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Comment by fizx | Hacker News Reader

> saved yourself 5 minutes and shaken it

Don't shake martinis or manhattans. It gets tiny ice chips in the drink. Bond was an idiot.

I always thought "stirred not shaken" would have fit Bond rather better, not just because it leads to a better drink, but because it could be taken as a statement about his attitude.

Yes. That. Bond was a bit of a "rebel" and he would signal it by being contrarian. Ordering vodka instead of gin would also signal "I'm an alcoholic, I'm not ashamed of it, I don't care for taste" (as vodka is a tasteless spirit).

The funny thing is that, due to Bond's popularity, asking for your martini stirred is now the contrarian thing to do. Unless enough people read up on it, discover that one should ask for it stirred, and then decide to signal their rejection of arriviste iconoclasm by asking for it shaken. I haven't been in a cocktail bar for a while so I don't know where in the cycle we are at the moment.

The French Bond, S.A.S. (by De Villiers) did not bother with these mind games and at least in the early books just orders vodka on ice, the alcoholic's drink of choice (tasteless, and with less congeners, leading to an easier hangover). De Villiers' willingness to do product placement sees him go through Cointreau, Gaston de Lagrange cognac, the ubiquitous Moet 1964, and one of the more popular brands of American bourbon (ends around the 20th book if I recall well).

To add to this, shaking introduces air into the drink and creates bubbles, changing the texture and look of the drink. A stirred martini will be clearer than a shaken one.

Wait, so am I a barbarian for enjoying those tiny ice chips?

Well, obviously, if you have to ask someone else what style of alcohol is socially correct, you're necessarily a barbarian. If you weren't a barbarian, you'd know. ;p

The corollary is that you know you are not a barbarian when you can explain why someone else is a barbarian if they have to ask someone else what style of alcohol is socially correct ;)

FWIW, because I've just explained that you aren't a barbarian because you explained to someone they are a barbarian because they had to ask if their choice of alcohol is socially correct I exist in an indeterminate state of barbarism until I'm observed.

You can avoid the tiny ice chips with a tea strainer, which you see at any respectable cocktail bar. You don't shake them because it over-dilutes and over-chills, as would stirring for 5 minutes. (It also oxygenates them and makes them a cloudy foamy mess, but that goes away on its own in under 5 minutes.)

That's what sieves are for. A good bartender knows to remove the ice chips before serving the cocktail.

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