The ever-popular stainless steel cocktail shaker is the current, most popular evolution of the cocktail shaker and a must-have for any bar. But the history of the cocktail shaker itself has its own long history. Herewith, a recap that goes beyond James Bond.

The first cocktail shaker is assumed to occur around 7000 BC, where in South America jar-shaped gourds were used as a closed container for shaking and mixing. Ancient Egyptians in 3500 BC used similar clay shakers to mix their spices and grains spices, if not specifically for cocktails. The cocktail shaker arguably made itself known around 1520 when Cortez mentioned them in letters home to the King of Spain after he discovered Montezuma's habit of taking concoctions mixed in a shaker.

The Stainless Steel Cocktail Shaker and the Silver Screen
Invented by a bartender in the late 1800s, who used two glasses or cylinders one inside of the other to shake and mix a drink, the shaker was primarily used for show. In the 1920s, during prohibition, gin (and therefore martinis) became the drink of choice because it was easier to make homemade and thus a craze was born. Popularity of the stainless steel cocktail shaker exploded when the movie detective duo Nick and Nora from the Thin Man became audience favorites, shaking and drinking and smoking their way along while solving crimes.

Then of course there is the famous James Bond, who asked for his martinis shaken, not stirred. As an icon to young men and a sex symbol to women, Bond took all things dangerous and sexy into the mainstream, and the stainless steel cocktail shaker was not left behind. The need for a fashionable way to mix drinks in a container that never rusts or streaks has never been greater than today, and that is partly why you will find a stainless steel cocktail shaker in every self-respecting bar.