Shaken, not stirred

This article is about the catchphrase. For other uses, see Shaken, not stirred (disambiguation).

"Shaken, not stirred" is a catchphrase 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) but says it "shaken and not stirred" instead of "shaken, not stirred." 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). It was used in numerous Bond films thereafter with the notable exceptions of You Only Live Twice, in which the drink is offered stirred, not shaken (Bond, ever the gentleman, ignores his host's gaffe, telling him the drink is perfect), and Casino Royale, in which Bond, after losing millions of dollars in a game of poker, is asked if he wants his martini shaken or stirred, and snaps, "Do I look like I give a damn?"

This phrase has become a recognisable catch phrase in western popular culture and has appeared in any number of films,^[1] television programmes^[2] and video games^[3] for its cliché value. In Tom Clancy's novel Without Remorse, when ex-Navy Seal John Clark is asked his opinion of CIA operatives he worked with in the Vietnam War, he replies, "A couple were all right but most of them spent their time upstairs mixing martinis, shaken, not stirred" {page 205}. 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 a martini, although he received one in The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and Octopussy.

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

Preparation

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 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]

Film

Sean Connery

The shaken Martini is mentioned twice in the first Bond film Dr. No (1962.) Once when Bond had presumably ordered a drink from Room Service to his hotel room, it is mixed by a waiter, who says "one medium dry vodka martini mixed like you said, sir, but not stirred" (a slice of lime was in the bottom of the glass.) Later, Dr. No presents Bond with a drink — "A medium dry martini, lemon peel. Shaken, not stirred."

Bond did not vocally order one himself until Goldfinger (1964). However, in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice, Bond's contact Henderson prepares a martini for Bond and says "That's, um, stirred not shaken. That was right, wasn't it?" To which Bond replies politely, "Perfect." Since then, each Bond has himself ordered the drink, except for two.

George Lazenby

In George Lazenby's only film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond never actually orders himself a drink, but when he meets Marc-Ange Draco for the first time, Draco tells his Olympe to get a dry martini for Bond. Draco then adds "Shaken, not stirred."

Roger Moore

Roger Moore's Bond never actually ordered one himself, but has one ordered for him several times, nonetheless. In the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, Anya Amasova orders him one. In Moonraker, his drink is prepared by Manuela. In Octopussy, Octopussy herself greets Bond by mixing his drink.

Timothy Dalton

Timothy Dalton's Bond ordered his trademark Martini in each of his films. In The Living Daylights he and Kara arrive in Austria where he orders a martini "Shaken, not stirred" shortly after entering their hotel. For his second film, Licence To Kill he doesn't directly order it. Instead, he tells Pam Bouvier what drink he'd like as he plays Blackjack.

Pierce Brosnan

In GoldenEye, Bond orders the drink in a casino while talking with Xenia Onatopp, and later, Zukovsky refers to Bond as a "charming, sophisticated secret agent. Shaken, but not stirred." In Tomorrow Never Dies, Paris Carver orders the drink for Bond after the two meet again after years apart. While Paris' choice of drink had changed, Bond's had not. In The World Is Not Enough, Bond orders the drink in Zukovsky's casino. In Die Another Day, Bond is coming back on a rather turbulent British Airways flight. The air hostess (played by Roger Moore's daughter Deborah) serves him his martini, to which Bond replies "Luckily I asked for it shaken."

Daniel Craig

The Vesper was reused in the 2006 film version of Casino Royale, while Bond is playing poker to defeat Le Chiffre. Daniel Craig's Bond ordered the drink, providing great detail about how it should be prepared. The other poker players try variations on the Vesper as well. Later though, after Bond loses money to Le Chiffre, Bond orders a martini; when the barman asks whether he would like it shaken or stirred, Bond snaps "Do I look like I give a damn?"

Why shaken, not stirred?

Scientists, specifically biochemists, and martini connoisseurs have investigated the difference between a martini shaken and a martini stirred. The Department of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario in Canada conducted a study to determine if the preparation of a martini has an influence on their antioxidant capacity; the study found that 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] Thus a shaken martini has more antioxidants than a stirred one. 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 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, although other sources cite bartender Gilberto Preti of London's Dukes Hotel as Fleming's favourite bartender and the originator of the recipe for the Vesper Martini.^{[9][10][11][12]}

A part of Ian Fleming's James Bond character was based on people in his surroundings. One such influence was his friend Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld, who drank his vodka martini as Bond did, always shaken, not stirred.

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 is shaken). In Fleming's novel Casino Royale, it is stated that Bond "watched as the deep glass became frosted with the pale golden drink, slightly aerated by the bruising of the shaker," suggesting that Bond was requesting it shaken 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.

Other reasons for shaking tend to include making the drink colder or as Bond called it, ice-cold. Shaking increases convection thus making the drink far colder than if it were to be stirred. Shaking is also said to dissolve the vermouth better making it less oily tasting.^[13]

While properly called a Bradford,^[14] shaken martinis also appear cloudier than when stirred. This is caused by the small fragments of ice present in a shaken martini. This also brings into question the movie versions which are never cloudy.

In "Stirred", an episode of The West Wing, President Josiah Bartlet disagrees with Bond in a conversation with Charlie Young:

Bartlet: Can I tell you what's messed up about James Bond?

Young: Nothing.

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.^[15]

Through multiple letters in New Scientist's Last Word section (June 5–11, 2010), the mystery has been solved.^[16] When Ian Fleming was writing, most vodka was produced from potatoes and potato vodka has an oily aftertaste. Today's grain vodka has no oily aftertaste. Experimenters found that potato vodka shaken with ice tasted less oily than did potato vodka stirred with ice.

Other 007 drinking habits

Bond'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 failing health.^[17]

Otherwise, in the films James Bond normally has a fondness for vodka that is 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 Absolut vodka, Stolichnaya and Finlandia. In the film Goldeneye, Bond suggests cognac when offered a drink by M, who gives him bourbon instead. In Goldfinger, Bond drinks a mint julep at Auric Goldfinger's Kentucky stud farm; in Thunderball, Largo gives Bond a rum collins. Bond is also seen in Quantum of Solace drinking bottled beer when meeting with Felix Leiter in a Bolivian bar. In Die Another Day, Bond drinks a mojito. In Casino Royale, Bond orders a Mount Gay rum with soda. In several of the Bond films, he is known to prefer Bollinger and Dom Perignon^[18] champagne. In Goldfinger, he favours Heineken.

Never primarily a red wine drinker, Bond tended to favour Château Mouton Rothschild; a 1947 vintage with Goldfinger, and half a bottle On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a 1934 ordered by M in Moonraker, and a ’55 in Diamonds are Forever—where Bond unveiled the assassin Wint posing as a waiter because the latter didn’t know that Mouton-Rothschild is a claret. In the Jeffery Deaver novel Carte Blanche, Bond expresses a knowledge and appreciation of South African wine.

Outside of alcoholic beverages, Bond is said to favour Yin Hao, the highest traditional grade of jasmine tea^{[citation needed]}, and in the novel Live and Let Die Bond expresses his fondness for Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

In the novel Moonraker it is noted in the card club Blades, Bond adds a single pinch of black pepper to his glass of vodka, much to M's consternation; he claims it sinks all the poisons to the bottom.

See also

• Drinking culture

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", US 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. p. 45. ISBN 0-14-200202-X. 
6. ^ "Novel Statistics". Make Mine a 007 .... Archived from the original on July 9, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060709235343/http://www.atomicmartinis.com/007/nstats.htm. Retrieved April 12, 2006. 
7. ^ Hirst, M.; Trevithick, J. R. (18 December 1999). "Shaken, not stirred: bio-analytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis". British Medical Journal 319 (7225): 1600–2. PMC 28303. PMID 10600955. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1600. Retrieved 2006-04-12. 
8. ^ Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. Turner Pub. ISBN 1-57036-343-9. 
9. ^ "Rum Trader in Berlin". http://www.cojito.de/rum-trader.487.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-28. 
10. ^ "Wo der Barkeeper noch Gentleman ist" (in German). http://www.wams.de/data/2004/11/14/358755.html. Retrieved 2006-06-28. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ Hamilton, William L. (December 15, 2002). "SHAKEN AND STIRRED; East Meets West". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/style/shaken-and-stirred-east-meets-west.html?src=pm. 
12. ^ Dukes Bar – The Martini that Inspired Ian Fleming | Laissez Fare: Food, Wine & Travel Adventures
13. ^ "The Straight Dope Investigation: Shaking v Stirring". Why did James Bond want his martinis shaken, not stirred?. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmartini.html. Retrieved April 12, 2006. 
14. ^ Embury, David (1948). The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. p. 101. LCC TX951 .E55. 
15. ^ "The West Wing" Stirred (2002) - Memorable quotes.
16. ^ "Last Word section". New Scientist Magazine. June 5–11, 2010. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627631.800-stirring-stuff.html. 
17. ^ Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. John Murray. p. 94. ISBN 0-7195-6815-3. 
18. ^ Dom Perignon James Bond Centenary Celebrations · CommanderBond.net

External links

• AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes
• "Shaken and Stirred, James Bond Loves His Booze" at Time.com.
• "Enjoying wine James Bond style"