Contents
Shaker! It is hard to imagine the life of an ordinary bartender without this tool. What it is, I think you can guess – in fact, a container for mixing various drinks. Surprisingly, historical facts show that shaker analogues appeared a very long time ago, several millennia ago. It was the ancient Egyptians who used various containers to prepare drinks, which also indicates that mixology was born at that time. But we will go into history in other entries, and now I would like to tell you a little about shakers, their types and applications.
Basically shaker make stainless steel or chrome. True, you can find shakers from other materials, but these are excesses that no one needs. Metal is an ideal material: it is heavy enough to be conveniently manipulated (shaking in particular), and its thermal conductivity is high, which plays a very important role. The bartender must always control the temperature of the drink inside the shaker. I will talk about the principles of mixology later, but now about the types of shakers.
Types of shakers
There are two types of shakers: Boston (American or Boston) and Cobbler (also called European). The cobbler gradually left the professional bartending arena, or rather, it is used by some bartenders, especially in restaurants, but most often a representative of this type of shaker can only be seen in the kitchen of an inquisitive hostess. But I still have to tell you about it =)
Shaker Cobbler (European Shaker)
Represents kobbler three elements: the shaker itself (a vase), the filter and, in fact, the lid. Well, what can I say about this invention of mankind? Yes, it was popular at the end of the 19th century, and in the 30s-40s of the last century it was generally at the peak of popularity. In most cases, the lid acts as a measuring cup at the same time, but it is rarely convenient and it is used, again, by the same housewives. The only positive side of the cobbler: it can be manipulated with one hand, but if the hands grow from the right place, then the Boston shaker can be handled with one hand =).
And now for the cons:
- if the sieve is put on the shaker itself, there is a small loss of valuable liquid (I’m talking about alcohol, if anything);
- in my lifetime I had to work with such shakers – it’s terrible, they constantly jam and sometimes you need to fuss with them for several minutes to open, and sometimes time is oh so expensive. While you are trying to twist the lid, a couple of dozen thirsty eyes are looking at you, and your tip keeps disappearing and disappearing;
- there are also cobblers, where the sieve is inserted inside the shaker itself, but there is still a loss of alcohol.
I even found a small comic on this topic =)
Shaker Boston (American Shaker)
Once again I am convinced that simplicity gives birth to genius. Well, whatever you say, the Boston shaker is perfect. These are just two glasses: one metal, the second glass. I poured it into a measuring glass, which is a glass one, covered it with a metal shaker, hit it a couple of times and that’s it, you can do a jig-jump =). I want to emphasize once again: it is better to use glass as a measuring cup, and not the shaker itself, as bartenders, even experienced ones, very often do. Pouring everything into a glass is logical: you can control the volumes of ingredients by eye, without wasting time pouring 100 grams of juice through a measuring cup.
Boston shakers are sometimes sold without a glass, which is absolutely nothing to worry about. We go to a store with dishes and look for faceted glasses there (they are called granites) made in France (this country is very important, since they are still produced by Turkey, but this hacky work will not withstand even one hit on it with the metal part of the shaker). For most standard shakers, 320 and 420 granites are used – they are ideal in diameter.
Boston Benefits:
- does not wedge if properly disposed of. It is better to drive the glass at an angle, start to be afraid – the cold will tighten the metal (physics) and the structure will not fall apart. You need to be more careful with opening: hit the base of your palms in the middle of the structure, where the gap between the shaker and the glass is larger, that is, on the opposite side of the glass tilt. In general, this takes some getting used to;
- very fast to use. There is no need to close and open anything a hundred times. One move to open, one move to close. Washing it is also more convenient than a cobbler;
- you may not need a strainer: just leave a small gap between the glass and the shaker and that’s it, you can safely pour cooked cocktail into prepared dishes. In clubs, another method is often practiced: they knocked out a glass, turned it over, inserted it with the back side not completely and pour it in. Of course, this is not the most hygienic way and the bartending organization can scold for it, but sometimes there is no other choice, especially when the queue at the bar counter is like for a bottle of vodka in Prohibition =);
In general, a strainer is used to strain the drink complete with Boston, I will leave a separate article for it. It is purchased separately from the shaker, and it is better to choose a strainer with a special spring (hawthorn).
I personally do not see any negative aspects in the Boston shaker, do you?
Which shaker is better to buy
Here it is, the perfect fit.
Now a little about buying shakers. As far as I know, buy a shaker may not be everywhere. If you do not have specialized stores in your city, then this will be quite problematic. The easiest way to buy a shaker is online, but if you have connections with bartenders, you can ask them to order a shaker from alcohol suppliers. An ordinary Boston shaker with granite in the kit costs about 120-150 UAH. I personally recommend Bostons that are coated with a rubber coating – they do not slip in your hands, and the bottom is not rubberized, so you can safely control the temperature of the drink.
It is very important that the shaker itself does not give off an unpleasant odor, it is made of high-quality metal that does not bend under the pressure of hands. If it so happened that there is no Boston at hand, but there is only a cobbler – do not despair, you took the lower part from the cobbler, found a suitable glass and that’s it, you have not perfect in your hands, but Boston =). In Crimea, for example, we had only one glass for 2 Bostons and one cobbler, which we did not use. We used a cobbler shaker as a measuring cup – savvy. Improvising behind the bar is one of the main tasks of a bartender, and it’s not just about mixology. Well, on this, perhaps, I will finish. There is still a lot to tell you, so don’t forget to subscribe to blog updates. Read, practice, don’t despair – there are no bad bartenders, there is a bad influence: therumdiary.ru – good influence =)