stir a Drink

Stirring is the second oldest drinkmaking technique. Neglected for some time, it is again becoming popular.

STIR your first drink GIN MARTINI Also known as just a plain martini, there's nothing at all plain about this drink. Like no other, this strong and sour drink epitomizes the cocktail. This classic martini is made with gin, preferably the best quality you have, and nice, dry vermouth.  Fill up your mixing glass with ice. Pour in 0.5oz dry vermouth and 3oz gin. Slide your barspoon down the inside of the wall of the glass. Rotate the barspoon at least six times. Strain the liquid – no ice – into the martini glass. Garnish with speared olives.

It works like this: the ingredients are poured into a shaker or Boston mixing glass full of ice and stirred with a long twist-stemmed barspoon at least six times (6 complete 360° rotations). The drink is then strained out – leaving the “used” ice behind – and poured into an empty cocktail glass to within 5mm of the top of the glass and served straight up.

Some drinks are stirred with ice and strained over ice, like the Bloody Mary. Stirring produces a chilled drink that is not too diluted by the ice – around 10% depending on how long the drink is stirred. It is the preferred method of making classic straight up drinks like the gin martini. James Bond had it wrong!

Continue the debate...SHAKEN verses STIRRED