007 and his martinis

Vodka martini.

Waiting for the answer about shaken v. stirred.

Good question, OP.

Actually martinis should be stirred to be served correctly. This was an example of Bond's uniqueness.

I always shook my martinis.

"Anytime there's a debate over shaking versus stirring cocktails, one can't help but think of Bond's famous line, "shaken, not stirred."

It first appeared in Fleming's 1956 novel, "Diamonds Are Forever."

Bond drank many gin and vodka martinis throughout the books and, though it's unclear why, stirring seemed to be his preference.

However, the general bartending "rule" is to stir liquor-only cocktails to avoid too much dilution."

[quote] Bond drank many gin and vodka martinis throughout the books and, though it's unclear why, stirring seemed to be his preference.

“Shaken, NOT stirred.”

Stir. Never Shake. It bruises the gin.

If you stir, the taste is stronger than when you shake.

I thought shaking bruised the gin. That's according to the kid in Auntie Mame at least.

Andrew Lycett, an Ian Fleming biographer, believed that Fleming liked his martinis shaken, not stirred, because Fleming thought that stirring a drink diminished its flavour. ... Both shaking and stirring a drink with ice serve to chill and dilute the drink. Both techniques are equally effective, but shaking is much faster.

Shaken, not stirred - Wikipedia

You all are missing the point. Yes a martini should be stirred. This is EXACTLY WHY Bond didn't want it that way. He is unique.

I know Bond is supposed to be some super macho, womanizing playboy but almost every woman I know says they find his screwing every woman in his path a huge turn off and not attractive in this day and age. My own mother said she wouldn't touch him with a 10 ft pole.

Word on the street is your mother knows her way around a pole. Thanks for the input r12

Only shake a cocktail if there is juice or egg whites, and you need froth.

There is no such thing as a vodka martini, so if you are using vodka, shake it or stir it, whatever your preference. Pour into glass, then dump it down the sink, and make a proper Martini using gin. Don't touch that jar of olives. A proper Martini requires a twist. Gin and citrus are made for each other.

But they are vodka Martinis, so no gin to bruise.

There's no difference fellas. It's just an arch joke. In keeping with the parodic tone of the books. Yes I have read some of them.

Some info from a former bartender:

All chilled, straight spirit cocktails--that is cocktails made entirely of booze with no non-alcoholic mixers, juices, etc.--should always be stirred. The primary reasons for this are so that the bartender has total control over the temperature of the cocktail and the amount of dilution being introduced. The most commonly-ordered straight spirit cocktails are the martini, the Manhattan, and occasionally the Negroni.

The proper method for making a straight spirit cocktail is to first add the ingredients to a mixing glass. The base spirit should be added first, then each other ingredient in descending order of volume. (Using a Manhattan as an example, you would measure out and add the whiskey, then the sweet vermouth, then the dashes of bitters.) Gently add enough ice to fully cover the the spirits, and use a barspoon to stir until desired temperature and dilution is achieved. Cover the mixing glass with a Hawthorne strainer, and strain the cocktail into a chilled glass. Some bartenders like to double-strain (a Hawthorne strainer held to the mixing glass, then pouring the liquid through a mesh strainer into the cocktail glass) just to make sure no small chips of ice make it into the finished drink.

What does this have to do with Bond and "shaken, not stirred"? Well, Ian Fleming knew how a martini was made. It was, without question, stirred. He wanted something to signify that Bond operated a little outside the normal rules, that he was slightly rebellious. Having Bond order his martini shaken was significant because it was a break from tradition and expectation, a break from the "correct" way the drink was prepared.

Then the line made it into the films, and over fifty years the general public fell into assuming "shaken, not stirred" is the way they should order their martinis. But it's not. In fact, unless you specify "shaken," a high-end bartender will never prepare the drink for you that way. They will always stir it.

Side note: People have also become so accustomed to the idea of a "dry" martini that many high-end bartenders interpret all vodka martini orders as "dry" even if not specified. When you add vermouth--in any amount--many customers will tell you it tastes wrong and ask you to re-make the drink. When I was bartending, an order for a vodka martini meant three ounces of vodka, stirred, and strained into a martini glass. No vermouth at all.

It's interesting to see how time and culture have affected the way this classic cocktail has evolved.

Back in the day, a martini used to be 3/4 gin and 1/4 vermouth, with an olive or twist.

The same recipe with a pearl onion instead of an olive or twist is called a gimlet.

R17 Why not call a vodka martini with no vermouth just simply vodka? The vermouth makes the martini a martini.

The joke used to be you made a very dry martini by merely passing the vermouth over the gin or vodka.

You are correct, R19, it's just "vodka."

It's all about customer expectation (and, to be honest, customer ignorance). They like to order a vodka martini because it makes them feel fancy. But they don't want it to taste like vermouth because eww, vermouth is weird. But if they ordered a vodka rocks, they would say it tastes too strong. In most places, if you order a vodka martini, you get chilled vodka in a martini glass... because that's what people have come to expect it to look and taste like.

If someone wanted a martini with the vermouth, we would do 2.5 oz. vodka and .5 oz. vermouth. A dirty martini would be 2 oz. vodka and 1 oz. vermouth. A dirty martini with olive juice would be 1.5 oz. vodka, 1 oz. vermouth, .5 oz. olive juice. Etc., etc.

I'll share a little story about this:

My first week working at this somewhat high-end restaurant (and by high-end, I mean a vodka martini is closer to $20 than it is to $10), the bar manager walked over to me as I was shaking a martini. She had been watching me pour the ingredients into a shaker tin, so she knew what was being made. She gave me this smug, judge-y look and quietly said, "What are you DOING?" I said, "Making a martini for table 31." She said, "That should be STIRRED." I replied, "The customer asked for it to be shaken." She actually walked over to look at the ticket to make sure it said "shaken" because she didn't trust that I knew the proper way to make the drink.

Yeah, bartenders can be snobs.

Claude Upson: You don't happen to like gin, do you, Mamie?"

Mame Dennis: "Oh, I adore gin!"

Claude Upson: "Good! I'll get the cards!"

When the Bond books were written, a martini was gin. A vodka martini was rare and had to be specified.

Brits drink gin. Americans drink vodka. Still.

Those 80s' girlie drinks like apple martinis and cosmos are 80s' centric.

I survived Division 16 in Boston. I remember it all too well.

R17 et al. Thanks mrfancypants. That’s some great “insider” info.

This was explained in detail on The West Wing

That's always been one of my favorite TWW moments, R25!