In 1848, George Foster, a reporter for The New York Tribune who spent his nights searching for good stories in the city’s seedier quarters, marveled at the way a bartender made a drink: “With his shirt sleeves rolled up, and his face in a fiery¹ glow [he] seems to be pulling long ribbons of julep out of a tin cup.”

1848年，《纽约论坛报》(The New York Tribune)的记者乔治·福斯特(George Foster)晚上在纽约脏乱的角落寻找好故事，一个酒保调制酒水的方式让他感到惊讶：“他把衬衣袖子卷起来，一脸兴奋，从一个锡质杯子中倒出冰镇薄荷酒，仿佛拉出长长丝带一样。”

This is perhaps the first known description of a cocktail² shaker. At the time, drinks were either stirred with long-handled spoons or tossed back and forth³ between two glass tumblers, which made for excellent showmanship but not great mixing (not to mention the mess). Eventually, says David Wondrich, a cocktail historian whose books include “Imbibe⁴!” and “Punch,” someone “came up with the bright idea of sticking a tin cup on top of a glass and shaking with ice, which forms a seal. By the 1850s, they were making custom shakers entirely⁵ out of metal — sterling⁶, alloy⁷, brass⁸ and silver-plated.” The Parisian shaker, which was popular in Europe, was an elegant, urn-shaped variation. It comprised two pieces without a strainer and came onto the bar scene roughly 20 years later. “The Europeans had seen what we were doing,” Wondrich says, “and they thought it was dead cool. Everyone went crazy for American drinks, and they started importing the gear.”

这可能是对鸡尾酒摇壶的最早描述。当时，酒水要么用长柄勺搅拌，要么用两个大玻璃杯来回倒，后者适合进行精彩的表演，但混合得并不好（更别提有时会弄得一团糟）。鸡尾酒史学家大卫·旺德里奇(David Wondrich)曾出版《饮酒！》(Imbibe!)和《潘趣酒》(Punch)等书。他说，最后有人“想出了一个聪明的主意，在玻璃杯口附一个锡杯，加冰摇晃，形成一个密封罐。到19世纪50年代，他们完全用金属制作定制摇壶，比如纯银、合金、黄铜和镀银。”当时欧洲盛行的巴黎摇壶呈优雅的瓮状。它由两部分组成，没有过滤器，大约在19世纪70年代出现在酒吧里。“欧洲人见到我们的做法，”旺德里奇说，“他们觉得它酷毙了。当时所有人都为美国酒水着迷，开始进口这种工具。”

Throughout the 1870s, inventors sought to improve on the basic design. One featured a plunger system for mixing six tumblers at once; another had air vents⁹. But none of these took. Then in 1884, Edward Hauck of Brooklyn patented the three-part metal shaker with a built-in strainer and a little top — a configuration¹⁰ that has remained essentially¹¹ unchanged to this day. It came to be known as the cobbler shaker (the sherry cobbler, made of sherry, sugar, ice and orange or lemon, was among the most popular cocktails¹² of the era). When stainless¹³ steel was invented in the early 20th century, it quickly became the shaker material of choice, an honor it continues to enjoy.

19世纪70年代，发明家们一直努力在此基础设计上进行改进。其中一款有个活塞系统，一次能混合六杯；还有一款有透气孔。但它们都没有流行开来。1884年，布鲁克林的爱德华·豪克(Edward Hauck)为三件套金属摇壶申请了专利，它有个内置过滤器，还有个小盖子——直到现在总体上都是采用这种构造。它被称为寇伯乐摇壶（雪利寇伯乐[sherry cobbler]是用雪利酒、糖、冰、橙汁或柠檬汁做成的，是那个时代最流行的鸡尾酒之一）。20世纪初不锈钢出现后，很快成为制作摇壶的材料，直到现在也是首选材料。

Although shakers remain a crucial part of the bartender’s kit¹⁴, they can be overused. Martinis should be stirred — James Bond notwithstanding — as should old-fashioneds and manhattans. When it comes to newer-fangled additions to the cocktail list, it’s hard for even an expert to categorize. “People are shaking up all kinds of crazy stuff these days,” Wondrich says. “Sometimes I’ve watched, scratching my head, and hoped for a beer.”

虽然摇壶仍是酒保用具的重要组成部分，但它们可能被滥用了。马提尼酒应该搅拌——詹姆斯·邦德(James Bond)除外——那些老式鸡尾酒和曼哈顿鸡尾酒也应该搅拌。但是新加入鸡尾酒单的一些饮品连专家都不知道该怎么归类。“如今人们摇晃各种疯狂的玩意，”旺德里奇说，“有时我看得一头雾水，心想还不如来杯啤酒呢。”