Shake It Up Baby: Are Martinis Made the Bond Way Better?

"In the movie Goldfinger, a minion of bad guy Auric Goldfinger asks 007: 'Can I do something for you, Mr. Bond?'"

"'Just a drink,' Sean Connery's Bond replies, deadpan. 'A martini. Shaken, not stirred,' he intones."

"From Connery to Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, this preference is repeated again and again in 007 flicks. (Check out this video montage for the full Bond effect.)"

"So, its being the 50th anniversary of the first Bond movie and all, we wondered: Is there any scientific reason to prefer a martini that's mixed by shaking compared with one that's stirred? And, can you really taste the difference?"

 

To answer these questions, we headed to Bar Dupont in Washington, D.C. — a kinda swanky joint where locals hang out.