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Vesper Dry Martini
Yes, yes, it's a spirituous drink without fruit juices that best shows its crystalline beauty when stirred rather than shaken. However, it's the one Martini...
John CARR
11th September 2023 at 11:50
Four pillars gin, Ketel one vodka and 10ml Lillet blanc making an absolutely delicious martini. Have ordered some cinchona bark powder to add to the Lillet as mentioned in your kina article Simon . looking first ton the first taste!
4th December 2023 at 10:45
Yes! Ground in a mortar and pestle and added 1.5 ml to the bottle as suggested on the Kina page. Added a subtle bitterness.
11th September 2023 at 16:21
Go easy with the cinchona bark - a little adds bags of flavour. Please also beware of the health risks of ingesting too much!
27th June 2023 at 19:16
An interesting bit of trivia to add to the Fleming—Martini lore is that his former Office of Strategic Services colleague Ernest Cuneo would later write that "Of all the maddening trivia through which I have suffered, nothing quite matched Fleming’s instructions on how his [martinis] were to be made. [He] was painfully specific about both the vermouth and the gin and explained each step to the guy who was going to mix it as if it were a delicate brain operation...." (continued)
27th June 2023 at 19:17
(continued) "... Several times I impatiently asked him why the hell he didn’t go downstairs and mix it himself, but he ignored me as if he hadn’t heard and continued right on with his instructions. Equally annoyingly, he always warmly congratulated the captain when he tasted it as if he had just completed a fleet manoeuvre at flank speed."
Sounds like a real bore to drink with, quite frankly.
Sounds like a real bore to drink with, quite frankly.
29th May 2023 at 16:46
Celebrated Mr. Fleming's birthday by watching Casino Royale here in the high country of Santa Fe, NM. Bond would have used Russian vodka but we don't have any so used 0.5 oz NATO vodka (Absolut) instead, along with 1.5 oz Hendrick's gin and 0.25 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco, with a lemon twist. Shaken, not stirred. We preferred the Bitter Bianco as a Kina Lillet substitute since we found the flavorings in Cocchi Americano a bit too warm and distracting for a martini.
29th May 2023 at 00:38
Bombay dry, Ketel One and Cocchi Americano in the classic 3/1/0.5 ratio. Shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass with a long thin piece of lemon peel. It's lovely, and a fitting tribute to Mr. Fleming on his birthday on a cool spring evening here in the high desert of the Great Basin!
17th October 2022 at 16:41
Used Gordon's dry gin, Svedka vodka, Kina L'Aero d'Or, and Lillet Blanc. Rather enjoyed this recipe. At best, I think the small measures of other ingredients merely enhanced the expressions of an ordinary, yet serviceable gin. I think I will definitely make this again, but using Tanqueray, or something comparable, as well as a rye vodka. See where it goes. Not too shabby though. (17 Oct 2022, 12:41p)
30th September 2022 at 00:38
Simon your recipe as written for Vesper Martini and in your video do not mesh. Altering the recipe to state 2x lillet blanc would simply my finger math. I am a big fan of your website. I really appreciate your commitment to discerning drinkers. Look me up if you ever get to Florida
7th August 2022 at 22:46
Made this one again with Cocchi Americano and everything else the same. What a difference. Our previous attempt was good, but this was outstanding. Never thought I would be a martini drinker, but thanks to Simon, I have learned to enjoy them.
28th May 2022 at 23:13
Interestingly, Boothby (1934) contains a cocktail called Vesper. So there was already a drink called Vesper in existence almost two decades before Casino Royale. However, while it is a gin based drink, it doesn’t resemble the Vesper Martini.
29th May 2022 at 09:35
Many thanks, James. I've added a reference to Boothby above along with his Vesper recipe.