Shaken Not Stirred

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Biography

" 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 (cocktail)|martini prepared. The phrase first appears in the novel Diamonds Are Forever (novel)|Diamonds Are Forever (1956), though Bond does not actually say the line until Dr. No (novel)|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 (film)|Goldfinger in 1964 (though the villain Dr. Julius No offers this drink and utters those words in the first film, Dr. No (film)|Dr. No , in 1962). It was used in numerous Bond films thereafter with the notable exceptions of You Only Live Twice (film)|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 (2006 film)|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,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". television programmesIn the The West Wing|West Wing episode "Shaken", US President Josiah Bartlett says of Bond: "James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it." and video gamesIn 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. for its cliché value. In Tom Clancy 's novel Without Remorse , when ex- Navy Seal John Clark (Tom Clancy character)|John Clark is asked his opinion of Central Intelligence Agency|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" p 205, Without Remorse . Roger Moore used the phrase in one episode of The Saint (TV series)|The Saint , eight years before he played James Bond himself.In the 1965 episode "The Chequered Flag" of The Saint, Roger Moore used the phrase "shaken, not stirred". Ironically, while playing Bond, Moore never ordered a martini, although he received one in The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me , Moonraker (film)|Moonraker and Octopussy (film)|Octopussy .

The American Film Institute honoured Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger and the phrase on 21 July 2005 by ranking it #90 on a list of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes|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 (novel)|Casino Royale (1953) when he requested a drink of his own invention which would later be referred to as a Vesper (cocktail)|"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 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 Cereal|grain instead of potato es makes the drink even better. As the formulation of Kina Lillet was modified in 1986 to reduce the sugar content while retaining the level of quinine, it would not be possible to recreate the Vesper today exactly as it would have tasted in Casino Royale. Russia n and Poland|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.

Film

Sean Connery

The shaken Martini is mentioned twice in the first Bond film Dr. No (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, Julius No|Dr. No presents Bond with a drink & mdash; "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 (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 (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 (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me , Anya Amasova orders him one. In Moonraker (film)| Moonraker , his drink is prepared by Manuela. In Octopussy (film)| Octopussy , Octopussy (character)| 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 turbulence|turbulent British Airways flight. The air hostess (played by Roger Moore 's daughter Deborah Moore|Deborah ) serves him his martini, to which Bond replies "Luckily I asked for it shaken."

Daniel Craig

The Vesper was reused in the Casino Royale (2006 film)|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? "

Purpose of shaking

Scientists, specifically biochemistry|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. 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. It has also been said that Fleming was a fan of martinis shaken by Hans Schröder, a German people|German bartender.

A part of Ian Fleming's James Bond character was based on people in his surroundings. One such influence was his friend Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld|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.

While properly called a Bradford , 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..

Through multiple letters in New Scientist s Last Word section (June 5–11, 2010), the mystery has been solved. 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 whiskey|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.

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 vodka|Finlandia . In the film GoldenEye , Bond suggests Cognac (drink)|cognac when offered a drink by M (James Bond)|M , who gives him bourbon instead. In Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger , Bond drinks a mint julep at Auric Goldfinger's Kentucky stud farm ; in Thunderball (film)|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 Bolivia n 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 Pérignon (wine)|Dom Perignon champagne.
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 , and in the novel Live and Let Die (novel)|Live and Let Die Bond expresses his fondness for Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee .

In the novel Moonraker (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.

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