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Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

Oh, do pay attention 007. If you want the perfect vodka martini it shouldn’t be shaken, but stirred... using a pencil.

Experts say James Bond’s favourite tipple tastes best if it is stirred with a thin piece of wood rather than a long metal cocktail spoon.

The revelation comes in the science magazine New Scientist which asked its academic readers for the perfect way to serve the drink.

Bond, of course, asks for his martini to be shaken, not stirred.

But if he were to stir, the magazine concluded that he should avoid the metal spoons often used by barmen because metal is a good heat conductor and they warm the drink too much.

One contributor said: ‘Q’s recommendation, were he to bother with such trivia, would be to use a wooden spoon, ideally one of the long thin paddles sometimes provided with takeaway hot drinks.’

Another suggested: ‘If you don’t have a bar spoon, try a pencil which has less surface area, less mass, a lower specific heat and will therefore conduct less heat from the hand.’

One reader quipped: 'I would definitely advise against employing a gold finger!'

It is believed that the original Ian Fleming books called for Bond's martini to be shaken, not stirred because vodka was originally made from potatoes, which left an oily after-taste if not shaken vigorously.

According to New Scientist, a stirrer with a bigger mass will have a bigger potential effect on the temperature of the drink than a smaller one.

One contributor said this may be why bar spoons are long and thin and that using a tablespoon to stir a vodka martini would definitely increase its temperature. - Daily Mail