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I have a particular drink that is one of my favorites that I like to make at home. It's sort of an Old Fashioned, made with Jameson, Bitters, Cocktail Cherries (plus a little bit of the syrup), and a splash of either Soda, or Lemon-Lime soda. I like to shake this drink in a shaker, because it gives it a nice looking foam when poured.

I've made this a million times in my old crappy shaker, that was kind of leaky. (I always had to shake over the sink, and still always made a mess) I just got a new shaker that has a nice tight seal. The problem: Once I get to shaking, the pressure builds up and shoots the top off the shaker, despite my best efforts to contain it. I would have assumed that a splash of soda with all that whiskey wouldn't have that reaction, but it does. Further more, I see bar tenders shake drinks with carbonated beverages in them all the time.

Is there a trick to shaking a cocktail with carbonated ingredients without it becoming a high school science project? I must be missing something.

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    In my own personal experience having been a bartender for a bit and seeing them in action quite a bit I've never seen one shake a drink with a carbonated beverage in it for the very reason you describe. They shake, then add the bubbly stuff, then stir.
    – GdD
    Commented Mar 21, 2013 at 9:36
  • You might want to add a pinch of dried egg white powder to give you more foam too.
    – AdamV
    Commented Dec 4, 2018 at 13:40

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No, bartenders do not shake carbonated beverages. I was a bartender for years and I have never known this to happen or be part of a recipe. The carbonated sodas are always put on the top of the glass after pouring. The foam comes from the sugar or egg whites in the sweet n sour mix. You can find that recipe on line. Here is one that is overly complicated, bars rarely (never to my knowledge) use fresh lemon or lime juice. However a good bar uses separate lemon & lime mix for different drinks, or they used to anyway. I personally use limeade or lemonade at home. You can use one of the other or mix them together. Throw that in a shaker & you will get some foam, it works in my blender.

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Always add carbonated beverages after shaking. Would you shake a soda and then open it? Same principle.

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    Welcome to Seasoned Advice! While this is of course a reasonable answer, you will probably find you'll get more upvotes if you offer more comprehensive answers, and if you don't just say essentially what's already been said by someone else.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 1:47

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