How long should you stir a cocktail?

In true bartender style, the perfect stirring vessel is often a topic of heated debate. Some swear by the consistency and heft of a Japanese cut-glass stirring glass, while others, like Dave Arnold, the molecular mixology guru from some of New York’s best bars, favour metal for its ability to heat and cool liquid quickly. No matter which material floats your boat, the vessel you choose must be big enough to accommodate your ingredients and ice, which should ideally fill about two-thirds of the container.

If you’re into the traditional cut-glass stirring glass (the pro’s vessel of choice), make sure you pick one with a nice, weighted bottom or a small stem for a secure grip. While stirring isn’t usually intense enough to topple your glass, it’s always reassuring to hold onto something with a bit of weight for that extra sense of stability while you work your magic.

And before you begin to add your ingredients or ice, pop your serving and stirring glasses in the fridge or freezer until they’re nice and frosty. That way, your cocktail mix will stay lovely and cold, and allow you to slowly and precisely dilute your cocktail.

Just as important as your stirring glass is the trusty barspoon and actual stir. A good barspoon needs two things – first, it’s gotta be long enough to reach the bottom of your mixing glass, with enough length above the glass to give you some proper stirring room. And second, one end should have a spoon for scooping a little taste of the mix to test the dilution. Bartenders usually do this by placing the spooned-cocktail sip on the back of their hand. Other than that, there’s really no right or wrong when it comes to a barspoon. 

We’ve already covered the different bartender shakes and what they’re used for (adding air, quick dilution, volume), but when it comes to stirring a cocktail, it’s all about precision. Far more sophisticated than your average kitchen stir, the bartender’s stir gently and slowly pulls dilution from the ice to balance out the cocktail. The technique itself is a bit tricky and takes time to nail, so don’t stress if you don’t get it right straight away.

Here’s how you do it: place the barspoon between your thumb and first two fingers, letting the shaft of the spoon rest between your middle and ring fingers. Slide the bowl of the spoon down the side of the glass, almost touching the bottom of the stirring vessel. Now, here’s where it gets tricky – instead of using your wrist or arm to make circular movements, like you would mixing batter in a bowl, keep your wrist and arm still. Use your fingers to pull the spoon towards you and push it out around the glass. The ice and liquid will follow the spoon’s movement, slowly diluting the mix as you go.

Not all ice is created equal. When it comes to stirring a cocktail, the ice needs to be the right level of ‘wet’ to properly dilute your drink. Bartenders have access to professional ice machines that create wet ice specifically for stirred cocktails. Ice from home freezers, though, tends to be on the drier side because household freezer temperatures aren’t really regulated.

Not sure if your ice is dry or wet? Give it a touch – dry ice will feel, well, dry, and will probably stick to your skin right away. To make ‘wet’ ice, quickly run it under tap water. The goal isn’t to melt it, but to make it more transparent and glossy, which helps extract dilution gently. Once you’ve got your wet ice, put it into your stirring glass with your ingredients and stir gently.

If your cocktail recipe calls for straining, it's best to do it over fresh ice (freezer ice is fine here). If you strain over ice you’ve been stirring, that’ll water down your drink further and you could risk making it thin and weak – basically undoing all that great stirring work you’ve just put in.

Some folk will tell you there’s a set amount of time or a specific number of rotations to stir your cocktail for the perfect dilution, but honestly, that’s a load of hooey. The best way to know if your drink is diluted enough is to taste it. That’s exactly what the spoon end of your barspoon is for. If you're serving up drinks for yourself and your sig other, take a spoonful and give it a try. If you're mixing for a group, get a barspoon full, gently place it on the back of your hand and taste it that way (health and safety first). It does take some tastebud training to know exactly when the right amount of dilution is in your drink, so if you’re unsure, look out for overly sharp flavours. For example, your Negroni should be a balanced mix of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. If it’s not diluted enough, that mixture will taste sticky and overly sweet. On the flip side, if you over-dilute the Negroni mix, it’ll taste thin and that bittersweetness won’t shine. 

If you're straining your mix over ice – like when you're making an Old Fashioned – it's best to slightly under-dilute the mix. The Old Fashioned and other long sippers can sit in the glass for a while, so let that last bit of dilution come from the ice in the glass. The Negroni, on the other hand, has a wine-based element, which evolves gently in the glass as the ice melts, so try to get the dilution just right before you strain.

When making drinks with big, sticky sweet liqueurs or sweet vermouths, it’s usually easier to tell when you’ve hit the right level of dilution. Martinis, however, which aren’t strained over ice, need to be stirred to perfect dilution (no Bond-style shaking here, please). They can take a bit of trial and error, but at the end of the day, it’s all about what you enjoy most in a Martini. If you’re a fan of strong alcohol and prefer it really dry, or if you love the vermouth to shine, stir it to a point that works for you. Again, tasting with the barspoon as you go will help you know when to stop.