The Infamous "Hard Shake" & Japanese Cocktail Culture

[Chris Amirault]

OK, I can buy the import of "being conscious of what you're shaking in your shaker." But that video details a far more fetishized, persnickety routine -- the hold, the stance, the bar spoon, and so on -- than simple mindfulness.

Not that I have any beef with fetishized, persnickety cocktail routines.

[brinza]

Have flair, frippery, and dance insinuated themselves into the hard shake of many a practitioner today?  Unfortunately, that may be what many of us are seeing.  Let's resist the easy path, though, of conflating this with Mr. Ueda's original methodology.  Only then can we have a sound dialogue on whether the hard shake truly accomplishes all that it is made to.

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To that end, there should be some support for the claims that have been made. Another message board I've been a member of for that past eight years is a skeptics' board. Taking a page from practitioners of critical thinking, I think it is incumbent upon proponents of this "hard shake" to do the following:

1) clearly define what claims are being made for this shaking method

2) show evidence, if not proof, that the method produces the results stated in the claims

3) show that these results are different than what can be achieved through traditional shaking methods

[slkinsey]

Japanese techniques, on the other hand, are all ostensibly aimed towards creating a better cocktail.

In the case of Mr. Ueda, I don't believe there's anything ostensible about it. When one reads his description of the hard shake, it is fairly apparent that he believes he is crafting a better cocktail. Obviously, as is discussed here, these claims may ultimately be specious, but I don't believe his intent can be impugned on the issue.

Don't be so quick to impute impugning to me. If I had meant Ueda specifically, I would have said Ueda specifically. That said, while I have no reason to question Mr. Ueda's sincerity, it has to be said that his writings amount mostly to nonscientific quasi-mystical claims that don't make much sense. To wit:

...there is another objective involved aside from the above mentioned that differs from cocktails made from stirring, that of making smooth cocktails by softening the ingredients and alcohol. This has led to my inventing of the method I call "Hard Shake".

Let's suppose that the elements of liquor are in the shape of a square. In general, most would envision shaking as method of trimming and rounding the four-corners of it. However, I envision the process as the "square shaped" liquor swelling in a circular fashion, through mixing it with the bubbles. The bubbles would act as a cushion preventing one's tongue from direct contact with the harshness of the ingredients and liquor, leading to a smoother taste. As each of the liquor's elements comes together, the result is an added taste as well as fine-grained bubbles. This is ultimately what I strive for with my "Hard Shake".

[brinza]

it has to be said that his writings amount mostly to nonscientific quasi-mystical claims that don't make much sense.

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That's precisely my point as well. One easy way to solve the whole thing is with a double-blind taste test. Have two identical cocktails made, one with the hard shake, one with a traditional shake. Serve them to Mr. Ueda and Mr. Freeman. See if they can identify the drink made with the hard shake. Repeat test ten times, or make ten cocktails, stating that some of them have been made with the hard shake. Identify which ones.

ETA: the test is made double-blind in that the person who serves the cocktails is not the person who made them (and also doesn't know which is which).

Edited August 1, 2008 by brinza (log)

[db_campbell]

I think it is incumbent upon proponents of this "hard shake" to do the following ...

I wouldn't quite say I'm a proponent of the hard shake; I'm simply attempting to defend the method against some criticism that I believe is resultant merely from misconceptions that have arisen. My point is more, 'if we're going to criticise the hard shake, let's criticise the hard shake, not someone's haphazard, gussied-up interpretation of it.' I hope no one thinks I'm pointing fingers or implying any particular individual's guilt with the last remark. Simply from a logician's perspective, if Method X eschews dancing, and Individual Y criticises Method X on the basis of its reliance on dancing, then somewhere along the line there must have been a Practitioner Z who bastardised Method X via the inclusion of dancing.

Don't be so quick to impute impugning to me. smile.gif If I had meant Ueda specifically, I would have said Ueda specifically.

Apologies; within the context, I thought the criticism to be implicit. Obviously it wasn't.

... it has to be said that his writings amount mostly to nonscientific quasi-mystical claims that don't make much sense.  To wit:

...there is another objective involved aside from the above mentioned that differs from cocktails made from stirring, that of making smooth cocktails by softening the ingredients and alcohol. This has led to my inventing of the method I call "Hard Shake".

Let's suppose that the elements of liquor are in the shape of a square. In general, most would envision shaking as method of trimming and rounding the four-corners of it. However, I envision the process as the "square shaped" liquor swelling in a circular fashion, through mixing it with the bubbles. The bubbles would act as a cushion preventing one's tongue from direct contact with the harshness of the ingredients and liquor, leading to a smoother taste. As each of the liquor's elements comes together, the result is an added taste as well as fine-grained bubbles. This is ultimately what I strive for with my "Hard Shake".

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This is obviously true. While perusing Ueda's site for information about his method, I had to chuckle upon reading his cubic/spherical perceptions of the cocktail art. Perhaps this slant toward quasi-mysticism is what Eben was referencing by noting the method "has just as much to do with a way of thinking as you prepare a cocktail and the idea of being conscious of what you're shaking in your shaker."

[brinza]

I think it is incumbent upon proponents of this "hard shake" to do the following ...

I wouldn't quite say I'm a proponent of the hard shake; I'm simply attempting to defend the method against some criticism that I believe is resultant merely from misconceptions that have arisen. My point is more, 'if we're going to criticise the hard shake, let's criticise the hard shake, not someone's haphazard, gussied-up interpretation of it.'

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My position is purely one of skepticism, not criticism. I'm simply saying that the claims for it shouldn't be taken on faith. I just think it needs to be made clear what the hard shake really is, what it's supposed to do, and does it indeed do that; and furthermore, does it do something that traditional shaking does not do? To be more concise: I'm not yet convinced.

ETA: From Mr. Uveda's website:

I believe that bubbles cannot be effectively created through mere ordinary shaking.

I dispute this as I find that traditional vigorous shaking does indeed effectively create bubbles (in fact this is one of the major elements in the "shaken or stirred" controversy of martini mixing in that it's common knowledge that shaking aerates the drink, thus it comes down to whether that consistency is preferred by the drinker over the silky texture that results from stirring).

Utilizing the "Hard Shake" method will result in fine grains of ice forming within the shaker. After pouring the cocktail into a glass, these grains float to the surface of the glass.

And so does traditional, vigorous shaking. Whether or not this is desirable (many prefer not to have these ice shards in the drink and therefore double strain) is beside the point, but the fact is ordinary shaking creates these as well. So far, I have yet to see anything supposedly produced by the "Hard Shake" that cannot be produced by traditional shaking. His last paragraph discusses the effects on cream as an ingredient, and since I have virtually zero experience (I made a Sputnik once, that's it) using cream, I will reserve judgment on this point.

Edited August 1, 2008 by brinza (log)

[freshherbs]

I'm going to take the contrarian position and say that I think the Hard Shake is 90% bullcrap. 

...

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I'm with you.

The depressing thing is that that kind of flourish and 'frippery' go a long way with a lot of customers, especially in more backwater-type cocktail locales such as the one I inhabit. I'm sure it's not all that different in the lesser places in NYC and other known cocktail cities though.

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in fact, one could argue that flourish and frippery are defining characteristics of what make many of nyc's bars and restaurants popular

[Chris Amirault]

I can testify that flourish and frippery have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of cocktails served at Pegu Club, PDT, and Death & Co. Indeed, one night I devoted much observation of stirring technique at two of those bars, and I can vouch that no one floured or fripped.

[brinza]

I can testify that flourish and frippery have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of cocktails served at Pegu Club, PDT, and Death & Co. Indeed, one night I devoted much observation of stirring technique at two of those bars, and I can vouch that no one floured or fripped.

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Finesse rules.

[Bunnyhugs]

Another pretty amazing video here.

It is a modified hard shake which is pretty interesting to watch, but the technique this guy uses overall is pretty amazing.    He is so precise in his movements.

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I've been in a lot of Japanese bars in Taiwan and China and never seen anybody make drinks that way. The only place I've seen that style of drinks making is in these stylized bartending competitions that seem popular in Asia.

Check the video below of a Taiwanese bartender giving a display of highly ritualized bartending. Her shake is worth a look just to see something bizarre.

This girl got famous in Taiwan after winning the 2006 World Cocktail Competition. Political bullying from China means Taiwan rarely gets to compete in anything under its own flag, so it was a big deal when she won and the Taiwan flag got an outing. Hurray! Go Taiwan!

But do western bartenders attending things like the World Cocktail Competition make drinks the same way?

[misterdyer]

Interesting shake that this girl uses. Maybe not practical for the drink, but damned cool to watch. However, the rest of the pomp and circumstance nearly made me want to gouge my eyes out. It's just unbearable to watch a bartender primp and smile for thirty seconds as the drinks sits and dilutes in the shaker.

And then I turned up the sound on the video. And the pre-crack Whitney soundtrack did make my gouge my ears out.

[XagaEnergon]

I felt like I was watching a magic show. Look at this shaker! There is nothing in it now. Look at this bottle, nothing fancy here! Then, at the end, tada! A drink!

[Wild Bill Turkey]

When I shake any cocktail in a shaker I always fine strain it.  Even if it is a sour with a frothy egg white incorporated.  I just don't find the bits of ice pleasing.

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The bump in this thread caused me to read the whole thing for the first time, and the above quote raised a question I've had for awhile.

When I make drinks with cream or egg white, that are supposed to froth, it seems like I'm left with a choice between undesirable (for me) ice chips but a full froth, or double-straining the chips out but also significantly reducing the froth. Any thoughts?

I usually go with the fine straining because I really don't like ice chips in a drink that wants to be creamy and smooth.

It seems to me that this choice is also central to this hard-shake concept, where bubbles are claimed to be at the heart of the goal.

[Danne]

When I make drinks with cream or egg white, that are supposed to froth, it seems like I'm left with a choice between undesirable (for me) ice chips but a full froth, or double-straining the chips out but also significantly reducing the froth. Any thoughts?

I usually go with the fine straining because I really don't like ice chips in a drink that wants to be creamy and smooth.

It seems to me that this choice is also central to this hard-shake concept, where bubbles are claimed to be at the heart of the goal.

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I know what you are talking about and I'm like you, I don't like the ice-chips.

I can't do the hard shake, but I've got fairly nice arms and I do shake the hell out of it, if you keep the strainer tight you don't get the big chips, just the small ones that melt when they hit your lips. I think that's ok. I've got a nice strainer from Absolut that is tighter than the common ones.

http://www.barlife.dk/images/T0410_siivilacocktail.jpg

compared to

http://www.worldbarsupply.com/images/4prong-strainer.jpg

I took the spring the Absolut and put it on my OXO. When I compared the springs the Absolut was longer and more close together than the OXO (the common cheap ones was a laugh). So now it's a super strainer.. Almost no ice-chips and all the froth.

At home I've got these small metal balls that I use instead of the ice. I don't think that the dilution is needed for creamy or sour drinks and I love to use the metal-balls when I shake. Makes a pretty awesome sound also. Afterwards i wash them, dry and then back in the freezer.. to much work for the bar, but at home where I don't make many drinks it works really well.

Good luck.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm bumping this back up because of early reports on a three-day Stanislav Vadrna seminar in Seattle attended by blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Society member Paul Clarke. They haven't written about it yet, but their tweets suggest lots of energy expended practicing the "hard shake" with raw rice, as well as proper bottle handling and the like. Meanwhile, I've just booked a trip to Tokyo this summer, and I'm starting to read about cocktail culture in Japan, Ueda's influence, and so on.

Much of the evidence I've seen of this technique, including what I can glean from Vadrna's and Ueda's translated material, suggests a heavy emphasis on style, performance, ritual, and service. Don't get me wrong: I find all of that fascinating, and our trip will include a lot of style-heavy exploration. (My 12-year-old is a budding expert on Japanese youth culture, particularly Harajuku style and LoliGoth.) Those videos are fun to watch, and I can appreciate the pleasures of spectacle.

But I'm having a hard time finding anyone anywhere saying that this technique serves the interests of quality drinks over quality spectacle. The videos repeatedly show strange lapses in care, often, it seems, as a result of ritualized action.

is a good example: glasses are inadequately chilled by big cubes and then grow warm after being emptied, while the mixologist performs his beautiful show.

I'm not anti-show, mind you; hell, I'm making Blue Blazers for Christmas. I just want to know what place does the quality of the drink play in this technique and in Japanese cocktail culture in general. Can anyone attest to the quality of the drinks made by Ueda or Vadrna, and, specifically, to the role that this precise, demanding technique plays in the creation of those drinks?

And, while we're at it, does anyone know where a guy can get a drink on par with the drinks at PDT, Violet Hour, Teardrop Lounge, or any of a few dozen incredible bars in the US? Bon Appetit can declare Tokyo "cocktail capital of the world," but with paragraphs like this one, describing a drink served at Ueda's stick, I'm not convinced:

I order a gimlet and witness for the first time a precision that will be repeated at all the bars I visit in Tokyo: Uyeda lines up the bottles on the bar, labels facing the customer. With a single, quick twist he opens them and fills the shaker, which he shakes in a rapid-fire serpentine fashion that decelerates to a slow trot and then a standstill. "The gin is broken out," Uyeda says, "then comes back together, smoother, softer." Indeed, the drink contains a profusion of fine ice shards, and the acid from the lime and the alcohol in the gin have both mellowed. It's a bit light for my taste. Not a bad thing, given the night I have ahead of me.

"[A] bit light for my taste. Not a bad thing." Not the bell ringing a TKO either.

Derek Brown at the Atlantic dips his toe into the quality question just a bit with this US vs Japan teaser and this "debate" post, where he writes,

In both the classic and the mixology approach, detail and showmanship are valued. So there is a line that draws the two. Yet I wonder how these approaches will play out in time. While I enjoy the mixologists at work, and believe their skills first rate, I'm not a vodka and passion fruit drinker.

Neither am I. So what gives? Can anyone shed more light on this quality question?

[evo-lution]

I've been reading/studying/watching/enquiring a lot about 'the Japanese Way' recently as I've been consulting for a Japanese restaurant. I highly recommend looking into the Japanese Tea Ceremony which I think will answer a lot of your questions in a roundabout way as a lot of it crosses over to cocktail making in my opinion...

There's a lot to be learnt and understood regarding 'the Japanese Way', some of which is extremely useful in the West. There are a lot of misconceptions from what I've seen though which comes down to a misunderstanding. The one thing that I've taken from it more than anything is the ideology that 'everything should be questioned, everything has a purpose, and everything should be understood'.

Likewise I think the Japanese could take a lot from the West to improve what they're doing...

[Chris Amirault]

I have some understanding of the tea ceremony connection and the relationship between ritual, service, and tradition. But -- if I understand correctly -- the technique of the ceremony serves to promote the quality of the tea. I don't see that consistently here.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Here is a video of Mr. Uyeda himself doing the hard shake--

It doesn't seem that hard, but maybe the video doesn't quite capture it. While the shake looks fancy, he doesn't seem to be wasting any time letting the ice melt. I like the texture of little ice chips myself, and letting the ice sit in the drink wouldn't be advantageous in that regard.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I found another one, and he seems remarkably consistent in his technique--

Edited December 24, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[evo-lution]

I don't see that consistently here.

If you were to watch the many videos with Western bartenders, the consistency would soon drop as well...

Regarding drink quality, there can be no doubt that the ice that Japanese bartenders use would enhance a drink and that the hard shake would give you a well mixed and chilled cocktail, however that goes for pretty much any drink that's shaken hard enough.

The video you single out is baffling (regarding the semi-chilled glass then allowing it to warm) but there are many videos where similar bad practices happen so it may just be one of those as I've seen Japanese bartender videos where the glass is chilled adequately (i.e with sparkling water and ice or in a freezer) so I wouldn't say it's fair to judge based on that.

Regarding the show aspect, this definitely adds to any experience which will only enhance the drink. Looking at it from a working bartender's perspective, a show can take a drink up a level. If you serve a Blue Blazer in a room full of people, it's going to blow them away, on your own in the kitchen, it doesn't have the same effect. Unless of course you like burning stuff...

Remember; "An average drink served great can taste amazing, a great drink served badly will taste awful".

To summarise, for every hundred videos which makes you think, "they could do better", you get one like this which makes you think, "I want that drink right now..."

Also, regarding the blogger's point about the Gimlet tasting "a bit light", there's so much we don't know about the way it was served that makes it hard to judge a man on that. What is the correct ratio for a Gimlet?

Cheers,

Adam

[Kohai]

I feel I should probably jump in here.

I lived in Tokyo until last March (for a year and a half) and mentored with Uyeda for six months, and also with Noriyuki Iguchi of Gaslight, Director of Training for the Nippon Bartending Association - the bartender you see in the video that you've linked to, Chris. I also worked as a bartender in Tokyo for a year.

It's worth mentioning that the Hard Shake is a technique developed by Uyeda over the four decades he has spent bartending. It is not "the Japanese shake" - every Japanese bartender has a different style of shaking. Mr. Iguchi, for instance, practices what he calls a "soft" shake. No other bartender in the world has mastered the Hard Shake, though some claim to have.

I was in Tokyo again a few weeks ago and took the opportunity to meet with Uyeda a few times and once again visit his bar, Tender. I had a Manhattan (some unknown bottling of Wild Turkey Rye, Cinzano, no bitters) a Sidecar (Hennessy XO, fresh lemon, Cointreau) and a Gimlet (plain old Gordon's, fresh lime, simple syrup).

These three drinks were so far beyond anything I'd ever tasted that I was stunned. Since returning from Tokyo I have visited as many bars as I could in New York and the UK, and also revisited the Violet Hour in Chicago. I had some fantastic drinks at these bars (especially D&Co, Pegu, London's M&H and TVH). Yet I walked out of Tender shaking my head in astonishment.

It was like when I visited Alinea and kept saying, "I didn't know food could taste this good." I walked out of Tender saying the same thing about cocktails. I don't know if it is *because* of the Hard Shake, or that his proportions (which he freepours straight from the bottle) were just perfect, or.... But I've never experienced flavors like Uyeda coaxed out of his ingredients. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it right.

Mr. Uyeda is not a representative of Japanese bartending because he is simply better than any other Japanese bartender.

[KD1191]

I'm willing to suspend disbelief to a degree, but a lot of this sounds like mysticism. I don't mean to discount your personal experience, Kohai, but being served a free poured Manhattan without bitters would put me on my guard. I honestly wonder whether Mr. Uyeda's drinks could be picked out of a lineup. Is there something about the theater involved that makes his drink superb, while an identical drink prepared in another room might fall flat?

[Chris Amirault]

Regarding the show aspect, this definitely adds to any experience which will only enhance the drink.

Of course -- but that could be true for any cultural practice. Clearly some people's experience of drinking is enhanced by flair, too. By the same token, some people don't want to wait around while people turn labels toward them: they want their hooch. Call 'em lowbrow if you want, but it's hard to escape cultural relativism when you're talking about enhancing gustatory pleasures....

one like this which makes you think, "I want that drink right now..."

Actually, that video makes me think, "I want to practice opening bottles that way" and "I'd spill a drink filled to the rim every time."

Mr. Uyeda is not a representative of Japanese bartending because he is simply better than any other Japanese bartender.

Thanks, Kohai. I'm very interested in your reaction, particularly regarding technique. Those of us who can get to Tokyo (I hope to visit Tender in June) can enjoy the unique talents of Mr. Uyeda ourselves. But the vast majority will have to settle on our imperfect attempt to use his techniques, and I'm having a hard time getting any clear information about them.

FWIW, It seems completely reasonable to me that free pouring can be accurate. Dale DeGroff mentions practicing "free pouring" in his books, using the same equipment and repeatedly remeasuring to confirm accuracy; as a result, it's not really free pouring in the beer-and-a-shot sense. Given the uncanny precision of Uyeda's technique, it seems reasonable to assume that he's spent some of the last 40 years getting that skill down.

So I'm willing to believe that a sufficiently disciplined bartender can pour accurately in desirable ratios. The thing is, we all can also pour accurately using measuring glasses and jiggers, so we don't need to improve that aspect of our technique. What are the aspects of the technique demonstrated by Uyeda and Iguchi that you have brought back with you as valued components of your practice?

[Kohai]

I can totally understand skepticism because I was skeptical too, initially. However, I feel 100% confident that I would be able to pick Uyeda's drinks in a blind taste test because I've never tasted anything like them. It was almost like they would taste in a really good dream. They were so vivid, evocative, polished, balanced, lush... I can't really describe them except in abstract terms. Which, unfortunately, does not help the illusion of mysticism.

Japanese "flair" is quite unlike TGIF's flair because every action has a purpose. The "theater" of Japanese bartending hides an extremely deliberate, considered process in which almost every step materially improves the quality of the drink. There is a rationale behind everything.

You take the cap off a bottle with a certain grip so that you can easily clasp it against your palm and still hold the jigger in the same hand. You pour in a certain way so that your wrist can move freely and so that the label of the bottle doesn't get dirtied by the occasional stray drip. You turn the labels forward for the same reason that you pour wine label-forward. (The Japanese aren't the only ones with esoteric ways of doing things, it seems.)

These processes, when smoothly executed, look graceful and reassure guests that they are in the capable hands of someone who has dedicated years to improving their game. This is the theater of Ginza bartending, but it is minimalist theater indeed. There is no wasted movement, no juggling, no pomp and circumstance (except for the three-piece suits).

In addition to DeGroff, as you mentioned, Chris, David Embury vouches for freepouring. I have seen astonishing feats of discipline in Tokyo, and not just in Ginza. A bartender in a (busy!) Roppongi dive club blew my mind by freepouring (no spouts, mind you) into a single shaker, shaking, and serving three gimlets perfectly level with the rims of the glasses, not a drop to spare. And this was just some guy getting paid about $9 an hour to sling cassis-oranges to drunk clubbers.

Ginza bartenders, the longtime pros, don't use jiggers - they don't need to. I have seen enough free-pours hit the rim dead-on when they are finished straining into the glass to believe in "feel". But not everyone has the feel, or maybe not everyone has spent a decade acquiring it.

Something Uyeda pointed out to me is that even when using jiggers, we still rely on feel. If I have a 1.5/.75 oz. jigger and I want to measure a perfect ounce, I am going to have to eyeball the level of the liquid in the 1.5 oz. cup and estimate when it's 2/3 full. Even an even shot can be poured a little scant or brimming a little too full.

Jiggers are useful for a lot of reasons. I'm not anti-jigger by any means. But I do practice freepouring, too.

I guess this has strayed a bit from the subject of the Hard Shake itself...

Edited December 27, 2009 by Kohai (log)

[Chris Amirault]

No, it's driving into the heart of the matter, for me anyway: the relationship between the technique and the results. Your descriptions of action and purpose are illuminating. Thanks.