Hair Of The Dog: Vesper

Hair of the Dog is Cookthink’s Monday morning cocktail column by Rob Chirico, the author of the Field Guide to Cocktails. Read more about Rob here.

Working “behind bars,” I am continually asked to make all manner of “Martinis,” including the sophisticated, and potentially volatile, Vesper. As we all know, a true Martini is made with gin and vermouth and a customary garnish of olive or a twist.

While some purists will argue the proportions of gin to vermouth, and even debate the issue of the garnish, one thing is certain: gin. Since the Vesper also has vodka (as well as Lillet, which is not even vermouth), it naturally follows that this superb cocktail is not a Martini. Unless, of course, you are in league with a fellow named Bond, James Bond.

If you’ve never heard the expression “shaken, not stirred,” please invite me to your home on Mars. While it’s not quite “Elementary, my Dear Watson,” which Holmes never said in print, Bond’s immortal phrase has been uttered only once, and very late in the series at that.

For the sake of thoroughness, I’ve included the entire passage in which Bond orders his very first “Martini.” In Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale (1953, pp. 40-41), 007 is sitting at a bar with American agent Felix Leiter, when he requests the following:

“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 pleasant 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 can think of a good name.”

A little while later, on page 46, Bond meets the agent Vesper Lynd and is immediately attracted to, among other things, her name.

“Can I borrow it?” He explained about the special martini he had invented and his search for a name for it. “The Vesper,” he said. “It sounds perfect and it’s very appropriate to the violet hour when my cocktail will now be drunk all over the world. Can I have it?”

A few issues with the original: Kina Lillet has not been made since 1985, but the modern substitute would be Lillet Blanc, made by the same company, Lillet, based in Podensac, France. Also, the Gordon’s gin we get in the U.S. is actually made in the U.S. Instead, try regular Bombay or Beefeater. Bond also gave the caveat that grain vodka is preferred to potato vodka. Since most vodka is produced from grain, take your pick, but Smirnoff may actually be closest to what Fleming had in mind.

It should also be noted that Bond was really a bourbon man and ordered the Vesper only once. In total, he ordered 19 vodka “Martinis” and 16 gin Martinis throughout the Fleming stories, in which 317 alcoholic drinks are mentioned! Of course, this should not stop you from indulging in a Vesper tonight, during that violet hour, wherever you are in the world, or on Mars.

Recipe: Vesper (Hair of the Dog)
Related: Commander Bond’s drinks of choice (Atomic Martinis)