For my transit reading, I recently picked up Ian Fleming’s James Bond series, starting with the first book, Casino Royale.
It’s always been a mystery to me why Bond (at least in the movies) would drink a “vodka martini, shaken not stirred”. I always thought it was done that way so as not to bruise the gin! (Actually, shaking DOES bruise the gin… even stranger!)
Then I came across the following passage:
Bond insisted on ordering Leiter’s Haig-and-Haig “on the rocks,” and then he looked carfully at the barman.
“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 can think of a good name.”
He watched carefully as the deep glass became fosted with the pale golden drink, slightly aerated by the bruising of the shaker. He reached for it and took a long sip.
“Excellent,” he said to the barman, “but if you can get a vodka made with grain instead of potatoes, you will find it still better.”
So the “Vodka Martini” actually DOES have gin in it as well!
Here’s what The Straight Dope Report has to say on “Why did James Bond want his martinis shaken, not stirred?”:
“First, a shaken martini is usually colder than one stirred, since the ice has had a chance to swish around the drink more. Second, shaking a martini dissolves air into the mix; this is the “bruising” of the gin you may have heard seasoned martini drinkers complain about–it makes a martini taste too “sharp.” Third, a shaken martini will more completely dissolve the vermouth, giving a less oily mouth feel to the drink. In a vodka martini, cold is key: a vodka martini that is not ice-cold tastes like lighter fluid.”
The James Bond Declassified web site gives three recipes for “Martinis… Shaken, not stirred,” two of which do not contain any gin.
