Potion Miscibility: The Vesper Martini

July 20th, 2007

Since I’ve been thinking a lot about spy video games, I figure a spy-ish drink is an appropriate drink of the week. It’s not a drink I’d want to have next to me while playing an espionage video game, but it is one I’d want my sophisticated spy avatar to be able to order.

In Ian Flemming’s Casino Royale, the very first Jame Bond story, 007 touted this drink as his own invention. He meant it “to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made,” and I think it succeeds admirably on all four counts.

The drink made it into the recent Casino Royale movie, too. Personally, I think it was, by a substantial margin, the greatest Bond film of all time. Not the least because it inspired a resurgence of popularity for the Vesper martini.

In the book, Bond instructed the bartender:

“In a deep champagne goblet. . . . Three measures of Gordon’s [gin], 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.”

The availability of these ingredients—and even the glass itself—can be a problem today. Nowadays, this is made in what’s come to be called a martini glass or cocktail glass. Gordon’s gin has been reformulated to have almost one-fifth less alcohol, and most vodka has similarly reduced alcohol levels. Using Tanqueray for the Gordon’s and Stoli’s 100-proof vodka recaptures the correct alcohol levels and most of the flavor.

And there’s no such thing as Kina Lillet anymore. Most people use Lillet Blanc, but some die-hard fans actually add quinine powder to recapture some of the original. I’ve heard that a dash of bitters works well enough, although I imagine something like Angostura bitters—once used to mask the flavor of quinine—might interfere rather than enhance. If I ever find quinine powder for sale, I’ll give it a try, but the cocktail is great without it.

Here’s one recipe that makes a good stab at simulating the original. By the way, this really is a big, strong drink, just like Bond wanted. By most measures, it counts as two “drinks,” if you’re keeping track of your alcohol consumption, so take your time and go easy. Unless you’re an uber-spy.

As I said above, I don’t think this drink actually goes with spy video games. In fact, it really belongs at a casino table. The original Bond would probably have enjoyed it with Baccarat, but it should complement the new Bond’s Texas Hold ‘Em just as perfectly.

Versper Martini

Ingredients

• 3 oz. Tanqueray gin
• 1 oz. Stolichnaya 100 proof (blue label)
• ½ oz. Lillet Blanc
• twist of lemon peel

Instructions

Put all ingredients but the lemon peel in a shaker half full of ice.

Note that many martini aficionados insist that martinis are both colder and smoother when stirred instead of shaken. They are completely right. But this is James Bond’s drink—James Bond’s. For that reason alone, it must be shaken. Long and hard.

Pour into a martini glass and garnish with the lemon peel.

Entry Filed under: Gambling, Casino Games, Card Games, Potion Miscibility, Food and Drink