Why do we typically stir our Manhattans? Why do we stir a whiskey old fashioned?
Well, I think it is important to mention (again) why we SHAKE cocktails in the first place. We shake drinks that have JUICES or EGG WHITES to emulsify all of the ingredients together. But what if the cocktail has no juices?
The two methods of stirring and shaking, all exist to DILUTE the drink at a controlled rate to give the cocktail its needed flavor and put the drink together. We will cover more of the exact science of ICE in another post.
Stirred cocktails include: Manhattan, old fashioned, gin martini, and the negroni. There is a common factor, a pattern in each of these drinks. They all contain ONLY SPIRIT. This is the key distinguishing factor as to whether it should be shaken or stirred. Now onto the WHY
NO JUICE, SO WHAT?
Because the drink does not have any juice, it does not have to be forced to mingle with the rest of the ingredients. When mixing only spirits with other spirits, the cocktail is easily soluble between each other.
When using only spirits, we do NOT want to shake, because we would then aerate the spirits and whole drink. By whipping only spirits, the spirits not only gets too diluted, but upon presentation looks cloudy and unappealing!
HOW LONG TO STIR FOR
Dilution in the cocktail is a bit more controllable when we stir as well. We can easily decide to stir with larger ice, and stir for longer. It takes a bit more time to dilute a cocktail properly through stirring, than with shaking.
On average, a cocktail like a daiquiri is done after shaking, in 15 seconds. When we stir a cocktail (like a Manhattan), it takes about 30 seconds to dilute the drink properly to be presented.
PRESENTATION
Let us say we DID shake a Manhattan… it would be so cloudy and unappealing. All we need for a Manhattan are bitters, sweet vermouth and (rye) whiskey. If we shake all of those up, we will get a foggy, bubbly, Manhattan! That is no way to show a Manhattan.
The best way to present a Manhattan is to have a semi-transparent, beautiful drink with either a cherry or an orange peel floating in the martini glass it was served in. This is such a classic, and it is surprising how often this one is messed up.
I get entirely what people say about “preference”. However, this one is not one to really switch things up at all. Consistency is everything, as well as presentation. Whether it be on the rocks or served up, stirred cocktails are meant to be stirred to keep their almost clear-like color. A cocktail with egg whites and citrus will be foggy in the end, and that is the desired result! But not with a stirred cocktail.
Jonathan Echavarria 