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APPLIED FIZZICS · Field Notes Extra · Edition No. 5
A whimsical look at the universe through a glass of Champagne (or your favorite cocktail).
November 4, 2026 · Seattle, Washington
Dear Reader,
Last week, we put James Bond's famous preference for shaken, not stirred martinis to the test. We discovered that shaking chilled a martini faster than stirring, but also produced considerably more dilution: 45% versus 35%.
But one of our readers, Daniel Salenski, raised an excellent question: Was that really a fair comparison?
After all, we'd shaken and stirred for the same amount of time. But a bartender doesn't necessarily mix a cocktail for a prescribed number of seconds. The goal is to reach the proper temperature.
So what would happen if we shook and stirred two identical martinis until they reached the same temperature, rather than mixing them for the same amount of time?
There was only one way to find out.
We decided to give Mr. Bond a rematch.
The Results
This time, we prepared two identical martinis, each containing 80 mL of gin, 20 mL of dry vermouth, and 100 grams of ice. Using our new Raspberry Pi temperature logger, we monitored each cocktail as it cooled, stopping when it reached −1°C.
Here's how the two experiments compared:
| Measurement | Stirred | Shaken |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Volume | 100 mL | 100 mL |
| Final Volume | 130 mL | 135 mL |
| Dilution | 30% | 35% |
| Recorded Time to −1°C | ~40 sec | ~30 sec |
Shaking once again cooled the cocktail faster. But the difference in dilution was much smaller than in our original experiment—just five percentage points instead of ten.
And here's something particularly satisfying:
For years, we've used 30% dilution as a practical rule of thumb when preparing cocktails. In this experiment, stirring produced exactly 30% dilution, while shaking produced 35%.
Not bad for a rule of thumb!
Of course, dilution depends on the ingredients, ice, and mixing conditions. But it's gratifying to see our simple estimate agree so closely with the experimental results.
Physics Corner
Where Does the Dilution Come From?
When you shake or stir a cocktail with ice, heat flows from the warmer liquid into the colder ice.
Some of that energy warms the ice, but much of it goes into melting the ice. And that melting produces the water that dilutes your cocktail.
That's why chilling and dilution are so closely connected. The colder you want your cocktail, the more ice generally needs to melt to get it there.
Our experiments illustrate this beautifully: when we stopped both martinis at the same temperature, their dilution levels were much closer than when we mixed them for the same amount of time.
But what happens if we reverse the process?
Instead of melting ice into a cocktail, what happens when we freeze some of the cocktail itself?
That brings us to this week's Pop Quiz:
Until next time, stay curious.
Cheers,
Evan Wallace
President, Applied Fizzics Inc.
Makers of The Perlage System®
Want more Champagne science, carbonation experiments, and assorted investigations? Visit the Applied Fizzics Field Notes archive .
