If you want it to stay cold, you can chill your glass before straining. You want the dilution of the ice so your drink doesn’t kick you in the butt, and you want it cold. Substitutes can be used to recapture the original flavour of the drink. Just kidding 25-30 stirs or more (about 30 seconds) to chill and dilute your Vesper Martini. Since Kina Lillet was discontinued in 1986 and the proof of Gordon’s Gin was cut in 1992, the original recipe for the Vesper Martini can no longer be made exactly. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. The recipe for Bond’s Vesper Martini, as described in the 1953 book: ‘Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet.

The actual name for the drink (as well as its complete recipe) was mentioned on screen for the first time in the 2006 film adaptation of Casino Royale. The Vesper Martini became very popular after the novel’s publication, and gave rise to the famous “shaken, not stirred” catchphrase immortalised in the Bond films. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in 2006’s Casino Royale. After encountering Vesper Lynd, Bond decides that it is the perfect name for his recently invented cocktail. Having first appeared in 1953’s Casino Royale, the iconic martini riff made its debut when 007 ordered a vodka Martini shaken, not stirred. The Vesper Martini is a variation of the classic Dry Martini, invented by James Bond author Ian Fleming.

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