Shaken, not stirred

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For other uses, see Shaken, not stirred (disambiguation).

"Shaken, not stirred" is a famous catch phrase of Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent, James Bond and his preference for how he wished his martini prepared. The phrase first appears in the novel Diamonds Are Forever (1956), though Bond does not actually say the line until Dr. No (1958). It was first uttered in the films by Sean Connery in Goldfinger in 1964 (though the villain Dr. Julius No offers this drink and utters those words in the first film, Dr. No in 1962) and was used in numerous Bond films thereafter, with the notable exception of You Only Live Twice, in which the drink is offered stirred, not shaken.

This phrase has become a recognizable catchphrase in western popular culture, and has appeared in any number of films,[1] television programs[2] and video games[3] for its cliché value. Roger Moore used the phrase in one episode of The Saint, eight years before he played James Bond himself.[4] Ironically, while playing Bond, Moore never ordered one, although he received one in The Spy Who Loved Me.

The American Film Institute honoured Goldfinger and the phrase on July 21, 2005 by ranking it #90 on a list of best movie quotes in the past 100 years of film.

Contents

[edit] Preparation

[edit] Novels

Bond first ordered a drink to be shaken in Fleming's novel Casino Royale (1953) when he requested a drink of his own invention which would later be referred to as a "Vesper", named after the Bond girl, Vesper Lynd. After just meeting his CIA contact Felix Leiter for the first time, Bond orders the drink from a barman while at the casino.

'A dry martini,' he said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet.'

'Oui, monsieur.'

'Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'

'Certainly monsieur.' The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

'Gosh, that's certainly a drink,' said Leiter.

Bond laughed. 'When I'm...er...concentrating,' he explained, 'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.'

— Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir[5]

A Vesper differs from Bond's usual cocktail of choice, the martini, in that it uses both gin and vodka, Kina Lillet instead of vermouth, and a lemon peel instead of an olive. In the same scene Bond gives more details about the Vesper telling the same barman that vodka made from grain instead of potatoes makes the drink even better. Russian and Polish vodkas were also always preferred by Bond if they were in stock. Although there is a lot of discussion on the Vesper, it is only ordered once throughout Fleming's novels and by later books Bond is ordering regular vodka martinis, though he also drinks regular gin martinis. In total Bond orders 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis throughout Fleming's novels and short stories.[6]

[edit] Film

The Vesper was reused in the 2006 film version of Casino Royale, while Bond is playing poker to defeat Le Chiffre. The shaken Martini is first presented to Bond in the first Bond film Dr. No in 1962, but Bond did not order one himself until Goldfinger (1964). Since then, each Bond has himself ordered the drink, except for two.

Roger Moore's Bond has barely ordered more than three, although he has received one in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me. Daniel Craig's Bond ordered the drink in Casino Royale, when the barman asks whether he would like a martini shaken or stirred, the younger and less experienced Bond snaps, "Do I look like I give a damn?"

[edit] Why shaken, not stirred?

Scientists, specifically biochemists, and martini connoisseurs have investigated the difference between a martini shaken and a martini stirred. According to a study at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario in Canada to determine if the preparation of a martini has an influence on their antioxidant capacity, the shaken gin martinis were able to break down hydrogen peroxide and leave only 0.072% of the peroxide behind, versus the stirred gin martini which left behind 0.157% of the peroxide.[7] The study was done at the time because moderate consumption of alcohol appears to reduce the risk of cataracts, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, none of which afflict the fictional James Bond.

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. Lycett also noted that Fleming preferred gin and vermouth for his martini.[8] It has also been said that Fleming was a fan of martinis shaken by Hans Schröder, a German bartender.[9][10]

Some connoisseurs believe that shaking gin is a faux pas, supposedly because the shaking "bruises" the gin (a term referring to a slight bitter taste that can allegedly occur when gin or vodka is shaken). Others contend that Bond was only shaking because of the vodka it contained. Prior to the 1960s, vodka was, for the most part, refined from potatoes (usually cheaper brands). This element made the vodka oily. To disperse the oil, Bond ordered his martinis shaken; thus, in the same scene where he orders the martini, he tells the barman about how vodka made from grain rather than potatoes makes his drink even better. This does not explain why Bond in the films still preferred his drink to be shaken rather than stirred, because beginning mostly in the 1960s vodka refined from potatoes was virtually replaced by vodka refined by grains such as corn and wheat or by other ingredients such as grapes and soybeans.

Other reasons for shaking tend to include making the drink colder or as Bond called it, ice-cold. Shaking allows the drink to couple with the ice longer thus making it far colder than if it were to be stirred. Shaking is also said to dissolve the vermouth better making it less oily tasting.[11]

While properly called a Bradford,[12] shaken martinis also appear cloudier than when stirred. This is caused by the small fragments of ice present in a shaken martini.

In the episode named "Stirred" of The West Wing, President Jed Bartlet criticises James Bond for 'ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it':

President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Can I tell you what's messed up about James Bond?
Charlie Young: Nothing.
President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice.
James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it. [13]

[edit] Other 007 drinking habits

007's drinking habits mirror those of his creator, Ian Fleming. Fleming as well as Bond throughout the novels had a preference for bourbon. Fleming himself actually had a fondness for gin, drinking as much as a bottle a day; however, he was converted to bourbon at the behest of his doctor who informed him of his ever failing health.[14]

In contrast, James Bond in the films has a fondness for vodka that is normally accompanied by product placement for a brand. For instance, Smirnoff was clearly shown in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies in which Bond sits drinking a bottle while in his hotel room in Hamburg. Other brands featured in the films have included Stolichnaya and Finlandia.

[edit] References

  1. ^ In Looney Tunes: Back in Action, as Bugs Bunny receives a carrot martini from a car dashboard at the push of a button, the car says "Shaken, not stirred sir". Bugs replies "It is 5:00 somewhere".
  2. ^ In the West Wing episode "Shaken", U.S. President Josiah Bartlett says of Bond: "James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it."
  3. ^ In Space Quest 6, hero Roger Wilco orders a drink "hacked and whipped, not shaken or stirred like one of those sissy drinks", at a bar on planet Polysorbate LX.
  4. ^ In the 1965 episode "The Chequered Flag" of The Saint, Roger Moore used the phrase "shaken, not Stirred".
  5. ^ Fleming, Ian (1953). Casino Royale. Glidrose Productions, 45. ISBN 0-14-200202-X. 
  6. ^ Novel Statistics. Make Mine a 007 .... Retrieved on April 12, 2006.
  7. ^ Hirst, M.; Trevithick, J. R. (December 1999). "Shaken, not stirred: bio-analytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis". British Medical Journal 319 (7225): 1600–1602. PMID 10600955. 
  8. ^ Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. Turner Pub. ISBN 1-57036-343-9. 
  9. ^ Rum Trader in Berlin. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
  10. ^ Wo der Barkeeper noch Gentleman ist (German). Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
  11. ^ The Straight Dope Investigation: Shaking v Stirring. Why did James Bond want his martinis shaken, not stirred?. Retrieved on April 12, 2006.
  12. ^ Embury, David (1948). The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, p.101. LCC TX951 .E55. 
  13. ^ "The West Wing" Stirred (2002) - Memorable quotes
  14. ^ Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. John Murray, 94. ISBN 0-7195-6815-3. 

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