The Agent And His Sidekick Cocktail

October 4th is International Vodka Day, a day to celebrate the versatile liquor that accounts for almost 25 percent of all spirits sold in North America. Here’s to the spirit that “Leaves you Breathless”, as the Smirnoff ad campaign from the 1950s touted.

THE VESPER
In 1952 the British former spy and writer, Ian Fleming, wrote his first book in a series of novels about the British agent extraordinaire with a license to kill. The book was Casino Royal and it featured a double agent called Vesper Lynd. Being the first ever Bond woman and thus James Bond’s first love interest she got a cocktail named after her, the Vesper. The cocktail, a version of the Martini, was created by Ian Fleming himself and the instructions Bond gave to a bartender in the book were very clear. “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.” The only problem making it today is that the bitter Kina Lillet was discontinued in 1969 so you have to substitute it either with Cocchi Americano to get the original bitterness or use Lillet Blanc and maybe add some bitters to the drink. Ian Fleming might have gotten the idea for the Vesper from Ted Saucier’s 1951 cocktail book Bottoms Up, a book where the Vodka Martini first appeared in print. Saucier credited Jerome Zerbe, photographer, and Society Editor for Town and Country, with the recipe. On a side note, during the 1930s and onwards Jerome Zerbe worked at the Rainbow Room, the nightclub El Morocco and at the Stork Club as one of the first ever paparazzi.

THE DESIGNER
Lee Broom designed the glass, On the Rock, in 2014.

Waiting for Bond

If you are waiting for the next Bond movie there is something you can do to make the wait a little bit shorter. Make yourself a Vesper. Named after the fictional double agent Vesper Lynd by James Bond himself the cocktail was featured in Casino Royale, Ian Fleming’s first book about the secret agent, published in 1953.

The instructions Bond gave to the bartender were “In a deep champagne goblet. 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 slice of lemon peel.” The only problem making it today is that the bitter Kina Lillet was discontinued in 1969 so you have to substitute it either with Cocchi Americano to get the original bitterness or use Lillet Blanc and maybe add some bitters to the drink.

The glass, On the Rock, was designed by Lee Broom in 2014.

Vesper

3 parts Gordon’s gin

1 part vodka

1/2 part Lillet Blanc

1 lemon peel

Stir the ingredients with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Or if you are James Bond, shake it until ice cold and serve it in a deep champagne goblet.