No less a luminary than W. Somerset Maugham declared that, martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other. Who am I, your humble Pegu blogger to argue with this, especially since I don’t drink Gin Martinis? I’ll let Jeffrey Morganthaler take a crack at it. When it comes to Martinis, you can choose for yourself between modern bartender and dead white guy author who proves for all time that just because you have a overwhelming talent at turning a phrase, it doesn’t imply that you can produce a readable collection thereof.
What matters to me is whether or not you should shake a Pegu. You should. Hard.
Thank you for your attention.

…!

That’s it?
You put up a post just to make the same point you did earlier, that you like your Pegus shaken, not stirred?

That, and take a gratuitous shot at Somerset Maugham!

Ok, fine. Here’s the real reason for this post: Given that Pegus should be shaken, how do we shake them?

I was catching up on what all the other cocktail bloggers have been writing during my Christmas break, and stumbled across an entry at Martini Groove about 42 Below, a New Zealand vodka. They have a very entertaining website, which includes a sub-site, Vodka University, that deserves a visit, and a mild content warning. Among its features, Vodka University offers a series of tutorials on mixology. Do not watch the one on muddling. And for the love of all that is good and holy, do not watch the one on rimming! (UPDATE: VodkaUniversity.com is now unspeakably lame in comparison to its original form. I’ve updated the links to YouTube versions of the videos referenced!)
But here is the one on shaking:

Funny, silly, but it actually gets to the heart of the matter. When you shake a cocktail, shake it, damn it! The point is to make that sucker cold, so take your time, and do it vigorously.

I like my cocktails shaken like I like my men, Lon…

Do not go there!

Now, between conceiving of this post, and writing it, I come across this gem from New York Magazine’s Grub Street blog, entiled Eben Freeman of Tailor Imparts the Secrets of the ‘Hard Shake’. I can’t figure out how to embed it here, so after you watch the Vodka University vid above, go watch this one. I’ll wait.
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Wow!

Exactly. I laughed my butt off when I first watched this. Now, I’m not so sure. Is this guy serious? If he isn’t, bravo. If he is… um. I will say this: This method will well and truly shake your cocktail….