As you've no doubt gathered by now, Martini’s are traditionally stirred - James Bonds’ preferences notwithstanding - because stirring preserves a more even and silky texture, which is in keeping with the conventional rule of when to shake or stir a cocktail.   

 

However, no rule is set in stone (as far as cocktails are concerned anyway), including this one, which I found out one day when I decided, out of curiosity, to taste shaken and stirred martinis side by side.   The results were quite surprising.  

 

I made two, 2:1 Gin Martinis, no orange bitters and garnish.  The one I shook, I shook very lightly.  My goal was to see if I could still make the drink come out ok, and I knew shaking it the way I would a Daiquiri would dilute it beyond recognition.  So it just was a gentle rocking back and forth for 6 seconds or so.

 

When I strained the drinks out, the difference was immediately obvious.  The stirred Martini was crystal clear, while the shaken Martini, had an opaque cloudy appearance from to the air bubbles that result from shaking.  These bubbles are, of course, what bartenders like myself point to as the key reason to not shake a spirit forward cocktail, they are regarded like poison.  “Well, there you have it,” I thought to myself.   I was ready to close the case and declare stirring to be the unequivocal best way to prepare a Martini once and for all.  

 

But then a moment later I looked back, and the bubbles were gone.  Barely 20 seconds had passed and the drinks looked exactly the same (that photo above was taken seconds after they were strained).  So I tasted them.  That's when the ground shifted beneath my feet.  Not only were they both delicious, but the shaken Martini was, I had to admit, in some ways better.  It had a rounder and more delicate finish that almost suggested sweetness before veering dry.

 

Say what?  The bedrock of everything all I thought I know about cocktails was that you only shake a cocktail when it has citrus juice or other fresh ingredients, and you NEVER shake a spirit forward cocktail, heaven forbid a Martini!  As the saying goes, “shaking bruises the gin.”  Well, it turns out gin is tougher than we thought.

 

I ran the test a couple more times and blind tasted some colleagues and got the same result.  At first, I thought it might be added dilution, but no, the light shake avoided that. Eventually, I realized that what I was tasting was a stronger presence from the vermouth.  I now know that in addition to physical air bubbles, the aeration created by shaking unites the flavors of different ingredients together more than stirring does.   So in this Martini, the vermouth was brought more to the forefront and the sharpness of the gin was toned down ever so slightly, so the cocktail tasted a bit more balanced - to someone who likes vermouth that is.  Adding a lemon twist and orange bitters covered up the nuances somewhat and made the two less distinguishable.  But still, the answer was clear.  Shaking does not, necessarily, ruin a Martini.

 

Now, it’s important to note a few caveats.   These results were much more pronounced because they had a large portion of vermouth.  When there’s less vermouth and the Martini is mostly spirit, shaking just chills and dilutes it the same way stirring would, so it won’t make much of a difference.  Also, I can't stress enough how important the light shake was to these experiments.  Stirring allows you much more control of chilling a dilution, there's much less margin for error when shaking.  It's a finer needle to thread.  Finally, let me make very clear that the Martini seems to be the outlier here and the rule about when to shake and when to stir is still true.  Shaken Manhattans and Negronis are clearly inferior to stirred ones and let me say for the record, in general, I still think stirring is the best way to make a Martini.  It’s perfection, and it's more consistent.  But the question is certainly less black and white than I had originally thought.

 

The point here really is to not believe everything you hear until you try it for yourself.  So take this information and do with it what you will (just don't turn me over the cocktail police, those guys are so boring).   As always, you’re the bartender.   

 

Some Pointers to Remember If You Ever Shake a Martini:

 

• Shake lightly.  If you shake too hard, you risk over-diluting the drink.  

• Remember shaking will give you a cloudy drink at the outset, which won't be very pretty, but it will clear up shortly.

• Use heavier portions of vermouth or other fortified wines, particularly ones with some sweetness, like white vermouth or Lillet.  

• This only goes for clear fortified wines.  I don’t recommend ever shaking drinks with sweet vermouth, spirit forward ones anyway.  They become overly fruity tasting.

 

Here’s a recipe I developed in light of my findings.  I make it often.

 

White Lie Martini

• 2½ oz gin - higher proof is preferable.

• ½ oz white vermouth - Dolin Blanc is recommended.

• 1 dash orange bitters

 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker, fill with ice.

Shake lightly for 6 seconds and fine strain into a chilled coupe glass.

(Don't fine strain if you want ice chips in your drink).

Garnish with a lemon peel.