I'm sure many of you are wondering why I didn't mention James Bond's martini two posts ago. This original, iconic, TacticalGent deserves his own post as his "chilling" method is more notorious than the actual drink.
If memory serves correctly, all the actors who played bond, (George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig) ordered their martinis shaken and not stirred expect for Sean Connery's Bond. In his first film "Dr. No," his dry, vodka martini (usually with a lemon twist), was shaken and not stirred. However, it was "perfectly" stirred, not shaken in "You Only Live Twice."
In Ian Fleming's books, Bond was a little more adventurous ordering 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin cocktails. I think the most important one to note is from his first Bond novel, "Casino Royale."
'A dry martini,' he 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 think of a good name.'
— Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir
Sound familiar? It's the same cocktail that Daniel Craig's James Bond named the Vesper in the 2006 film version of Casino Royale and the one that we'll be making today. Kina Lillet is sadly no longer available. A suitable substitute would be Lillet Blanc and a dash of Angostura bitters.
Whether it was vodka or gin, shaken or stirred, the biggest take away is that it must be very, very cold.
Vesper
3 oz Gordon's Gin
1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
Lemon peel
Chill a coupe glass. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add gin, vodka and Lillet and shake until ice cold. Strain into chilled glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
How do you like your martini?