the purpose of the shake is to chill the drink and add dilution, ideally with as much control and consistency as possible. A crystal-clear ice, like the Gourmet, is perfect for this technique.

pour gourmet ice with drinks ingredients into a cocktail shaker and mix for about 10 seconds

it is the simplest and fastest way to make a cocktail. It allows us to mix a spirit with a mixer over gourmet ice and serve it straight away. There is no need for any advanced tools when building a drink.

an electric blender is needed for recipes containing fruit or other ingredients which do not break down by shaking. Blending is an appropriate way of combining these ingredients with others, creating a smooth ready to serve mixture.

it is a long-forgotten cocktail preparation technique. It is the act of straining a cocktail mix from one tin into another via a long pour. This motion adds oxygen to the mix, which releases aromatics of certain ingredients that may not have been prevalent before.
 

the idea with smoke on a cocktail is to allow the flavors of the liquid and the smoke to infuse one another. The longer you let them sit with each other the more their flavors get to play.