Shake once for yes...

Rum drinks, rumcake, hot buttered rum, rum glazed ribs, Bermudan rum chowder, rum balls and bollocks. This be the place and it's all good. To the cook! Eat, drink and be Mary!
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Capn Jimbo
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Shake once for yes...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Shake once for yes...


There's an old joke about the virile old deaf man and his blind wife. Since communication was an issue, he discussed his uh, needs in this fashion: "If you want to make love in the middle of the night, just reach over and give my penis one shake, but just in case you don't, reach over and shake it, well, maybe 50 or 60 times. And so it goes with Mixed Drinks.

Believe it or not a new site I found (here) studied a great number of bartenders using various shakers: Cobbler (3 piece), Boston and tin, Two tins, and Parisian using various techniques including the new Japanese hard-shake (Kazua Uyeda-style) method and last, Stirring. Here's a summary...

Parisian: Disappointing, did not produce the coldest drinks.
Cobbler (smaller 3-piece): Inconsistent as many users tend to cradle the shaker and absorb some of the cold.
Three Piece (a large Cobbler): used by the new Japanese style hard shakers, this was the most inconsistent.
Boston and Tin: Most popular shaker, and more consistent with dilution between 80 - 100 ml, and temperatures from -2 to -5 degrees. Best when shaken from 6 to 18 seconds.
Two Tins
: The most consistent with dilutions from 76 -105 ml, and temps from -6 to -8 degrees, with shake times of 4 to 18 seconds.


Best Technique:
Few can use the Japanese hard-shake technique, so the best is using two tins and shake end-to-end, with the objective of the maximum number of hard impacts in 8 to 14 seconds. Less and the drink is not cold enough, more and you get excessive dilution. Some of the very best shakers were the most violent on the shorter (8 second) side.

Biggest Problems:
Gripping too tight and cupping the shaker (try to hold with the tips of your fingers), not enough ice, shaking laterally not lengthwise, too softly and yes, letting go!

Special Note: there is some evidence that stirring is more effective with crushed ice, not cubes. Question: what's your technique?
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:10 am, edited 6 times in total.
da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

I have a cheap 3 piece thing and although I haven't given too much thought to technique I would say I shake the hell out of it for about 5-10 seconds that seems to be enough to get a cold mix.
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Post by RT »

Reminds me more of the old joke "is anal retentive hyphenated?"

I would think that the size and temperature of the ice cubes would have much more effect than the method of shaking. Larger ice cubes have relatively less surface area than an equal volume of small ice cubes, so less cooling would occur per duration of contact. And colder ice will melt less, leading to less dilution.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

"Bend over and spread em..."


...was the last thing I heard at the Army's induction center in Buffalo, New York, as 200 of us standing in a line, had to bend over and await the doctor's icy finger of fate. Would we, uh, measure up to the Army's stringent draft standards for the Vietnam War? We were all pretty sure that just breathing and simply having a rectum to probe were good enough.

But I digress..

RT, one man's anal retentive is another man's, uh joy. Most amateurs really don't care, but professionals on the stick care very much. The want a consistently very cold and relatively undiluted drink. Their tips and livlihood depend on it. I'd agree with your point about colder ice cubes, but the research - and it was remarkably thorough - showed that what seemed to achieve this was indeed the direction - end to end - and the force and frequency.

Some very good bartenders were almost violent and were able to achieve consistently good cold drinks in the minimum of shakes. All said, what I found most intriguing was that mildly crushed ice stirred more effectively than cubes in terms of the same objectives.
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Post by da'rum »

Crushed ice, more surface area?

But you'd have to drink it quickly or stand in the snow to stop it melting and diluting your drink.

OR

Make your drink with crushed ice, strain and then pour into a frozen double walled glass like those you see at kids parties. That would maintain the temp and remove dilution problem.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

My guess...


Surely shaking is much more violent, causes more turbulence and contact. This was key in the study, as was using enough cubes in the shaker. Stirring is a different animal - much less agressive and smoother, so perhaps this is where the increased surface area counts.

I'd guess that too much crushed, or too fine would risk dilution vs. too little or too large adding time (and dilution). So... a moderate crush and number?
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Oxo SteeL Cocktail Shaker

Post by bearmark »

I use an Oxo SteeL Cocktail Shaker. It's a 3-piece with double-walled stainless bottom that helps with temperature transfer from holding (it also saves your hands from freezing). It also holds up better than many 3-piece shakers and still seals after long term use even after being dropped. The top has 3/4 oz., 1 oz. and 1 1/2 oz. measurements, but they're hard to read so I usually use a glass jigger with clear markings instead. I find this shaker to be very convenient and effective.
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