We’ve all had the moment … you’re standing in the kitchen, laughing with your friends, shaking up a cocktail and then you go to open the shaker but it just won’t open.
No matter how hard you try to shift it, the lid and the base feel like they’ve been stuck together with industrial cement. You tap it on the edge of the bench, you run it under hot water but nothing happens … that sucker is ‘eternally coupled’.
And then your friends decide to help because of course, they’ll be the one to get it open. So as it gets progressively warmer, the shaker is passed like a glass slipper around the group to see if anyone can crack it. And, of course, no one can.
So that tantalising mix of gin, St Germaine and lemon juice (or whatever), remains trapped inside, possibly for eternity and all there is left for you to do is give up and hand everyone a beer.
As Sheldon Wiley, three-time world record-breaking mixologists says, “Your cocktail shaker sucks”.
Wiley is the frontman (or should we say front-bartender) for a campaign running on Kickstarter for The Elevated Craft Cocktail Shaker, a product he believes will take all of the stress of mixing your next drink.
And it seems that 3,965 backers agree with him. With only 11 days left, the campaign has so far raised nearly $US280,000 (of a $US11,300 goal – that’s 2,466% of its original if you’re one of those people that finds maths fun).
Engineered to never freeze shut and never leak, the shaker has the advantage of a measuring jigger in the lid that will dial in your mix from micro 0.25oz and 0.5oz pours all the way up to a full 6oz. And if you are working in metric, they also have the mls covered as well.
Whether you’re making Margarita’s or Martini’s, Wiley believes that it all starts with the perfect pour and the Elevated Craft Cocktail Shaker welcome at any party as it has a 750ml capacity (or over 25oz), so you can easily make up to four cocktails at one time.
Double-walled, vacuum insulated design, guards against diluting heat transfer to make cool drinks without freezing your hand. And that double walls means that you won’t have any more annoying condensation puddles top clean up either.
Created by Adam Craft (and yes, he is the founder of Elevated Craft) the shaker was started as a passion project. As a professional product designer, he was frustrated by how annoying most shakers were to use, so spent 18th months and dozens of versions, researching, prototyping and engineering a shaker that solved all the problems.
With a nice weight, the shaker has an ergonomic shape that was designed to fit comfortably in the hand. The lid is connected to the body with a thread system that is designed to come off with a quick quarter turn, while not leaking. The thread in the lid is also double-walled so it will not freeze. It is dishwasher safe and has a built-in strainer.
For more information on the Elevated Craft Cocktail strainer go to kickstarter.com
