Why Does James Bond Like His Martinis Shaken Not Stirred? 

Now that you know why James Bond likes his martinis "shaken, not stirred" check out this video and find out the answer to the question- Was One of the Bond Girls Really Formerly a Man?: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gXsI8aLJcEI.html

A cold and shaken vodka martini has almost no taste and thus allows Bond a chance to detect if anything has been added to his drink. Like say poison.

So there's a bit more history here, which I'm surprised you didn't touch on: The cool, suave Bond who understands the finer points of etiquette wasn't Fleming's creation, it was Albert Broccoli's. The Bond of Fleming's books, especially the earlier ones, was notable for his coarseness and _lack_ of polish; most of the intelligence service is public-school boys, and Bond sticks out like a sore thumb. In _Casino Royale,_ for example, he has no idea how to properly dress for a formal dinner (Vesper tells him that his "dinner jacket" is hopelessly inadequate, and gets him a proper one); he tells the story of his very working-class background to her over drinks; and throughout the book, he emphasizes how he is neither a spy nor a real intelligence officer, but an enforcer, basically a hit man in Her Majesty's service. And importantly, Fleming's Bond _didn't_ originally drink his martinis shaken. In the original dialogue, the bartender asks him (moments after a near-escape from death, IIRC) which way he prefers it; Bond replies "Do I look like I give a damn?" Broccoli and Connery took Bond in a radically different direction (and later actors even more so), becoming ever-more refined in the style of Lord Peter Wimsey; the Daniel Craig reboot was notable for shifting rather abruptly to the tone of the original novel. I believe that the line did show up in some of the later novels, but it's far more a movie line than a book one...

"A beer, shaken not stirred." - Daniel Craig

So according to the British Medical Journal, James Bond would have been more like Sterling Archer.

"Bond, James *hic* Bond"

Watering down the alcohol has no effect on the volume of alcohol and therefore has no effect on how drunk you'll get when you drink it.

Why does my life seem so insignificant?

"So the martini theory is..." me: zones out me: zones back in "and the ornithologist called and thanked him for using his name" huh, ok

Bond refers to the way his lovers feel afterwards, "Shaken, not stirred".

I always just figured it was something he said to sound cool. Funny thing is, he's shaped the public perception of what a martini should be so much that if you're a bartender and you make someone a proper stirred martini, about 70% of customers will complain that you're doing it wrong. Soooo... Charles Dickens walks into a bar and orders a martini. The bartender asks, "Olive, or twist?"

Why am watching a video on a fictional character's beverage preferences?

James Bond's excessive drinking & smoking was actually addressed multiple times in the original books. It was also surmised that one of the things that made him so good was a latent death wish. What made Bond sooo good was a spiraling burn out which lasted for a couple of years. he wasn't hiding shit from his superiors. :>)

today i found out this channel exists and i cant stop fucking watching

"hello, im Simon Whistler, you're watching the 'today I found out' you-choob channel"

Ian Fleming is like " I just like the way it looked when I wrote it as opposed to simply saying, a martini, please."

I can imagine Bond in a retirement home, talking about his escapades and finishing it with, "....but I was very, very drunk!"

This explanation really does sound best in a British accent. Thanks, Simon! :)

Couldn't help but notice you mentioned that a martini is Gin and Vermouth. He always asked "vodka martini, dry. Shaken. (Not stirred)" classically, even though he often drank that, his drink of choice was a bottle of Bollinger. 1958 I believe. There are many different types of alcohol he drinks. The martini is just one of them.

Another great video, thanks Simon. Although I am not impressed with Bond's choice of spirits, such as Gordon's gin or Dewars scotch. Far better choices are Tanqueray or Hendricks gin or Glenlivet or other single malt scotches. All of which are made in Scotland, BTW. Fitting for Sean Connery.

To quote President Bartlett, James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.

FINALLY out of every video you've posted you've FINALLY answered the most important question in the universe

I enjoy your research, I find it very thorough. Cheers,.

Ever heard of the Granular Convection or Muesli Effect? It's a physical phenomenon that you can see while eating your breakfast. When you open your box of cereales, the bigger nuts are always more on top, while the smaller pieces stay on the bottom. This is a well known effect caused by shaking the box while transport. So my theory on James Bond's shaking faible: James Bond is a genius on the field of physics. He can solve partial differential equations in his head while chasing a plane on a motorcycle in Goldeneye. Yes, he did it. Otherwise he wouldn't have know that he actually has to brake a bit to catch the falling plane correctly. But that's another Today I found out story... The thing is, he is brillant in physics and knows of course the Granular Convection. So when you shake a Vodka Martini, the bigger molecules will rise on top, while the smaller ones fall down a bit. Molecules, that transport the taste or smell of the drink, are typically big ones with long strings of carbon and stuff. Ethanol instead is pretty small. So when James Bond takes his Vodka Martini, he gets the whole taste and enjoys his drink, but doesn't get too drunk. And since he knows, that there are always villains or girls arround to stop him from drinking, he never drinks the whole thing. Or have you ever James Bond seen finishing a drink? He nips, enjoys, then kills. What a man!

Someone: OO7 you have a drinking problem. OO7: I can stop anytime I want to.

I always thought it was to reflect Bond's attitude as someone who is constantly going through jarring experiences (shaken), but in the end it doesn't affect him (not stirred)

The history of how the name James Bond got used was interesting

I LOVE the little piece of trivia about the name coming from a bland ornothologist's name! :D

I always thought that it was a metaphor for the way he would deal with the incredible violence he was either causing or.being plunged into and his signature stiff upper lip manner of waltzing quite literally into the dinner parties of the very villians whose henchmen he had just dispatched. Especially how his suit was always perfect even after a brutal melee with world class bizarro assassins. Shaken, not stirred.

Amazing videos keep it up

I never had a Martini, researching how to make one and found this excellent video.

This was a neat video, thank you Simon!

love your vids Simon!

anther bonus fact: In the 2014 film Kingsmen: The Secret Service, a scene was featured to reference and also take a jab at James Bond. they go out of their way to describe "the way to make a proper martini". which is with gin, stirred, and with no vermouth. a martini sans vermouth is called a Churchill Martini. to expand on the Churchill Martini. Winston Churchill was once asked how much vermouth he wanted in his martini and he said he prefers to enjoy his martini "whilst observing then vermouth from across the room." So asking for a Churchill Martini will get you a glass of ice cold gin.

Love your videos, just thought I'd let you know 😊

I haven't read the books, but in the films he usually orders his drink immediately after some ordeal. I have always taken the line "Shaken not stirred" to be a wry double entendre to mean his ordeal has left him shaken but not stirred. In ordering his drink he is letting them know they haven't got at him! That's what my sense of humour tells me anyway! I would put it down to the film makers to not even care how a martini should be served or let it get in the way of a one liner.

This reminded me that in License to Kill (the film), Bond gets called away to meet Sanchez before he gets a chance to drink his martini. Pam Bouvier decides to drink it - but winces at how disgusting it tastes.

I think it was either one of two things: a conscious effort on Flemings part to create a drink for the fans of his novels to enjoy mixing and it still tasting good despite the lower quality alcohol the common man tends to drink, or a window into the author, fleming, who was on vacation when he wrote the novel and probably a bit of a functional bender(meaning that he was not drinking the good stuff because likely already sauced)

I predicted many months ago before your channel was even at 100k that your channel would blow up and you'd get viral videos, you responded and said thanks. I was right and you're on your way to one million subscribers. nice!

During the tox screen & analysis after Bond's capture in North Korea, the doctors were heard saying "liver not too good. It's definitely him then." So MI6's own doctors already knew his internals were affected by all that shaken alcohol :)

How much alcohol is that in volume. I've never seen a bottle of liquor measured in grams. I need to know if that's a lot just in case it's not normal to go through a 750ml bottle of vodka over the course of a day or two by myself

So he's drinking 75 grams of pure alcohol per day. That is about 3 European beers per day; doesn't seem that bad.

Your videos are excellent, but please, you need to add some elements on the walls of your studio so the sound of the voice won't get that much eco. You need to mute the slight eco / reverb that the walls are returning to the microphone.

i love this channel because theres so much extra shit and its hilarious. im done watching the vid within 3 minutes but he still going. god

Don't they all taste like lighter fluid.

Here's another theory I've heard: Being a secret agent who may have to jump into action at any given second means it's never a good idea to get particularly drunk and there's a good chance you are interupted right in the middle of your drink and won't be able to enjoy all of it. Shaking a martini makes all the molecules that give the martini its flavour rise to the top while the alcohol sinks to the bottom (something having to do with the relative size of the molecules involved) meaning that if Bond only gets halfway through his drink before being interrupted by an action sequence he'll have enjoyed as much taste while avoiding as much alcohol as possible.

Original was about 3 parts gin to one part vermouth. Vermouth is often mistreated: it needs to be refrigerated and it spoils (wine based). Another thing - add 1-2 splashes of orange bitters .... trust me. Cheers!

hey dude.... you should whistle in one of your videos 😂😂

I was imagining some very funny shit when I was watching this, ta for provoking those thoughts, hell of a giggle =P

I always have my jack Daniels poured on square ice cubes, then strained through blackberries with ice while throwing a mint leaf so it swims around the glass. It’s not ready until the leaf floats back to the top. And in the end...it still tastes the same.

Way to take that last bit of mystery out of the character! Ay ay ay ay ay! LOL

how many units is that in the uk?

Yes! The trick is all about dilution. Totally works. Fancy, classy, yet still sublimely sober.

"Shaken not stirred" - i thought of it more like an "attidude" thing. Nothing scientific, or for the taste, but more as a running gag that says "i like it hard, not soft", also as some sort of trademark. Thats why i also loved that "do i look l ike i care" line in Casino Royale (movie). After all those years, that showed his new wreckles and brutal behavior, and gave that important small note to his new tone. So i think (and i am pretty sure about it), that someone like James Bond would only prefer "shaken over stirred" to make a point.

Oh snap. I had a random thought and it brought me back in time.

I always thought that he wanted shaken bc it was less likely that poison could be added to the drink or the chance of him being poisoned or Being doused with some kind of sedative

Canadian Club is a hidden gem. Sip it and chase with RC. It is the only whiskey I do that with.

Ian Flemming had a copy of The Birds of West Indies at his house in Jamaica, Goldeneye. Also, I doubt the third theory as it would affect Bond's performance with guns :)

Hi Simon, Sorry to say but the physical properties of ice and the difference between shaking and stirring gives very similar dilution levels after about 20-30 seconds. Shaking is a slightly quicker method by about 10 seconds but there is no decernable way to tell the difference. Also you would not choose to shake for the effect of airation. There are many much more effective ways of getting this (eg. egg whites). I think Yonatan Zunger commet might be correct. Source: The Curious Bartender: The Artistry and Alchemy of Creating the Perfect Cocktail

Always make sure that your vermouth is fairly freshly opened. Vermouth is only mildly fortified and doesn't have anywhere like the shelf life of sherry or brandy. About a week in the refrigerator after opening is about the most you can expect, and even then it's a little past it's best I think. After that, it will taste awful.

A friend of mine who once worked in a bar told me that shaking makes the Martinis bitter, and this was another way for Bond to show how tough he was. I don't know how true this is because I don't drink or go to bars.

i think the first theory is most likely(giving the illusion of being buzzed to his enemies), but the 3rd theory seems more likely in "skyfall" when bond enters deep depression.either way,nice research.good video.

The reason is because the stirring instrument could be poisoned, shaking helps prevent poisoning through a spiked stirrer

Was gonna hit the like button, but dear oh dear, me hands shaking too much. Need more vodka martinis.

Always wondered about this as a Martini drinker... I think it's more so he looks like an unsophisticated idiot. Or maybe he's just being a bit of a rebel... or maybe it is because it dilutes it some... we just know... it's Bond. James Bond

Well here is a did you know. In the original James Bond movie with Sean Connery he had specifically asked for a "martini, stirred not shaken". It is every movie after that in which he has asked for the reverse...

I think it could also be to help dilute any poison if added.

I heard that the reason he has them shaken was because of certain properties with one of the listed ingredients of the Vesper martini being different at the time the novel was written compared to now. I don't remember specifics, but supposedly, when people talk about that cocktail, they're making the mistake of using the manufacturers' current versions as their guidelines, not the ones Fleming was using. I could be totally wrong, though.

Huh, i just thought about this the other day, now i know more. Thanks TIFO

I always thought it was a call sign for his other British spies to identify him but the whole dilution sounds a lot cooler. I especially like it because I love chemistry.

For those who don't know what to make of "521.6g of pure alcohol each week" I did the math, that is ~1.6L of standard 80 proof (40%) per week.

The couple of times I had bartenders make a martini they used too much ice and shook it, so it wound up watery and flavorless. Stirring (and only using a limited amount of ice) is definitely better.

I can't remember which book, but there's a full, loving description of an avocado (or a alligator pear as it's called) that Fleming completely stops the plot to rhapsodize about. The books were written during the time of rationing after the war. The sheer amount of description of the food and drink that Bond would have had access to, if not the author himself, is pretty much fanfiction.

Personally I'm more like James Bond Jr. (an actual cartoon show from way back in the day following Bond's nephew), one line I always remembered even to this day is "A chocolate milkshake please, shaken not stirred" as a riff on his uncle's classic drink. I've actually started making vintage milkshakes in Boston shakers like they did WAAAY back in the day, the ones without ice cream are a lot thinner but still taste really good.

reminds me of that line in Die Another day "Liver not too good, definitely him then"

Honestly I prefer vodka martini to the traditional, because Gin to me taste like cleaning fluild, ie.. pinesol

In Moonraker, it's established that he sprinkles pepper into his vodka because he used to do it without bad vodka and just g used to it.

I always took this to be a simple fact that they, due to the fact that stirring the drinks would necessitate introduction of a stirring stick, would be very easy to compromise, say with poison or some other kind of drug, shaking the drink would just mean using the same bottle that everyone else is being served from, reducing the likelihood of being drugged. Especially with the preference of a wooden spoon over metal. The stirring stick can be avoided but you can't really avoid the mixer bottle.

The NHS recommends a maximum of 14 units a week, which is about 6 pints of ale. I drink 6 pints for lunch.

521 grams of pure ethanol converted into mL of 80 proof liquor is about 1.63 liters. This isn't all that much alcohol. I know people who drink more than twice as much and in their old age (70+ years old) only experience mild tremors, and those are more likely associated with age than with drinking. I myself drink a handle each week (1.75 liters) and have no problems at all. It's just spaced out across the entire week rather than weekend binges like how most people seem to drink. Bond drinks on the job, so its probably so spread out he doesn't even get drunk at all.

teh book bird of the west indies is actually metionied (?) in die another day... when he first meets jinx via binoculars she comes up to him and asks what he is doing. i remeber fairly clearly the book is called "birds of the west indies" but if you know or know that its not please hit me up

Most prohibition era Martinis were 2oz Gin, 1oz Dry Vermouth and a couple drops of orange bitters.

How much hand movement do you want? TIFO: Yes.

Also in the casino royale film he asked for 3 measures Gordon's, 1 measure vodka half a measure kina lillet shaken over ice with a thin slice of lemon peel I get that he likes a cold, dry martini, I too like dry beverages, has a nice feel to it.

Dilution in a stirred martini is still essential to create balance in the drink. Therefore the dilution argument of a shaken martini is null. On the other hand aeration is a major problem for drinks in the martini family.

I always thought it was something to do with avoiding poisoned drinks, where a shaken drink would have a lessen effect than a stirred drink.

Good one!

it makes the effect of the alcohol lesser so to keep sharp while giving an illusion of having a strong drink

Prof Dr Metin Tolan suggested in his book about JB that the brazil nut effect would let the rather bigger "tasty" molecules float above the smaller alcohol and water molecules. Only a really fine tongue would know the difference that the top part of fluid in the glass tastes more intense. But JB beeing the jackest of all trades would on the one side surely have so fine tastebudds and on the other in most instances only time for one or two sipps of his drinks until the next shoot out or car chase, what would make it impossible to finish his drink. Therefore JB wants the top sips to be as good as possible.

As for vodka martini's, Smirnoff sponsored Dr. No & asked the producers not to use gin. Vodka became a trope ever since.

Nice video, interesting.

Grams of liquid is kind of a strange measurement. If I am not mistaken in the MKS world: 512grams is 521ml or about 0.512L/week.

The beard gives you a sort of vsauce michael allure

I always heard that he had his Martini shaken because he liked watching the females making it

Interesting theories, but the real reason is that the movies had a product placement deal with a Vodka brand and didn't want their deal diluted by having other boozes mentioned in the cocktail. The "shaken not stirred" part was added so it would still sound like he was ordering an elaborate picky drink without having to actually name any other brands.

So that introduction of his is from AA meetings, then? Where it was followed by a chorus of "Hello, James"?

Ian Fleming did his writing in Jamaica where it is hot (no AC at the time). He likely wanted his drinks very cold and transferred that preference to James Bond.

Martinis should be gin. Martinis with vodka is a vodkatini. Honestly, I didn't know they were supposed to be stirred. I like it shaken better because it is cold, and you can get little floating ice crystals which looks really cool!

Hi Simon! Can you do a video about -Why my mother doesn't love me- how whistleblowers got their name?

The reason is fairly well known. The vodka martini method was taught to Ian Fleming by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands while Fleming was vetting the German spouse of the House of Orange heiress to see that he was not a Nazi sympathizer. Alas, despite, or maybe because, he knew how to drink properly, Fleming got it wrong (being "our sort" is what got the Cambridge Ring into British Intelligence as well as so far along before they had to defect to the USSR), but that didn't come out until long after James Bond became a popular movie series, let alone literary one. I used to work with a bunch of Russians, and one thing that they all agreed was never to drink Russian vodka, and especially not potato vodka, as they thought it utter crap. "Shaken not stirred" is a method of reducing the oiliness of the potato vodka common in the 1950s.