Distilled spirits like gin and vodka can always stand a little coolness to help battle the heat you feel after drinking them. Some liquors are durable enough to actually be stored and served extremely cold -- as the iciness will actually enhance their textures and flavors. Though vodka and gin are alike in many ways, the storage and serving of one may, or may not, apply to the other.
Cold Storage
A bottle of vodka does well in the freezer because the liquor's makeup and consistency gives it a much lower freezing point than water. The higher the proof of the liquor in question means that the liquor has more alcohol by volume and a lower freezing point. Though vodka and gin have different ingredients and are distilled from various sources, gin's proof, which has to be at least 80 through its legal definition, ensures that it will withstand an average home freezer's recommended temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chill Factor
Outside of storage, other means exist to make liquors like vodka and gin more frosty than frozen. The easiest way to chill these liquors is by icing them down in a cocktail shaker by stirring the contents. Stirring is preferred over shaking because stirring the liquor will not bruise it, which means adding oxygen to the mixture and affecting its taste. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, pour in the desired amount of gin, stir the contents gently in a clockwise or counterclockwise movement with a cocktail spoon until the outside of the tin becomes frosty, then strain the cocktail into your choice of glass.
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