It’s a craft cocktail world, and we’re just living in it. That’s probably the best reason to get a reliable cocktail shaker. Whether you’re combing juice, egg whites or herbs with your favorite spirit, a cocktail shaker is the one definitive tool for the job.
The history of cocktail shakers is a little hard to trace – let’s just say it’s a little blurry. Archeologists have found fragments of pouring vessels with traces of alcohol dating back to 7000 B.C.E. The modern shaker is believed to have been conceived in the mid-19th century when two glasses were commonly put together to mix smooth drinks.
Traditional Pick
If you think the TV show “Mad Men” popularized cocktail shakers, you’d be just about 100 years from the truth. The New York Times in 1848 first wrote of the phenomenon of barmen using tin cups to make exotic elixirs. This shaker from the Elevated Craft Store – that’s a mouthful – is designed with form and function in mind. IT has double-wall, insulated sides so the drink stays cold – and not your hands. There’s a twist-lock lid and top so that the shaker will never get frozen stuck. A built-in strainer makes smooth pours an easy reality.
Buy: Elevated Craft Hybrid Cocktail Shaker
Fine as Crystal
You can find about any answer you seek in a public library, particularly if you come across the 1862 book “How To Mix Drinks” by author Jerry Thomas. “Every well-ordered bar has a tin egg-nog ‘shaker,’ which is a great aid in mixing,” he writes. This crystal shaker comes from Godinger, a brand known well for its handcrafted silver, pewter and other alternative metal giftware.
Buy: Godinger Dublin Cocktail Shaker
Practical Choice
A shaker with measurements and recipes on it? We’re sold. This shaker from True Store comes with a jigger cap and a strainer lid. If clear isn’t your style, other colors are available. By the way, do you remember the 1988 movie “Cocktail” starring Tom Cruise? The movie’s screenwriter – Heywood Gould – wrote the book (and the film based on it) from his experiences as a bartender in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a job he took to pay his expenses as a struggling writer.
Buy: True Maraca Plastic Cocktail Shaker with Recipes
Safe Pick
Let’s acknowledge a universal truth here: Making drinks is a messy business. Between all the ingredients and the various containers, your bar area will have a certain stickiness to it once the drinks are long gone. But this shaker from Daisy hopes to help a little. It has a shatter-proof tumbler and a splash-free drinking lid so you can drink straight from the source if you wish because it doubles as a pint glass.
Buy Now: BrüMate Shaker, 20oz Triple-Insulated Stainless Steel Cocktail Shaker and Tumbler With Clear, Shatter-Proof Top and Lid
Simple Elegance
Ever wonder where the word “cocktail” comes from? The origins are greatly debated but we know the word first makes an appearance in the book “The Farmers Cabinet” in 1803, while the term “cocktail party” is credited to a St. Louis socialite in 1917. This cobbler shaker includes a metal tin, cap and built-in strainer. It comes with a measuring jigger and cocktail spoon, which you’ll use far more than you think.
Buy: 24oz Cocktail Shaker Bar Set
