The Mysterious Origins of the Boston Shaker

        Cocktails were a new invention compared to the ancient art of making wine, beer and mead. We didn’t always have the variety of spices, punch, and liqueurs that we’ve acquired over the centuries. As our drinks evolve, we need tools to perfect our cocktails, and one of the most important tools invented by American bartenders is the shaker.
        The history of the cocktail shaker may surprise you. People have been obsessed with mixing drinks, though not necessarily alcoholic ones, for millennia. Mental Floss claims that people like the Aztecs in pre-colonial Mexico and South America used hollowed-out gourds to stir local spices into drinks to enhance the taste. It seems that no matter what era in the history of mankind people are, they will always find ways to turn the world upside down! But today, bartenders in the US no longer use pumpkins to mix drinks, but use a special kind of shaker.
        Named Tales of the Cocktail as one of the first officially invented shakers, the Boston Shaker is supposed to have been introduced in the mid-1800s and used a combination of glass and metal tin cups to mix some American liquor. America’s first cocktail.
        The New York Times reports that one of the first descriptions of a shaker is from 1848, when New York Tribune reporter George Foster said of the bartender, “His shirt sleeve was rolled up and his face was on fire, [he] seemed to be pulling long ribbons of black pepper from a tin cup. According to The Times, this spectacular American invention eventually spread to Europe, where another A-variant, the Paris shaker, was created.
       In the 1920s, the simple design of the Boston shaker was improved with stainless steel and has remained unchanged ever since.
        We may never know exactly who invented the Boston shaker, but the method of using this mixer has remained the same for over a hundred years. The Bar School theory about Boston shakers comes down to flavor and aroma. They believe that stainless steel is the key to making cool, smooth drinks. Vigorously shaking a Boston shaker filled with ice cubes cools the cocktail and dilutes it slightly. The site insists that how long and hard you shake your Boston shaker can affect the quality of your cocktail, so experiment with it to see what works for you!