Vesper Martini

On the seventh day of Christmas my bartender made for me, an (almost) authentic James Bond martini….

Both Mr.Surly and I are big James Bond fans. So when it came to Day 7, I immediately thought of agent 007. We have a bar book we bought that contains the authentic drink of James Bond, with directions straight from Ian Flemming's Casino Royale.

The drink's name is derived from Vesper Lynd, the double agent James falls in love with. Russian vodka is used to symbolize Vesper's ties to the Russians. The orange twist is used to compliment the Lillet Blanc, which is made from oranges and a combination of french wines and is a substitute for vermouth. Our bar book said to garnish with an orange to compliment the Lillet blanc, even though Bond asked for a thin slice of lemon peel. (Click here to watch the scene from Casino Royale where Bond (Daniel Craig) orders the drink).

Bond prefers his martini served in a champagne coupe** but not having those, we opted for a martini glass. I love the look of the champagne coupes, I must add some to my stemware collection.

Mr.Surly claimed this drink; I had a sip and it was really, really good. But also very, very potent, so one drink and you'd be feelin' real good.

We didn't have Gordon's dry gin, but we used Bombay Sapphire which is a dry London Gin, so at least it's British, which I feel is appropriate.

For vermouth we used Martini and Rossi dry vermouth.



Vesper Martini
the (almost) authentic James Bond drink
Printer-friendly recipe
makes 1 martini

2 oz gin (Gordon's to be authentic)
¼ oz vodka (Russian vodka to be authentic)
1/3 oz dry vermouth (Lillet Blanc to be authentic)

Shake with ice, strain into martini glass or, to be authentic, a champagne coupe. Garnish with a twist of orange (lemon to be authentic).

UPDATE: We have made this cocktail a lot since this post and I have modified the recipe as below (basically, I just took it straight out of the Casino Royale book by Ian Flemming. Below is the recipe I use for 1 drink.

Vesper Martini
3 oz Gordon's Dry Gin
1 oz Smirnoff Vodka
1/4 oz Lillet

Put all ingredients in ice-filled cocktail and shake well. Strain into champagne coupe.

**Note** Mr.Surly was able to find Lillet blanc (which is a french after dinner wine) and bought some Gordon's gin. My goodness what a difference it made to this drink. It's so smooth you don't even taste any alcohol. To keep it on the dry side, use just a splash of Lillet. To make it a bit sweeter add 2 splashes of Lillet. Ever since he brought these home he has had one as his cocktail ever evening.

**Update 2: I finally got my champagne coupes. See them here.



Source: Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide by Mittie Hellmich