Shake it

WEEK 10

The day we moved into our San Francisco loft 20 years ago, our neighbor showed up at the front door wearing a smoking jacket and flip flops and holding a martini. Rich was our age but idolized Nick from The Thin Man. He introduced us to the bespoke home cocktail – so ahead of his time – and gave us the cocktail shaker we use today. Wait, “we” is not correct. Irena is the house mixologist, and, until last night, I’d only touched the shaker to wash it.

Enter this week’s activity: Mix and shake my first cocktail.

I did my pre-work on YouTube, watching cheesy videos on how to measure and shake with a Boston shaker. We were craving savory and had olive brine on hand so I lined up all my elements for a dirty martini:

Irena talked me through the pours. I filled the glass part of the shaker with ice to cool the liquids as I poured them: St. George gin (a local, Alameda distillery), Vermouth and a couple tablespoons of brine. Put the stainless lid over the shaker, flipped it upside down, wrapped my hands around the middle and shook for about 10 seconds over my right shoulder. The videos suggested shaking until the metal starts to frost, and that was about all my hands could take before they got too cold.

Strained into our chilled glasses, added a couple olives for garnish and cheers!