Are you all set for World Martini Day?
Just when you thought there can´t possibly be a day for everything, there is actually a World Martini Day! Perfect opportunity to get out your cocktail gear and mix yourself the original ‘Vesper Martini’. You don´t have the recipe? No problem at all, ‘EYE ON BOND‘ has collected all the secret intelligence you need!
June 19th is World Martini Day and the drink is not only appealing to James Bond´s exquisite taste. Traditionally, a Martini cocktail is made by pouring gin and dry vermouth into a mixing glass with ice cubes, stir, strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a green olive or a twist of lemon peel. Ian Fleming however created a different version of 007´s signature cocktail – the ‘VESPER MARTINI’.
"“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.”—Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, Chapter 7, “Rouge et Noir’"
© 2006 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc
Here is the recipe to make your own Vesper on June 19th:
Prepare the drink by stirring it and then strain it into your preferred type of glass (champagne goblet for Fleming´s original, Martini glass for the updated film version). Please, do not shake the drink as it will destroy the flavour! Finally, garnish with a slice of lemon peel and you are ready to enjoy a great ‘VESPER’ just like Bond.
Should you rather prefer to have your Martini prepared by an expert, Duke´s Hotel in London is your top address for the best ‘Vesper’ in the world. Barman Allessandro is already a star in the Bond fandom as he prepares the drink with his own twist on the Fleming original and has a nice story to go along with it.