant and brewed look the same. It's in the flavor that they differ.
I assume the cloudiness is a result of aeration, which is not in itself a bad thing.
I like to shake cocktails because I like the tiny chips of ice in my drink. I find them refreshing.
SO...u´re finally back...make some good and lesser known cocktails
thanks i guess
i dont see the problem
mighta used more ice for that stir
I thought the same he should add more ice in the stirring glass
Talking about shaker more than anything eldse !?
Excelente
apparently they don't teach this in bartending school
Apparently not. 😞
@Small Screen Drinks: I like your channel but James Bond an myself disagree on this. Vodka-martini, 2 clear ingredients, shaken not stirred. Also, The Dude disagrees: White Russian: 1 cloudy ingredient: stirred, not shaken.
gyrogerg the White Russian falls under the categorie of built drinks. You build it in the serving glass. In the case of the White Russian, it's then given a cursory stir with a stirring rod.
This is SO elementary... like, DUH? SO, the answer to the question is?????????? Who edits and produces these spots..
terrible
slowest bartender ever omfg