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The Best Cocktail Shakers

We tested over a dozen Boston and cobbler shakers to find the best options in both categories.

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Last Updated Mar. 13, 2024.

The Best Cocktail Shakers
Update, March 2024

Our top Boston shaker was discontinued, so we tested a few new models. Our new favorite Boston shaker is the Houdini by Rabbit 24oz Stainless Steel & Glass Boston Cocktail Shaker. Our favorite shaker for novice bartenders remains the Tovolo Stainless Steel 4-in-1 Cocktail Shaker, and if you want a more classic-looking option, we also like the Yukiwa Stainless Steel Jumbo Cobbler Cocktail Shaker.

See Everything We Tested

What You Need To Know

The best cocktail shakers are easy to seal and open and let you shake, stir, and muddle drinks effectively. If you’re new to making cocktails, we recommend the Tovolo Stainless Steel 4-in-1 Cocktail Shaker. Its unconventional looks may not be for everyone, but it’s the easiest cocktail shaker for any novice bartender to use. If you’d like a more classic-looking cobbler shaker, we also recommend the Yukiwa Stainless Steel Jumbo Cobbler Cocktail Shaker. It’s handsome and seals tightly, though it can sometimes be a bit tricky to unseal once cold. Our favorite Boston shaker is the Houdini by Rabbit 24oz Stainless Steel & Glass Boston Cocktail Shaker. This inexpensive, easy-to-clean option takes some experience to use properly but is failproof once you do. 

A good cocktail shaker lets you make and serve drinks quickly, easily, and with the panache and flair required of the occasion. Functionally, its job is to help you hold, chill, and dilute your drink ingredients so that you have a well-balanced, tasty cocktail by the time you’re done stirring or shaking it.

There are several different types of cocktail shaker, but two are most common: the Boston shaker and the cobbler shaker.

A Boston shaker consists of two tumblers of slightly different sizes. The larger tumbler is always made of stainless steel, and the smaller one can either be stainless steel or glass. You can build and stir or muddle cocktails in either tumbler. To shake a cocktail in a Boston shaker, you invert the smaller tumbler into the larger one at a slight angle, tap the two together firmly to create a tight seal, shake, unseal, and use a separate Hawthorne strainer to decant the mixture into a serving glass. 

A cobbler shaker usually has three parts: a bottom half, a top half with a built-in strainer, and a cap that fits over the open strainer. As with the Boston shaker, you build, stir, and muddle cocktails in the bottom half. To shake a cocktail in a cobbler shaker, you add your ingredients to the bottom half and then fit on the strainer top, cap it, shake, uncap, and decant the drink through the strainer top.

To find the best cocktail shaker in each style for the home bartender, we bought a variety of Boston and cobbler shakers and used them to make shaken, stirred, and muddled drinks. Because we wanted to be able to make one or two cocktails at a time, we focused on models with a capacity of at least 18 ounces.

Should You Get a Cobbler Shaker or a Boston Shaker?

Cobbler shakers are arguably the more attractive tools to use for making and serving drinks—they’re a little fancier-looking, helping you set the mood for your cocktail experience. (They are...

Everything We Tested

Good : 3 stars out of 3.Fair : 2 stars out of 3.Poor : 1 stars out of 3.
*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.

Miye Bromberg

Miye Bromberg

Miye is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She covers booze, blades, and gadgets of questionable value.

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