It's GLOBAL JAMES BOND DAY. You know what that means - time for a stiff drink!"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."
"Oui, monsieur."
"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"
"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.
Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."
The Vesper. It's like a martini for a very suave lush. And you know what? It's pretty good!
Here's the way you'd make it:
Vesper, or Vesper Martini
2 ounces gin*
1 ounce vodka**
1/2 ounce Kina Lillet***
Shake vigorously with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.****
Garnish as follows: Cut a strip of lemon peel and twist over the glass before dropping in. Alternatively, use a channel-knife and cut a thin strip and wrap around a stirring stick or straw, tugging it to become curly, then drape into the glass, hanging part over the side.
*
(you could continue to use Gordon's, but it has been reformulated to be lower proof than it was back then. The best replacements are Tanqueray and Boodles, which for various reasons are both good spiritual successors to old-time Gordon's)**
(vodka was, as well, consistently higher proof back then than it is today. Find a 100-proof vodka to make this authentic - "Excellent ... but if you can get a vodka made with grain instead of potatoes, you will find it still better")***
(this ingredient does not exist anymore. It was an aperitif wine that contained cinchona bark {this is where most quinine comes from, as in tonic water!}, but has since reformulated {with less cinchona, or 'Kina'} into Lillet Blanc, which is similar but slightly more sweet. The best replacement is Cocchi Americano, an Italian aperitif wine)****
(Bond specifies a "deep champagne goblet", which is known as a coupe, and while those will work equally as well and are very stylish, the modern cocktail{or "martini"} glass is more consistent with the image of Bond in later years, and tend to be easier to find.)If you don't care to take the trouble, Bond drank his fair share of regular ol' martinis (both gin and vodka, though traditionally a 'vodka martini' is called a Kangaroo cocktail). Hell, here's some recipes for those:
Martini (1950's style)
3 ounces gin
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters (without this it becomes a Lone Tree cocktail)
Stir in a mixing glass with ice until very cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a peel of lemon, as above.
You want to stir a gin martini. It gives it a glass-like appearance and silky smooth texture.
Kangaroo, or Vodka Martini
4 ounces vodka
Scant splash of vermouth
Put the vermouth in the glass, roll it to coat the inside, then discard.
Shake with ice until frosty. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a nice olive.
Shaking does vodka less harm, and without the vermouth it develops hardly any of the micro-bubbles that change the texture. There should be a sheen of ice crystals over the top of the drink, this is the desired effect.
Proportions on these two change as frequently as tastes and fashions.
(I haven't forgotten my horror movies, I'm still keeping up. I'll get to those later.)
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