You may not give a second thought as to whether your cocktail should be shaken or stirred, but the professionals at Le Loup in Germantown certainly do.
It’s all a matter of dilution. That is, lowering the alcoholic strength of a beverage through the subtle addition of water shed off of ice. The more surface area of the ice the cocktail touches, the more dilution will be achieved. So, shaking and serving a drink “on the rocks” would produce the most, followed by a drink stirred and served on the rocks, then a drink shaken and served up, stirred and served up, etc.
The perfect ice shape to serve in a drink for optimal slow dilution over time is a sphere, as edges increase surface area which, as we mentioned earlier, determines dilution and a large ice cube dilutes at a slower rate.
Beverage Manager, Kenneth Vanhooser, Beverage Supervisor, J.A. Harrison, and team take pride in carving up blocks of crystal-clear ice for their cocktails, the sound of a wet ‘thump’ in the background all a part of the experience of Le Loup.