Mixing Glass

What is a mixing glass?

The mixing glass is the shaker's quiet twin: a vessel in which drinks are stirred with ice instead of shaken. Everything made only of spirits, liqueurs and vermouth belongs here, with the martini and the Manhattan as the most famous candidates. You stir until the drink is cold and properly diluted, then it runs through a strainer into the pre-chilled glass.

Shapes and styles

• The classic stirrer: thick-walled glass with a spout, heavy and stable, the standard in many bars
• The Yarai pattern: Japanese mixing glasses with a diamond cut worked into the glass, function and beauty in one, coveted among purists
• The Boston glass: the glass from the Boston shaker set doubles as a mixing glass, twice used, as a good tool should be

The technique of stirring

• The bar spoon: its twisted shaft creates the spiral, the stir runs smooth and fluid without the spoon catching on the ice
• Calm tempo: the ice is supposed to chill and dilute, not get smashed, clinking cubes are no badge of quality
• The target temperature: you stir until the drink is cold enough, often around thirty rotations, and in the end experience decides
• The julep strainer: classically the flat julep strainer sits on the mixing glass, letting the drink run clear and controlled into the glass

Why stir instead of shake

Three reasons carry the decision:

• Clarity: stirring whips in no air, the martini stays crystal clear instead of turning milky
• Texture: silky and dense instead of airy and foamy
• Respect for the structure: spirit-driven drinks are balances without citrus juice, they need cold and dilution, but no emulsion

And bar culture's most famous dispute belongs here: James Bond orders his martini shaken, not stirred. Since Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale of 1953, the agent has demanded his drink shaken until ice-cold, and the bar world still debates whether that is a bold exception or a sin against the bartender's bible. Most professionals simply stir.

Distinction: mixing glass, shaker and built

The trio behind the bar appears in our shaker and build entries, and here it gets its final polish:

• Mixing glass: silk and clarity for spirit-driven drinks, then strained into the chilled glass
• Shaker: texture and emulsion for everything with acid, cream and egg
• Built: bubbles and speed for highballs and anything carbonated

Remember: the shaker makes texture, the mixing glass makes silk, the built drink stays quiet.

At our lounge

When one of our spirit-driven drinks is being born and you hear nothing, the mixing glass is at work, cold without noise, silk without foam. Feel free to ask our team, stirring is the quietest discipline of the bar and for many the most beautiful.