I have been making cocktails for my family and myself for a little while now. And I am becoming an expert to some degree I think. I own several bar manuals. And they all say never shake the gin when you make a gin martini. Why?
Actually, when I make a gin martini, I always shake it. It makes it nice and froathy with little ice crystals in it that I like. And on tv I once heard that shaken martinis have more antioxidants in them than stirred ones. So why aren’t you supposed to shake them (my bar manuals oddly never said)?
(Please only respond to this thread if you at least 21:).)
That’s because he drank vodka martinis, which should be shaken.
The reason you don’t shake a gin martini is because you’ll “bruise” the gin. It’s a bit of a misnomer, because it’s not the shaking that damages the gin, it’s the ice. What’s happening is that shaking the martini makes the gin get colder than it should. Gin is best served cold, but still above freezing.
Vodka, on the other hand, is best as cold as possible.
I’ve heard that the notion of ‘bruising’ the gin is bunk, but it’s not my place to say–I tried to like martinis, but I’m just not a big fan of gin, other than the occasional G&T.
As a matter of presentation, there’s a legitimate reason not to shake any cocktail that is transparent rather than opaque: shaking will introduce air bubbles and ruin the presentation of a crystal-clear cocktail.
It’s because the original recipe for a martini called for a 1:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, and if you shake a cocktail that has a lot of vermouth in it, you’ll end up with a head of foam, which is gross.
Nowadays, if you make martinis with a negligible amount of vermouth, it won’t matter too much whether you shake or stir.
That said, some people like their martinis warmer, some like them colder, some like them in the shaker 3 days older? (I know, I know, I’ll be here all week)
If you like your martinis shaken, shake em. If you like them unshaken, then don’t shake them. But don’t get preachy about it. Alcohol is supposed to be fun, not pedantic.
My grandfather shakes his martinis, my dad shakes his martinis, I shake my martinis. Do I cringe and hiss and whine when served a martini that is stirred? No. I like those, too. I just think making the shaken ones is more fun.
The so-called ‘bruising’ of gin (or bourbon in a Manhattan, or Scotch in a Rob Roy, if you’re into that sort of thing) and vermouth is due to ice crystals which break up and overcool the liquor, giving it a kind of nasty biting aftertaste. It’s true that this isn’t such an issue with vodka, but then, there is really no good reason to serve good vodka ice cold, and the suspended ice will melt making the drink watery and bland. The only cocktails that should be shaken are those with separable ingredients like cream, juice, or thick syrup, such as a collins-type drink, and then it is only necessary to do one or two shakes, not the 30 second aerobic workout many untrained bartenders do which results in an undrinkable frothy Orange Julius-type beverage. Simple highball-type cocktails should never be shaken or mixed; you just pour the liquor, then the filler, and pop in a stirstick (which is not, despite the appearance of the modern variety, intended to be used as a miniature straw) to give the customer something to do. By the way, a proper martini-type cocktail the mix should be 1:4 or 1:6 vermouth to main liquor; the whole point of a cocktail is to take a hard liquor and make it more palatable by adding a bit of sweetness to it. An extra-dry martini or vodka martini is just gin or vodka straight up, not a proper cocktail.
The business about “having more antioxidants” is both nonsense and irrelevant, since anyone drinking cocktails for their health should also take up smoking for the aerobic benefit. The only thing that shaking the drink does, aside from suspending ice crystals in the drink, is aerate the beverage. If that is what you want that you should just ask for a Tanq and soda.
And sorry to be pedantic about it, seodoa, but these are the correct and established ways to produce a martini-type cocktail, and when ordering one at a bar or restaurant this is how it should be made and presented. When I order a martini and get a frothy, ice-filled, overchilled glass of vodka with a lime wedge floating in it, I know that the bartender hasn’t a clue how to properly mix drinks, and I’ll send it back and know to just order whiskey, neat. Deviations are fine, but should be specified; I shouldn’t have to tell a barman not to shake the drink.
I politely but completely disagree with Stranger On A Train.
The absolutely best thing about a really well made Martini, IMO, is the ice slick that forms on the top of it if it’s shaken properly. Gin or Vodka, it should have thin slivers of ice floating on top when it’s served.
You don’t get this if you don’t shake it, and you don’t get it if you don’t shake it correctly. The liquor should not be watered down; it should simply be cold, with the aforementioned ice at the top.
That said, the simplest way to a pretty good Martini, albeit without the ice slick, is my simple solution: Build a vodka bar out of snow on your deck. Make shot glasses out of ice.
Stranger has the factual answer and Seodoa has the correct one!
Most of my Martinis are stirred (actually mixed 20:1 and then chilled in the fridge, my bottle of dry Vermouth gets to know many bottles of Blue Sapphire).
But every once in a while I just gotta have that super chilled shaken Martini with the ice crystals floating on top. By the book or not, its still a great Martini.
