Shaken or Stirred: How to Make a Martini
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Shaken or Stirred: How to Make a Martini
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James Bond is a pansy. There, I said it, and I can back up my claim. When it comes to martinis, a shaken drink as opposed to one that is stirred is inevitably more watered down, as the friction caused by the agitation of shaking creates more heat and consequently melts more ice. Therefore, shaken martinis are usually weaker than stirred drinks, and that makes James Bond a pansy.
I still wouldn’t tell him that to his face… if he existed.
Traditionally, martinis were made with gin and a dab of dry vermouth. Thanks in part to Ian Fleming (no relation to Peggy Fleming that I know of, though I understand that both suffer from the same excessive nasal discharge problem), today’s martini consists of vodka and little else. Some people still enjoy a smidgen of vermouth in their drink, though most prefer theirs without it. Unfortunately, the majority of martini drinkers don’t know how to order their drink properly and often ask for a “dry” vodka martini, thinking that it will contain no vermouth. Of course, this depends largely on the bartender and his training, but I learned from the National Bartender’s School, and by God I’ll stand by their definitions until the day I die—or at least until I find a bartender who can make me a martini the way that I like it. I think my demise may come first.