Message 23962 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Thuis may sound dumb. But it seems that the method of stirring takes 
> so much longer than shaking.... SO what is exactly stirring? I 
> usually just swirl the mixing tin in a circular motion til the tin 
> frost for martinis.

Stirring does take longer than shaking.  While we're on the subject I want to 
point out that many tenders carry the misconception that shaking puts more 
water (by burning ice) than stirring.  There's a related misconception that 
shaking makes the drink colder than stirring.  

Shaking is clearly more vigorous agitation than stirring and if you do both 
for the same amount of time, shaking will chill the drink more and put more 
water into it.  That's only if time is held as a constant.  If we decide to 
make the end temperature the constant than time is a variable and more time 
will be spent stirring than shaking to reach that desired temperature.  The 
desired temperature is essentially as cold as possible which is to say very 
nearly the temperature of the ice itself.  Once the spirits have dropped to 
that temperature they will reach an equilibrium with the ice, additional 
melting will occur only because of ambient air temperature and energy from 
shaking or stirring the ice.  My point is that if you stop shaking or stirring 
when you get the cocktail to the coldest point it can reach than it will be 
just as cold either way and it will have just as much water in it either way.  
It will take longer to reach this point stirring than shaking but I've 
discussed reasons why this should be done anyways in my previous post (and 
it's link).  I don't expect every bartender in every bar to stir every 
martini, it depends on the venue and the volume, but a cocktailer who takes 
pride in their work and has an appreciative clientelle should learn the 
difference and know when to do each method.