The numbers game - 0.007 shaken not stirred

British spies have always been acutely aware that there is a subtle difference in taste between a Martini that is shaken, not stirred. Two distinct approaches can be adopted to explain this intriguing phenomenon. Scholars of St Thomas of Aquinas will no doubt prefer one that imagines zillions of Vodka fairies dancing frenetically on the ice cubes. The other would involve constructing a hypothesis (vigorous shaking apparently encourages the off-gassing of aldehydes from the vermouth that does not occur when merely stirred) and undertaking a double blind, placebo controlled trial to investigate the taste sensations reported by a statistically significant (Fishers exact test p=0.001) matched cohort.