It turns out that we can make a mistake by ordering a ” vodka martini , shaken, not mixed ” if we are following in the footsteps of James Bond.  Although he was the famous and handsome connoisseur of all goods beautiful and luxurious, unfortunately James Bond was wrong about his favorite martini. There are several theories why. The most common is that Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was  himself an alcoholic and if someone’s hands are shaking, serving a shaken martini is just much simpler 🙂

I recently  met Charlotte Voisey, the well known New York mixologist, here  from the UK.   Charlotte Voisey , is the winner of numerous awards including the title of Best Bartender in the UK.  You can try her creations at the Dorchester Hotel in London , the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan, as well as other hotels in New York City and Austin . Currently Charlotte represents Hendricks Gin. So in a nutshell, she knows what she’s talking about .

Recently, my friends organized a small get together during which we learned how to mix drinks properly from Charlotte herself.

She prepared us two martinis : one shaken and one mixed . And it’s hard to believe how the flavors of both drinks are different.  A shaken martini has a different color; it is not as clear as the mixed one.  In the jargon of bartenders, the term for shaken gin is “bruised.”  And a mixed martini simply tastes better.

Charlotte herself is passionate about drinks and their history; she seems to know everything about both subjects.   Although the cocktails come from the UK , as always, with time the United States took the lead in mixology .

However, during the thirteen years of Prohibition, America lost its best bartenders, as they emigrated to the UK and Cuba.  According to Charlotte, ten years ago it was hard to enjoy a good cocktail even in New York not to mention other places in America.

Now, of course, the opposite is true. We have a made a great come back.  All the local bars outdo each other, trying to serve the best cocktails, and bartenders are celebrities.

Charlotte Recipes can be found here. I tried the “old fashioned “ martini , and the strawberry collins cocktail – the latter is my favorite.

Two of her favorite bars are in New York PDT ( Manhattan ) and EmployeesOnly ( Manhattan )