NewYorkFirst.com: Bullet Cocktail Shaker

The Martini Ritual.

First choose the best ingredients; next stop and measure. Choreography is critical: Seven hard shakes over the right shoulder, then a quick pour into a triangular martini glass before the ice can melt and dilute the drink.

After the vodka or gin, the cocktail shaker itself is the most important piece of this ceremony -- the sleek stainless steel chalice for the miracle that transforms vodka or gin, vermouth and ice into America's most famous cocktail.

The Dirty Martini.
After signing the act repealing Prohibition, Franklin Roosevelt mixed the first legal Martini in the White House. Cocktails moved from the speakeasy to the legal bar and, finally to the living room, where, along with the radio, the cocktail hour became an American institution. When Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in Tehran, he offered each his favorite Dirty Martini: two parts gin, one part vermouth, and a dose of olive brine.

An icon born for the Jazz Age, the cocktail shaker is uniquely American. Its design was an exuberant echo of Modernist art and architecture that flooded the U.S. during the early 20th century. The classic "Bullet" symbolized America's power and speed. But the Second World War diverted metal from such frivolous use to artillery shells, and the golden age of the cocktail shaker was over.

The Bullet Cocktail Shaker has been revived by people who appreciate its exaggerated depiction of 1930's art deco design in polished 18/8 stainless steel. The Bullet has a 28-ounce capacity and is constructed with a cover and strainer inside for proper pouring.

Martini Mister.
A silver-finished stainless-steel refillable canister with an ultra-fine atomizer is the clever tool used by professional bartenders to spray frosted glasses with the merest hint of vermouth. It's the secret of an extra dry martini. CLICK HERE for more information.