Embarrassed to even ask this – stirring?

[Hassouni]

I need a break from the drink...

(1.5 beers is a break, right?)

Edited April 18, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[JAZ]

Right. Assuming you're starting with 3 ounces of liquid in each drink, two drinks at a time gives you 6 ounces of booze and maybe 9 ounces of ice in a warm glass. 2:3 is not such a great ratio of booze to ice if you want a really cold drink. If you're making drinks with a bigger pour, you're stacking the thermal deck against yourself even more.

We almost always make two drinks at a time (both shaken and stirred). For stirring, we use the metal half of a standard Boston shaker or the bottom of a large three-piece shaker. I've never measured the amount of ice but the shaker is mostly filled -- the ice level is way above the level of liquid. Either stirring or shaking, our drinks in the shaker range from 22F to 32F, and since we pour into very cold glasses (kept in the freezer), the final drink temp is even lower. How much colder do you want your drinks?

[slkinsey]

The metal tin of a typical Boston set is around 28 ounces. So, making two drinks in a vessel twice the size of the one I recommended for only one drink is more or less the same advice I was giving, n'est-ce pas? That said, if you're not cracking the ice, I bet it's only your shaken drinks that approach 22F and that the stirred ones are closer to 32F. Of course, plenty of stirred drinks are not at their best when they are really cold anyway. But that's another discussion.

I also usually make two drinks at a time when I'm at home, either stirring them in a 1300 ml gallone filled to around 900 ml, or shaking them in an 800 ml cobbler shaker. With these tools, I think I achieve equivalent results to what I would get stirring or shaking two drinks individually. Personally, I don't get the texture I want if I shake two drinks in a single-serving sized Boston set, and I've never been happy with the result when attempting to stir two drinks at once in a more or less pint-sized mixing glass like this one (which does make really great single servings, however).

[Hassouni]

Curious why you favor an 800ml cobbler over a standard Boston shaker? Is there more room for ice?

Also, crap, the Yarai is only good for a single serving? There goes that idea...