Vesper Martini

I N G R E D I E N T S

45ml London dry gin
15ml vodka
7.5ml Lillet Blanc
Served with a Twist of lemon

M E T H O D

Add the gin, vodka and Lillet to a shaker and shake with ice until properly chilled. Double strain into a chilled martini glass. Express a lemon peel over the glass and then drop into the drink. Drink it whilst it’s cold. Enjoy!

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The Vesper Martini is a classic. A dry martini riff, comprising of both gin and vodka, Lillet in place of a dry vermouth and requires shaking rather than stirring... this is THAT cocktail. First ordered by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s 1953 debut novel, Casino Royale and inspired the iconic line, ‘Shaken, not Stirred’. Despite being Bond’s original drink of choice, he doesn’t order it again (often choosing a vodka martini instead) possibly due to the fate of the character who inspired the name, Vesper Lynd.

'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.
- Casino Royale, 1953, by Ian Fleming

3 oz of gin and 1oz of vodka make for an unruly and large drink, so I tend to use a scaled down and widely used recipe above. Unfortunately we won’t ever be able to recreate the original drink as the strength of Gordon’s gin was cut and Kina lillet has been discontinued - however we can recreate its flavour with an export strength gin, a grain vodka and Lillet blanc or Cocchi Americano also works well.

Bond later states that a grain vodka works best, therefore I’ve chosen one of my favourites konikstail which is a Polish spelt grain vodka, of impeccable quality and smooth earthy flavour. Koniks Tail has its own exceptional story which deserves exploring in its own post - stay tuned!