Shaken or Stirred?

[Uncle Erik]

Shaking is wonderful.

But I won't turn down a stirred drink. Actually, it's rare when I turn down any drink.

 

[Adair]

I do not like vodka, especially not in a martini. I also prefer it shaken---it tastes much more crisp and biting that way. The stirred martinis that I have tried have come across as warm, dull and heavy to my palate. I used to like the popular gins like Bombay and Tanqueray, but now I am a Boodles man. (Oh, what wonderful, juicy gin!) If a bar doesn't carry it (and not that many do), Plymouth gin will do, and even Seagram's---a very underrated gin, in my opinion.

 

[falkon]

I do not like vodka, especially not in a martini.

That's because gin is in martinis. I also do not like vodka, vermouth and olive mixers.

 

[falkon]

I used to say the same thing. Then I saw a TV show where three people each BLINDLY tasted two Martinis that were shaken and stirred. Each drink was allowed to "settle" a couple minutes (shaken Martinis lose any cloudiness quickly). All three tasters *could* tell the difference. I'm convinced there may actually be a difference.

That said... shaking (my preference) isn't necessarily bad. Using a term like "bruising" gives it a bad rap. The WSJ cocktail guru, Eric Felten (for whom I have great respect) describes the shaken Martini as having an "icy bite", while the stirred is "silky". He, like me, prefers them shaken.

To each their own. But one thing is clear: it's made with gin.

Are you sure the "icy bite" is not simply less time in contact with ice, therefore less watered down? It seems stirred drinks are in contact with ice longer, which would explain "silky" AKA watered down.

I think that assuming you could hold the water content constant, nobody would tell the difference between the two.

 

[Psicko]

I do both with my martini's. Depends on my mood. At my house I have Seagrams gin, most of my families house that I drink at have Boodles.