How to stir a cocktail: time, ice and texture

Why spirit-only drinks are stirred, how long to stir, and how to tell when a Martini or Manhattan is ready.

Stirring chills and dilutes a drink as shaking does, but gently, without adding air. The result is clear, silky and heavy on the tongue. Stir drinks made only of spirits, vermouths, liqueurs and bitters: the Martini, Manhattan, Negroni, Old Fashioned and Sazerac.

Step by step

1. Chill the serving glass.
2. Measure the ingredients into a mixing glass, or the large tin of a shaker.
3. Fill it to the top with cold, dry ice (ice straight from the freezer, not sitting in meltwater).
4. Stir smoothly with a barspoon, the back of the spoon running round the inside wall so the ice turns as one mass. Aim for 20 to 40 seconds; large, very cold ice needs longer.
5. Taste from the spoon. It is ready when it is very cold and the alcohol no longer burns but the drink is not watery.
6. Strain with a julep or Hawthorne strainer into the glass, or over a large cube.

Why not shake a Martini?

You can, and James Bond did. A shaken Martini is colder, slightly more diluted and cloudy with air bubbles and ice chips, and its texture is thinner. The phrase "bruising the gin" has no chemistry behind it; the difference is texture and dilution, and stirred is simply the traditional preference.

How much water stirring adds

A typical stirred drink gains around 40 to 45% of its starting volume as water, which brings a 40% spirit down to the mid-to-high twenties. Our ABV estimator shows the numbers for every drink on the site.