The Best Cocktail Shakers: Which Type to Buy and Why

There are three cocktail shaker types worth knowing: Boston, cobbler and French. A Boston is two pieces plus a separate strainer. A cobbler is three pieces with a strainer built in. A French, also called a Parisian, is two metal pieces with no strainer.

Pick by how you plan to use it. Get a Boston if you want the tool bars use, or if you make drinks for more than one. Get a cobbler if you want no learning curve and one drink at a time. Get a French if you already own tins and want something nice to look at.

No shaker? A jam jar works fine. Use one with a tight lid, wrap it in a towel, shake hard and pour through a kitchen sieve.

The best Boston is two steel tins, one inside the other. A small tin of about 18 oz seals into a large tin of about 28 oz, which leaves room for the ice to move and for two drinks at once. Either tin also works for stirring, so you can put off buying a mixing glass.

Tin on tin beats tin on glass for most homes. Steel chills fast, weighs less and will not shatter in the sink. The older style with a glass half does let you watch the drink, and America’s Test Kitchen’s top Boston uses one, so it is not wrong. It is just heavier, and glass breaks.

The learning curve is about ten shakes. Set the small tin in at a slight angle and give it one firm tap to seal. To open, smack the large tin where the two rims meet. Practice with ice and water over the sink, where a mistake costs you nothing.

A cobbler is the easiest shaker to pick up, and that is its whole pitch. Tin, lid with strainer, little cap. You need nothing else to get a drink into a glass.

The trouble comes with use. Caps can stick when cold, the holes clog on herbs and still let small ice through, and most hold one drink. America’s Test Kitchen also found parts often fit too loose or too tight, so leaks are a real risk. Stuck cap? Run warm water over it.

A good cobbler is still a serious tool, and it is the classic shaker in many Japanese bars. Buy plain steel with a snug cap and it will serve you well.

A French shaker is a Boston in a nice suit. It has a metal base and a fitted metal cap with no strainer, so you still need a Hawthorne. It is usually smaller than a pair of tins, which suits one or two drinks.

Buy it second, for looks. Reports on the seal are mixed: some say it lifts off clean, others say it grips hard once cold. The two parts also only fit each other, so you cannot swap in a spare tin.

Size comes first. America’s Test Kitchen suggests 24 oz or more, since a bigger shaker makes more drinks and chills and dilutes better. A wide mouth helps too, because ice should go in without a fight.

Skip double-wall insulated shakers. They keep your hands warm, but they also chill the drink more slowly. Frozen fingers are how you know a drink is ready.

Seal matters more than looks. Tins should grip with one tap and part with one smack. Thin steel dents and a dent can ruin the fit, so avoid the flimsiest budget tins and do not scoop ice with them. A mid-range pair is plenty, and a weighted base adds balance, not magic.