Bond’s cocktail choice wasn’t wrong – just obtuse

Ian Fleming’s James Bond has often been criticised for not knowing his Martinis, given his instruction the barman to serve it ‘shaken, not stirred’.

Alessandro Palazzi, Martini genius and bartending legend at Duke’s, explained, however, that Bond’s choice of a shaken Martini, as opposed to the revered traditional stirred method, was simply a stunt to show his daring.

This nugget of insight into Bond – and moreover his creator Fleming – emerged at the Belvedere Martini Masterclass held at Duke’s earlier this week.

To debunk the myth once and for all we were all served a shaken Martini using Belvedere, garnished with a plain olive. “A shaken Martini with Belvedere is like a ‘high energy’ Martini,” commented Claire Smith, head of spirit creation and mixology for Belvedere. “It’s spicy and sharp and more vibrant than a stirred Martini. Shaking it really makes the vermouth come out more.”

The main reservation that traditionally meant that Martinis were stirred was the dilution issue. “You need to shake it very fast, if you’re going to shake it,” explains Palazzi. “The temperature will reach -10C very quickly – in about three seconds, which is the ideal temperature. If you leave the drink to stand, though, even for a short time, the ice will melt and the drink will be diluted.”

Another reason that Martinis weren’t shaken was a case of practicality: “We didn’t have double strainers back then, so if you shook a Martini and then poured it, you would have ice crystals on the top”; something that is generally unwanted in a Martini – that is, unless you are Robert De Niro.  “Now that’s not a problem as we can strain them off”.

An argument in favour of shaking Martinis is that to cool them to a suitable temperature by stirring would take between 90 seconds and two minutes – which is an unlikely level of commitment from a bartender in a busy bar.

“The other thing that Bond did that would have shocked bartenders was mix two white spirits together – gin and vodka in the Vesper. When I was starting out in this career, if someone tried to make a drink like that at a competition for example, they simply wouldn’t be judged, it was so far from the accepted norms” added Palazzi. As to why Bond  might have done this, Palazzi explained: “It was a way of showing his daring – his new approach, and that he wasn’t constrained by rules. I never met Fleming – it was before my time – but I am told that these specific drinks choices for Bond were not accidental.”

While gin is currently the more popular base for Martinis according to Palazzi, vodka should not be overlooked as it is an excellent vehicle for experimenting with bitters and vermouths and offers a range of different subtle flavours.

The Belvedere Unfiltered, used in a Duke’s Martini (frozen bottle and glass, not shaken or stirred, just poured), and offers a mellow, unctuous Martini which Smith describes as her ‘night cap’ Martini, in contrast with the ‘high energy’ shaken counterpart.

Ultimately, everything boils down to personal taste, but Smith and Palazzi’s parting words echoed Bond’s cavalier attitude to the stuffy rules and norms prevailing when Fleming was a drinker: don’t feel there’s any right or wrong way to drink a Martini; there are thousands of variations to play with for a Martini, so go and experiment.