Vesper
Dry, literary, ice-cold.
Gin and vodka joined by a touch of Lillet Blanc, shaken until ice-cold. It is the Martini James Bond orders in Ian Fleming's first novel: dry, powerful and lifted by a lemon zest.
- IBA · Contemporary Classics
- Aperitif
- Shaken
- Glass
- Cocktail glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Very strong
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Gin
45 ml
-
Vodka
15 ml
-
Lillet Blanc
7.5 ml
Garnish
- Lemon twist
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Fill the shaker with ice.
- Pour the gin.
- Pour the vodka.
- Pour the Lillet Blanc.
- Shake hard.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Garnish with a lemon zest.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
The Vesper was born on paper: it appears in 1953 in Casino Royale, Ian Fleming's first novel, where James Bond tells the barman to take three measures of Gordon's gin, one of vodka and half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake it well and add a thin slice of lemon peel. Bond later names it after Vesper Lynd, the woman he falls for. According to the most credible accounts, the inspiration came from Fleming's friend Ivar Bryce, to whom the author inscribed a copy of the book as the man who mixed the first Vesper. The legend crediting Gilberto Preti of London's Dukes Hotel is unfounded: he started there many years after Fleming's death.
Taste profile
- Strong
- 5 out of 5
- Dry
- 4 out of 5
- Herbal
- 2 out of 5
- Citrus
- 2 out of 5
