Cascadia's new cocktail menu (now that we've dispensed with Big City interlopers) includes a classic called Satan's Whiskers, a combination of gin (high-end Plymouth, ideally), sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, orange juice, Grand Marnier and (very important) orange bitters. All ingredients I'm very fond of, so let's go for it.
Bartender Michael Candelaria, long a master of his craft, builds the drink with care, measuring precise amounts of liquor into an empty glass, squeezing fresh juice, then adding ice cubes and shaking vigorously. Wrong! Drink comes out “broken,” full of ice crystals that remind me of glass shards at the scene of a car wreck. On second attempt, Michael stirs the ingredients together with stern determination rather than frenzy. Much, much better.
My own sense is that some liquors, like vodka (the iceberg lettuce of spirits) deserve to be shaken within an inch of their lives, cracking all the ice and giving the customer the sensation of drinking a boozy Slurpee. More sophisticated drinks, no way. But I checked my hunch with two of the best. Comments from Robert Hess, author of DrinkBoy.com, and Murray Stenson, ZigZag's barman extraordinaire, follow the jump.
In any event, Cascadia's chef, Kerry Sear, says they've now decided to stir rather than shake most of the classic cocktails, unless the customer expresses a preference.
Once again, it's all a matter of taste. Gotta know yourself first, and the bar of life is a good place to start.
Reports Robert Hess, author of DrinkBoy.com and historian of the cocktail:
“Stirring a drink is never the "wrong" thing to do, but shaking it can be. The main rule of thumb for shaking instead of stirring is that if the drink has all clear ingredients (Martini, Manhattan), then it should be stirred so that the final drink can pour crystal clear into the glass.
“If the drink has opaque ingredients (cream, lemon juice, or egg white), then it should be shaken, since nothing you do will prevent it from being "cloudy". Thus a Satan's Whisker is fine to shake.
“That said however there are proper and improper ways to both shake and stir. It is possible to stir so aggressively that it is essentially the same thing as shaking. And it is also possible to shake so aggressively it is almost the same thing as putting it in a blender. (ok, perhaps not quite "that" bad, but you get the point).
“Sasha Petraske owner of Milk & Honey in New York, takes both ice, and shaking seriously. Some might say too seriously. He uses those big square ice cubes, and trains his bartenders to shake hard, but not "too" hard. They listen carefully as they shake, and are specifically trying to avoid "breaking" any of the ice cubes. If they do, they are supposed to toss the drink and start over.
“Many customers however have not only gotten used to, but anticipate, the floating ice shards in their cocktails and feel that this is an important quality which should be promoted instead of avoided.
“Ideally, the bartenders should be seen as "knowing" the drinks they are making and know exactly which ones to stir/shake, and precisely how to do it in order to end up with the best possible results.”
Says Murray Stenson, barman extraordinaire at the Zig Zag Café:
“I often order the classic Manhattan, which should be stirred. Sometimes they've been served understirred, resulting in a tepid cocktail. I've had them served with a hard shake that resulted in a cloudy cocktail that had a foamy head, good to the last drop. A couple times I've had a moderate shake that produced a cold drink that cleared by the time it was set in front of me. So it kinda depends!Posted by Ronald Holden at November 26, 2007 8:26 AM | TrackBack“Ironically, one of the worst cocktails I've ever experienced was at Milk and Honey in NYC. Amy and I watched in dropped-jaw amazement as the tall, lanky bartender did a one handed hard, hard Holy Roller shake for 30 seconds. Impressive floor show that resulted in the thinnest watery drink possible. The drink( the Last Word ) was not worth the $15, but the bartender's floor show was. And this was in one of the best bars in the US.
“Also, with shaken drinks it depends on the straining method. Most bartenders will use a Hawthorne strainer, some a Julep strainer. But there is a growing contingent of bartenders that just break the shaker seal and "strain" the drink between the glass and tin, allowing the bigger ice shards to get into the drink.”
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