Why does James Bond always order his cocktails “shaken, not stirred”? Does it really make a difference in the taste?
Because the misguided lout drinks vodka “martinis”.
(As noted by SDSAB member manhattan.)
Colder drink
Allegedly, stirring the drink ‘bruises the gin,’ whatever that means.
Science strikesagain.
Actuall, shaking bruises the gin, which is why ordinary martinis are stirred. But Bond always orders vodka martinis, which don’t suffer this weakness. They are, however, better when colder, and shaking the mix with ice gets it colder than stirring will … supposedly.
And all these long years I thought it was a metaphor for, “No damage done, I meant for that to happen, I’m cool…in fact, I’m frosty.” 
“Shaken” meaning “Yeah I just took a helluvatumble” but not “stirred” meaning “I have, nonetheless, maintained my composure and requisite stiff upper lip.”
The basis of this information is a Martin Sheen line from a West Wing episode that aired a few seasons ago, so it may not be 100% accurate, but it seems logical.
One reason to stir the martini instead of shaking it was to chill it without chipping the ice. If the ice were chipped by the shaking, it would melt faster. Yes, this would result in a colder drink, but it would also be diluted by the water. So, as Martin Sheen says, “he’s ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.”
Of course, it did give Carey Lowell a chance to order a drink for Bond in License to Kill, and make a semi-obscene gesture when indicating the “shaken” part.
Believe it or not, I mentioned this in my very first SDMB post many moons ago.
I never saw him, but I heard there was a guy following me every time I went into a restroom. He said he wanted to shake Nott’s turd.
No, that’s absolutely too much of a reach for a pun. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. :smack: :smack: :smack:
I thought I would be able to look down my nose and answer “Why does James Bond always order his cocktails “shaken, not stirred”?” with a crisp “because that’s the way Ian Fleming liked them.”
That is my memory, at any rate. But I find little to back it up online.
From here:
But this misbegotten site says:
Of course, this site says that Fleming’s true favorite drink was… pink gin.
I wonder what color elephants that makes you see?
I read Thunderball, and it’s a pretty damn fine book. Much better than the movie. Fleming was anticipating nuclear terrorism back in 1961 (not that it’s happened yet; knock on wood with crossed fingers). I don’t think Bond orders the “shaken not stirred” martini in this one, but I could be wrong.
I agree that shaking martinis (and most drinks) is a waste of time and usually hurts the drink. The “bruising” involves heavily aerating the drink through the shaking motion. You will also get enough ice in there to make a difference, and a shaken martini will often have ice crystals floating on the top of the drink.
Some people think shaking is showy and fun, but to me it’s really a pain in the can. A metal shaker gets REALLY cold as you shake it, and then the top stays stuck because the air inside has shrunk.
Here is the master method: store your higher proof mixing liquors (vodka, gin, bourbon, and scotch) in small glass soda bottles in the freezer. Store your vermouth in the fridge. Add, stir, you’re done–and your drinks will be perfectly chilled. Convenient, too.
I always thought he ordered his vodka martini shaken by female bartenders, stirred by males. Careful observation of the movies doesn’t bear this out, however I swear he orders his martini stirred a couple times in the series.
FYI, “pink gin” is gin shaken with 3 or so dashes of angostura bitters. Quite strong, but a deceptively pretty pale pink.
The master speaks.
I tested this out extensively. A martini (gin and vermouth) is significantly better stirred. It is too cold and too diluted if shaken. A vodka martini is nasty UNLESS it is shaken (and therefore much colder). The problem is that bartenders all over will shake your damn drink unless you specifically tell them not to, and they often forget even then.
From Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini (Miller and Brown, 1997) –
“One argument in favor of stirring versus shaking: Stirring gently produces a much clearer Martini. Shaking adds bits of ice and tiny air bubbles, which tend to cloud the drink.” (20)
“Using freezer-chilled vodka or gin and mixing without ice makes a stronger drink, but keep in mind that the right amount of dilution really helps the flavor.” (21)
and re. the eternal debate on using gin vs. vodka:
“…a Vodka Martini is a Martini, even though it’s not the Dry Martini.” (14)
re. Ian Fleming and his James Bond alter-ego:
"[Fleming] gave the secret agent some of his own personal tastes, including one for Martinis – Vodka Martinis. During the Second World War, Fleming lamented the slump in quality at his favorite London watering hole, The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel:
'When I tell you that the Savoy Hotel are [sic] now mixing Martinis out of bath-tub gin and sherry you will know that we are rapidly progressing back to swamp life and the transitional period is distasteful.' (64)
[Nota Bene: the authors seem uncertain whether Bond’s preference for Vodka Martinis is more a reflection of Fleming’s native preferences for vodka, or, temptingly, the reflection of a lifelong psychological warping of good taste caused by wartime encounters with cut-rate drinks using inferior gin – not to mention sherry. As an adherent of both Fleming and the Gin-and-dry-vermouth Martini, I prefer the latter possibility.]
Nevertheless, in his first Bond, Casino Royale, Fleming introduces what Miller and Brown assert was not only Bond’s favorite Martini, but Fleming’s as well:
"'A dry martini,' [Bond] said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet...Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it well until it's very cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'" (68-69)
Bond was elsewhere particular about another aspect of his Martini: the Vodka should be Russian or at least grain-based (and never use Siamese [Thai] Vodka!). (74)
A couple of nitpicky notes regarding Bond’s take on vermouth… The aforementioned “Kina Lillet Blanc” is not a true vermouth at all, but “a French aperitif similar to vermouth”. (68) Elsewhere in the series, Bond’s CIA ally Felix Leiter introduces his own take on the Martini – medium-dry, with a twist, but with a domestic vermouth ‘from California’ instead of the Kina Lillet – which Bond concedes is “the best vermouth he’d ever tasted”. But it appears that Fleming was having fun with a red herring here, as Miller and Brown were unable to locate any vermouth manufactured in the Golden State. (71)
The final word belongs to James Bond, from Casino Royale:
'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad.' (68-69)
I’ll drink to that.
I believe that’s a Vesper, named (by Bond) after the female character in the book, Vesper Lynd. It’s a long time since I read the books, but I don’t remember him ever drinking it again (perhaps because she committed suicide?).
You may be thinking of the scene in, I believe, You Only Live Twice in which another character, showing off how well he knows Bond, offers him a martini: “That’s stirred, not shaken, correct?” Bond, smirking to himself, agrees.
Isn’t Smirnoff the vodka of choice for Bond? I thought that he was supposed to have good taste.
Actually, on several occasions book-Bond describes himself as not a gourmet, but actually rather fond of food and drink with sharp intense tastes, though not necessarily good taste. In Thunderball for example, he looks forward to three things after he gets out of Shrublands, the health spa forced on him by M: a hard cheap bottle of chianti, a big plate of spaghetti bolognaise, and the body of Patricia Fearing, the mink-mittened physical therapist with the tight compact body.
The image of Bond with encyclopedic knowledge of gourmet foods and wines is a movie invention.