Vesper

James Bond's potent creation blending gin and vodka and Lillet for a strong and sophisticated aperitif.

The Vesper Martini is the most famous literary cocktail in history, created not by a bartender but by a novelist — Ian Fleming, who specified its exact formula in Chapter 7 of Casino Royale, published on April 13, 1953. James Bond orders the drink at the Hermitage casino bar: three measures of Gordon's gin, one measure of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shaken over ice until it is ice-cold, then garnished with a large thin slice of lemon peel. Bond names the drink for Vesper Lynd — the double agent played in the 2006 film by Eva Green — saying that like the drink she fills him with illusions and is then taken away. Fleming's formula was specific and intentional: he had written it to differentiate Bond from the Martini-and-olive convention while emphasizing Bond's exacting attention to sensory detail. Kina Lillet — the quinine-enriched Lillet aperitif wine of its era — was reformulated in 1986 as Lillet Blanc with reduced quinine content, meaning the modern Vesper made with Lillet Blanc produces a slightly different flavor from Fleming's original specification. Bartenders often add a few drops of gentian bitters or use Kina L'Aéro d'Or to approximate the original's more bitter, quinine-forward character.