The Vesper Martini is the cocktail Ian Fleming invented for James Bond in Casino Royale (1953). Three ounces of gin, one ounce of vodka, half an ounce of Kina Lillet (now Lillet Blanc), shaken until ice cold, served in a deep champagne goblet with a thin slice of lemon peel.

It is also, by modern cocktail standards, very strong. Four-and-a-half ounces of high-proof spirit per drink. One Vesper is a cocktail; two is a commitment. Bond drinks at the casino table where the social pace is slow, the stakes are high, and the next round won’t arrive for forty minutes. Pace yourself accordingly.

The Lillet Blanc question

The original recipe called for Kina Lillet, which is no longer produced. Lillet Blanc, the modern reformulation, is similar but slightly less bitter. Some bartenders argue the truer modern equivalent is Cocchi Americano, which still contains quinine and has more of the slightly medicinal sharpness Fleming would have known. Either works. Lillet Blanc is easier to find; Cocchi Americano is more authentic.

Scotty Boxa

Vesper Martini Recipe (Bond's Original, Three Spirits, Shaken Cold)

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James Bond's original martini: gin, vodka, Lillet Blanc. Shaken cold, served in a coupe with a lemon twist. The 1953 spec, exactly as written.

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Prep Time 4 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x?

• ▢ 3 oz Gin London Dry; Tanqueray, Beefeater, Sipsmith
• ▢ 1 oz Vodka good neutral; Belvedere or Grey Goose
• ▢ 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano
• ▢ 1 Lemon peel, large to garnish

Instructions

 

Method

1. ▢
   Chill a martini coupe glass in the freezer for at least 5 minutes.
2. ▢
   Add gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
3. ▢
   Shake hard for 12-15 seconds. Yes, shake. Bond ordered it shaken not stirred. The shake aerates the spirits and the resulting cocktail has a slightly cloudy, lively texture different from the smooth-and-clear stir.
4. ▢
   Strain into the chilled coupe glass.
5. ▢
   Cut a large strip of lemon peel. Twist over the surface of the drink to express the oils, then drop it into the glass.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal

Notes

Lillet Blanc. The original recipe called for Kina Lillet, which no longer exists (it had quinine in it; reformulated in 1986). Lillet Blanc is the modern equivalent. Cocchi Americano is closer to the original quinine-bittered profile if you can find it.

Shake or stir? Bond purists insist shake ("shaken not stirred"). Cocktail purists insist stir for clarity. Bond won. Shake it.

Glass. A coupe is correct (the V-shape martini glass spills too easily). Pre-chill it. Always.

Servings: 1 cocktail

Calories: 195

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When to drink it

Pre-dinner. Late afternoon on a slow Sunday. Before you go to a wedding you’re not sure about. After a difficult phone call. The Vesper is a cocktail with weight; it’s not a brunch drink, not a pool drink. It’s a sit-down-and-think drink.

One per session. Two if you’re in a casino and have a card to play.