anyone for a vesper?

minigeff · January 2011

right, i've finally got bored of waiting to find out what its like, so im going to order in the ingredients for a vesper (or 6).

knowing that kina lillet went out years back, whats everyone's opinion on an alternative?

lillet blanc, or cocchi americano?

-{

Mister Greene · January 2011

I use the lillet blanc and a splash of bitters, they are tasty but if your planning on six be prepared because they sneak up on you

ExpatJB · January 2011

Mister Greene wrote:

I use the lillet blanc and a splash of bitters, they are tasty but if your planning on six be prepared because they sneak up on you

Impressive.

Wilde · January 2011

There is bound to be some old Kina Lilet floating around somewhere. I've made it a mission to find some.

toutbrun · January 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsjExEfG338&feature=fvsr

This is it. THIS is the vesper. Can't argue with that.

The Domino Effect · January 2011

I use lillet blanc as well...and the end product would be enough to fuel a dragon or two. Stay away from open flames after drinking them. I actually do like them and not just for the Bond connection, but I really have to be in the mood for that type of drink.

Donald Grant · January 2011

Have fun! I made one based on the poofs for spirits adjusted to 1953 from the Esquire article. I also added quinine powder as sugested. Man, not only will one knock you on your a$$, it's also extremely bitter. This from a former seamen who likes to drink scotch as well as regular dry vodka martini's. I pride myself on being able to dirnk a man's drink, but the adjusted Vesper is killer.

Here's the article:

http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/ESQ1106DRINKS_84

Just to keep things in perspective read The Wondrich Take here:

http://www.esquire.com/drinks/vesper-drink-recipe

DG

Seamast · January 2011

If you want to drink a perfect Vesper you must replace:

1. Gordons for Tankeray: Gordons is the original, but they change the formule some years ago. Experts say that Tankeray is the most similar to original Gordons.

2. Kina Lillet: You can compose this bermouth: 1/2 Martini, 1/2 White sec wine and a bit of Bitter Angostura.

3. Vodka: Russian, Smirnof is a good option.

I hope you can do the perfect Vesper.

Regards

minigeff · January 2011

wow guys, cheers for the options.

well, being as i'm a lazy arse when it comes to food and drink, i'm looking for the easy lazy option of 'straight out the bottle'.

can you imagine if someone did a ready mixed vesper in a can? man that'd sell with all us bond fans...

anyways, i think i'll be buying in a bottle of Smirnof, Tankeray and Kina Blanc, might get some of the quinine powder as well.

cheers for the help peoples!

MG -{ -{ -{

007 and a half · January 2011

I had one on Friday night for the first time -{ =

toutbrun · January 2011

Smirnoff is actually poor quality vodka. I would recommend Chopin Vodka or something like that. Not Grey Goose, it's not that good, especially for the price.

Again, I don't think you need to look further than this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsjExEfG338&feature=fvsr

This is the martini Ian Flem used to drink...

toutbrun · January 2011

And he uses a gin that's about 49-50 %

thesecretagent · January 2011

Ah, the Vespa. The single most ridiculous drink to make. It goes against almost everything I see Bond as. In the fifties arriving at a bar and stipulating your own cocktail would have been seen as sophisticated. Now, I would defy a bar steward to resist muttering "tosser" under his breath. Fine wine, good beer, the right champagne and neat, or barely unadulterated spirits is one thing, but... Come on!

Thunderbird 2 · January 2011

I tried a conventional Vodka martini and found it delicious, but expensive! Would be nice to try a Vesper one day though.

(Looks around hopefully) - Has anyone got any Scotch?

thesecretagent · January 2011

Thunderbird 2 wrote:

I tried a conventional Vodka martini and found it delicious, but expensive! Would be nice to try a Vesper one day though.

(Looks around hopefully) - Has anyone got any Scotch?

This is the trouble though - you just can't order one. As you ask for a vodka martini, the barman will ask "Shaken?" to which, any reply you think of will be crap. "Do I look like I give a damn?" He will have seen the film as well. People just look so silly ordering the vm or vespa... Top tip - order a round of drinks, key in the componants in seperate glasses, then mix it yourself at the table...

toutbrun · January 2011

thesecretagent wrote:

Thunderbird 2 wrote:

I tried a conventional Vodka martini and found it delicious, but expensive! Would be nice to try a Vesper one day though.

(Looks around hopefully) - Has anyone got any Scotch?

This is the trouble though - you just can't order one. As you ask for a vodka martini, the barman will ask "Shaken?" to which, any reply you think of will be crap. "Do I look like I give a damn?" He will have seen the film as well. People just look so silly ordering the vm or vespa... Top tip - order a round of drinks, key in the componants in seperate glasses, then mix it yourself at the table...

I think that you would look even more ridiculous if you order 4 empty martini glass, 3 parts gin, one part vodka, orange peels and bits of angostura, and then you try to mix them up and it spils on the table.

But it's true that you always look like a loser when they ask 'shaken?'. It's like ordering things 'on the rocks'. It looks cool in the movies when you're 16, but then when you grow older you just look like you're trying too hard.

Anyway, you should not have your scotch on ice.

Mike Z · January 2011

thesecretagent wrote:

Ah, the Vespa. The single most ridiculous drink to make. It goes against almost everything I see Bond as. In the fifties arriving at a bar and stipulating your own cocktail would have been seen as sophisticated. Now, I would defy a bar steward to resist muttering "tosser" under his breath. Fine wine, good beer, the right champagne and neat, or barely unadulterated spirits is one thing, but... Come on!

well it you go to one of those irritating places where the bartender refers to himself as a mixologist (and takes 5 minutes to make a cocktail), you might get a proper vesper... it'll probably cost you $20 and you might get sneered at anyway.

Seemed to me that in the books, Bond drinks a lot of bourbon

Donald Grant · January 2011

toutbrun wrote:

thesecretagent wrote:

Thunderbird 2 wrote:

I tried a conventional Vodka martini and found it delicious, but expensive! Would be nice to try a Vesper one day though.

(Looks around hopefully) - Has anyone got any Scotch?

This is the trouble though - you just can't order one. As you ask for a vodka martini, the barman will ask "Shaken?" to which, any reply you think of will be crap. "Do I look like I give a damn?" He will have seen the film as well. People just look so silly ordering the vm or vespa... Top tip - order a round of drinks, key in the componants in seperate glasses, then mix it yourself at the table...

I think that you would look even more ridiculous if you order 4 empty martini glass, 3 parts gin, one part vodka, orange peels and bits of angostura, and then you try to mix them up and it spils on the table.

But it's true that you always look like a loser when they ask 'shaken?'. It's like ordering things 'on the rocks'. It looks cool in the movies when you're 16, but then when you grow older you just look like you're trying too hard.

Anyway, you should not have your scotch on ice.

That's odd, I've never had any bartender ask "Shaken?" after ordering a vodka martini. But even if he did, screw him. I mean even as a young man I could care less what other people thought of the drinks I ordered. Now that I'm in my forties, I could care even less. The bartender does not pay my bills. I suppose maturity does not necessarily come with age, it's a mind set. I also like scotch on the rocks and have never experienced anything negative by ordering one. I think it's time to grow a set and man up. Would mister Bond do anything less?

DG

mpoplawski · January 2011

This thread has totally lost me. I don't know why you are looking for a substitute for Lillet, it is easily found. What is with the quinine powder? What is that from?

I am a heavy duty martini drinker and I do enjoy a Vesper...at home. Usually bars do not carry Lillet so I normally just drink a dry gin martini.

Do you guys actually frequent bars? Some of the comments make no sense. I have never had a bartender ask "shaken not stirred." Usually they will ask if you want it straight up, with olives or dirty. Sometimes they will ask if I want vodka or gin. At a bar you shouldn't really try to guide the bartender into some customized drink. Once in a great while I will see a Vesper listed on the bar menu. That is the only time I would be tempted to order a Vesper at a bar. Many times I have seen a "007 martini" listed but the ingredients don't have anything to do with James Bond.

Donald Grant · January 2011

mpoplawski wrote:

This thread has totally lost me. I don't know why you are looking for a substitute for Lillet, it is easily found. What is with the quinine powder? What is that from?

The quinine powder is from the Esquire article about the Vesper martini (see above post). The article was meant to make a modern Vesper more like what Bond would have had in 1953. So the proof of the spirits has to be increased and the quinine has to be put back into the mix. Since the "Kina" or quinine was taken out of Kina Lillet, all we're left with is Lillet Blanc. So quinine powder or bitters in a pinch along with the propper proofs of gin and vodka, as the Esquire article goes, will make the Vesper the genuine article at least according to what Fleming was describing.

DG

mpoplawski · January 2011

I stand corrected. I don't want to start a flame war. This does provide a different slant to the thread for me. I have been drinking Vespers for quite a few years now using the basic Lillet Blanc. I will have to give these versions a try.

thesecretagent · January 2011

Perhaps it's just me and the people I worked with. I put myself through university for a three year degree working in bars - quite a few in fact. Perhaps things have changed, or perhaps I remember my penniless uni days having yuppies come up and do the Bond/shaken-not-stirred routines/recipe for a Vespa etc and remember what pr*cks they looked at the time.

thesecretagent · January 2011

Got to ask though - what's the problem with kina lillet? - it's readily available in most hotel bars, cocktail bars and decent wine merchants. And using kina blanc, angastura bitters and quinnine still doesn't get close...

minigeff · January 2011

round mah wear, wer drinkin pients, lad, n thas nowt better than a pient a dark after a dae's werk down pit.

well thats what great great grandpop woulda said. -{

minigeff · January 2011

thesecretagent wrote:

Got to ask though - what's the problem with kina lillet? - it's readily available in most hotel bars, cocktail bars and decent wine merchants. And using kina blanc, angastura bitters and quinnine still doesn't get close...

hmmm, i didnt think kina lillet had been produced since the late 80's?

i've searched high n low and can't find anything but lillet blanc

edit; just looked back at the 'whats keeping you awake?' scene in QoS, and even the barman says that kina lillet 'is not vermouth'.

ie, kina lillet and lillet blanc are not the same drink.

the closest alternative these days (from what i'm told) is cocchi americano.

IanT · January 2011

I describe a vesper as being like a beautiful woman's breasts.....

1 is not enough and 3 is too many!!!!

I hope that wasn't offensive 8-)

A place in Clitheroe in Lancashire called Carlito's does a fantastic Vesper - they don't even need to be told the ingredients.

Le Samourai · January 2011

I seldom drink vodka martinis. When I've ordered one at a bar, I've never had any "shaken not stirred" issues with bartenders. My guess it's because I would always call the vodka, as in "Ketel One martini straight-up with a twist."

Vespers are tasty, and I occasionally will make one at home when the mood strikes me, but I tend to prefer a good old-fashioned gin martini. Here's a link to my preferred recipe: http://samouraihq.blogspot.com/2011/01/le-samourais-martini.html

Sir_Miles_Messervy · July 2011

I was at a restaurant in early June that had it on the drink menu. They made it beautifully, with lillet blanc. They used excellent vodka and gin -- and it was truly a wonderfully made drink.

A bit strong, as everyone's noted

I loved it still.

Monza860 · July 2011

How about Bombay Sapphire instead of Tanqueray? Over here in the states it's a 94 proof.

Paperbill · July 2011

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Bond Collectors' Weekends · July 2011

Where is the restaurant/bar you mentioned?

anyone for a vesper?

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