Select your language

Bartender making a cocktail in a shaker

Many cocktails are made with a shaker, the role of the latter being to mix and refresh. Here is the technique for making shaker cocktails and the different types of shakers..

How to make shaker cocktails?

Unless otherwise indicated in the recipes you will find on Cocktail Mag, here is the professional technique for making shaker cocktails:

  1. First you need to chill your glass. To do this, fill your glass with ice cubes using tongs or ice scoop and swirl them in your glass using a mixing spoon. Leave it like this, you will remove the ice cubes in step 4.

  2. Still using your ice tongs or scoop, incorporate ice cubes into the lower base of your shaker (at least 5 ice cubes per glass of cocktail).

  3. In the upper part of your shaker, pour in this order the alcohols, the fruit juices then the syrups. Help yourself with a measuring cup for the quantities.

    If the upper part is too small to hold all your ingredients or if it does not stand upright (especially shakers with stoppers), pour them directly into the large lower base with ice cubes.

  4. It's time to remove the ice cubes from your now well-chilled glass, throw them in a sink, draining your glass well.

  5. Close your shaker then shake dynamically for 7-9 seconds.

  6. Open your shaker.

  7. Strain into the glass(es) filled with ice cubes or not according to each recipe.

  8. Add the decoration, a stick and/or a straw according to each cocktail.

Types of Shakers

There are 3 types of shakers:

  • First of all there is the 3-piece shaker which has a lower base, an upper part with an integrated filter, and a cap at the above this filter. After shaking, all you have to do is remove the cap and pour into the glass since the filter will retain the remaining ice. It is a shaker rather reserved for amateurs.

  • Then there is the Continental Shaker which is simply composed of a lower base and the upper part. No integrated filter, the use of an ice strainer will be essential to filter the ice before pouring the mixture into the glasses. This type of shaker is rather reserved for professionals.

  • Finally there is the Boston Shaker. Just like the continental shaker it is a 2 piece shaker, but the upper part is much larger. Some Boston Shakers have a glass as the upper part, the advantage of these is that after shaking, the cocktail remains in the glass and is served directly to the customer (serving like this is not always very conventional, however, in mixology).

Latest Cocktails

Latest News

Are you of legal age? Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation.