Whip Shake
Also known as: whip, short shake
In short
The whip shake is the short shake with little ice, for drinks over crushed ice. We explain the technique, its role for juleps, smashes and tiki drinks and why half beats full here.
In depth
What is a whip shake?
The whip shake is the short shake with little ice: just a few seconds and only a few pieces of ice, often crushed. The drink gets chilled, lightly frothed and stays in motion, half shaken, half on its way, and afterwards it goes onto a mountain of fresh crushed ice.
When the whip shake runs
- Crushed ice drinks: the whole ice family lives off it, more on it in our julep, smash and cobbler entries
- Tropical classics: in the tiki tradition too the whip shake is a proven technique
- Why not full: a fully shaken drink would dilute too quickly on the crushed ice, the half shake keeps it dense
Distinction: whip shake and shaker
The shaker makes texture, the whip shake does half the work: short, cold and light, and the rest is done by the ice in the glass. Whoever wants to keep dilution in view is well served by our entry on it: dilution is the ingredient, over-diluting is the mistake.
Remember: stirring makes silk, batching makes stock, flash blending makes fluff, the whip shake does half the work, the reverse dry shake makes the foam.
At our lounge
If you order a drink over crushed ice, this exact short moment often happens beforehand: a few seconds of shaker, a mountain of ice, done. Feel free to ask, the half shake is a whole trick.