All bond lovers are familiar with his iconic phrase: “A martini, shaken, not stirred.”when he sits at a bar and instructs the bartender to make him a martini.but as much as I love Bond, he got it all wrong.in this guide, I will lay down 2 of the most important bartender techniques – shaking and stirring. There are many important bartending skills and techniques out there. but the majority of cocktail recipes will call for one of these 2 methods. Bond is not alone with his mistake.every day bartenders around the globe face the same question to shake or to stir? The good news is, there are some basic ground rules every bartender should follow to decide whether to stir or shake. So when exactly should you shake or stir a cocktail? And how do you do it the right way? Why is it so damn important? In both of these techniques, we are essentially want to chill the drink, dilute it and incorporate all the ingredients together. how chill you might ask? the answer is for shaken cocktails, if done right, you’ll end up with a drink that is around -5 to -7C / 23 to 19F and dilution of about 25% to 40%. for stirred cocktails, you will end up with 0 to -5C / 32 to 23F and dilution of 20% to 25%. So with the data above, we can already see that stirred cocktails are less cold and less diluted than shaken ones. the reason for that is when your drink is composed of spirits alone, with no juices, egg whites, creams or puree. your best bet will be to stir it. in the mixology jargon, we refer to those types of cocktails as spirit-forward. here your main goal is to get a crystal clear, ice-cold and with just the right amount of dilution to mellow it down. For shaken cocktails, drinks that contain juices, creams, and egg whites.our main goal is to incorporate all the ingredients together.and in the process insert tiny air bubbles, chill the hell out of it and get more dilution. another reason that those ingredients call for shaking is, shaking gets the drink colder, and the colder the drink is, the less sweet it tastes. How to properly shake a cocktail When shaking a cocktail our main goals are: Super cold very well diluted all ingredients are truly incorporated has tiny air bubbles and light on the palate texture What actually happens to a drink when you shake it When ice and liquids are thrown from one side to another the liquids get colder very fast. in the process, you’ll introduce the liquids to tiny air bubbles that will incorporate into the drink. The result of this process will be a well diluted, super cold and light on the palate drink. the final product will have a fluffy texture and a bit of foam (depending on the ingredients you used). The different kinds of shakers The most common type of shaker is the Boston shaker. he consists of two parts made of steel tins, or one-part steel one-part glass. those two parts fit together and form a tight seal, this is important because you don’t want to avoid any spillage either on you or god forbid – on your costumer. The other type is known as the Cobbler shaker. it consists of 3 parts, a cap, a strainer and the container itself. This type of shaker is not so recommended, they tend to freeze shut.you’ll find yourself beating the hell out of them in the middle of service trying to open them up. do yourself a favor, get a decent Boston shaker and leave the Cobbler to be a decorative piece in your home bar. The shaking process The style of shaking is something you will develop over time and practice.what’s important is that you do it right. Start by building all ingredients into the small tin (without ice), then add the ice.you can either fill the large tin with about 3/4 or fill the small tin until its full. This step is important, make sure you add enough ice, too little and you will over-dilute the cocktail. Then close the shaker and give it a small blow with the heel of your palm to properly seal it. It’s best practice that the small tin of the shaker will face you. in a case of the shaker will open, the drink will spill on you and not all over your customer. Now hold the shaker with both hands, and with a throwing motion launch it forward and backward from you. what you want to feel is that all the content inside is getting from one side of the shaker to the other. repeat that motion for about 12 to 20 seconds, more then that will result in nothing. the reason for that is, the drink and the ice are at the same temperature inside and will no longer dilute or chill the drink. When finished you need to open the shaker, in outer words, separate the tins. trying to pull them apart won’t work, due to the contraction of the metal. What you need to do is hit one of the sides where the two tins meet. Give it a fast hit with the heel of your hand. if done right, you’ll hear a nice POP sound, and the tins are now separated. The dry shake There is another bartending technique involved in shaking, it’s called dry shake.you will use this technique when your cocktail contains egg whites or another foaming agent (today we have lots of substitutes).those ingredients produce a foam on top of the drink. To dry shake all you’ll need to do is simply add all the non-alcoholic ingredients into a cocktail shaker without ice.then shake vigorously for about 25 seconds.after that, you can add your booze and ice and give it another shake (wet shake) to chill everything. What will happen inside the shaker is that...
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