Everyone (well, almost everyone) knows that James Bond liked his martinis “shaken and not stirred.” The science behind this strange request was examined in a study published in the British Medical Journal. The idea was to examine the rate at which added hydrogen peroxide was decomposed as martinis were shaken or stirred. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing agent and more rapid loss means the presence of more antioxidants. Shaken martinis were more effective in deactivating hydrogen peroxide although there was no clear indication of why this was so. But the study may explain how James Bond has managed to live through 23 movies.
