Shaking or stirring cocktails is both a matter of personal taste and technique. Some people love the texture of a shaken drink, while others prefer the silky texture of stirred drinks.
How to Shake a cocktail
Shaking a cocktail is quite straightforward. Put your ingredients in the cocktail shaker, add ice, and then seal the shaker. I like to use a Tin-on-Tin Cocktail Shaker for this purpose. It’s both easy to use, and easy to clean. It comes in many different colors, and I own at least 4 of them.
You can shake any way you’d like, so long as you shake for 8-12 seconds. Fancy technique will get you style points but won’t change your drink. Grab a Hawthorne Strainer and strain the cocktail into the glass. The shaking process will produce lots of small, broken pieces, which can over-dilute your cocktail as they melt. A quality strainer will keep the biggest pieces out.
How to Stir a cocktail
Stirring a cocktail is a bit more involved. It’s pretty easy once you’ve done it a few times, but it can be tricky at first. I prefer a great-looking mixing glass for this purpose, but metal tins are technically more efficient. If you choose the glass route, make sure you ice it down so it is nice and chilled before you start mixing.
First, you’ll put your ingredients in the mixing glass, then you’ll add your ice. Grab a stirring spoon, I like to use a longer stirring rod for this purpose, because it gives you more leverage when stirring. Unlike shaking, technique is important when it comes to stirring. The type of ice you use should be your guide: With smaller ice, stir slower and for less time. Larger ice, longer or faster.
While stirring, allow the spoon to twirl in your fingers, while keeping your spoon to the back wall of your mixing glass. You’ll stir for about 30 seconds until it’s cold and properly diluted. Grab a Hawthorne or Julep Strainer and strain your creation into a glass.
Which is Better?
I encourage you to try both shaking and stirring cocktails. Maybe you’ll like one more than the other. As a general rule, if a drink contains citrus (lemon, lime juice etc..), olive brine or egg white, shake it. Shaking a cocktail provides texture that is a big part of the appeal for some drinks. On the other hand, stirring is all about combining flavors, adding dilution, and lowering temperature.
If you really want to make drinks like a pro, I’d suggest you learn both styles.
Need some practice? Head back to the Recipes page, and spin up some of my favorites!