Bollinger

If there is one drink as closely associated with 007 as the "vodka martini", it is champagne and, as it is New Years, this seems to be a fitting drink to discuss.  The champagne James Bond most frequently chooses, at least in the films, is Bollinger which first appeared in the novel Diamonds are Forever and in the film version of Live and Let Die but it only became the official champagne of 007 in the credits of the film version of Moonraker.

The vintages James Bond enjoys are, not surprisingly, prohibitively expensive and, in most cases unavailable today.   Thanks, probably, to the world wide economic crisis we are currently experiencing, champagne manufacturers are now producing lower cost non-vintage releases in addition to their standard products to make this a luxury item the common man can afford and Bollinger is no exception. 

The champagne we reviewed was one of these non-vintage releases, specifically: Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut.  While this was a non-vintage release, that is to say, a blend of various vintages meant to bring out the best traits of them all in a single, consistent and affordable package, this wine was anything but inexpensive or common. The overall experience of this champagne, from the solid gold color and the very tightly constructed bubbles to the exceptionally light, yet creamy mouth feel and notes of pear, apple and bread, was one (or many) of sophistication and restraint.  Every note is balanced, every sip seems to evaporate off the tongue with a gently tart finish, leaving the palate refreshed and uncluttered.  The overall experience is one of true elegance.

While most of us will never be able to taste one of the exact vintages of Bollinger that 007 enjoys, I thought it would be fun to list the books and films where Bollinger appears.

The Novels
Diamonds are Forever - Tiffany Case sends a quarter bottle to Bond's cabin on the Queen Elizabeth.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond finds Tracy in the casino bar with half a bottle of Bollinger in front of her.  The vintage is not specified.

The Films
Live and Let Die: vintage not specified
Moonraker: Bollinger RD '69
The Living Daylights: vintage not specified
License to Kill: Bollinger RD '75
Goldeneye: Bollinger Grande Année 1988
Tomorrow Never Dies: Bollinger Grande Année 1989
The World Is Not Enough: Bollinger Grande Année 1990
Die Another Day: Bollinger '61
Casino Royale: Bollinger Grande Année 1990
Quantum of Solace: vintage not specified
Skyfall: unknown

Special thanks to my two lovely, sequined clad research assistants for evaluating this lovely beverage.

Madame Lily Bollinger's wise words on the subject of her champagne were these:
"I drink when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."

Martini

 Although James Bond is known, primarily through the films, as an aficionado, nay, a devotee to the Vodka "Martini", "shaken not stirred, in the books and even in the films, he drinks Martinis (a cocktail based on gin) as well as "Vodka Martinis".

In recent years, the trend has been to make a Martini as "dry" as possible; meaning: to use as little vermouth as possible.  This will certainly get you drunk quicker but will also produce a flavorless product.  The result is not improved with shaking, which aerates the beverage to such a degree that each sip of it, while still cold, yields a lighter, less flavorful experience.  This is great, if what you're after is a bland drink.  This is vodkas sweet spot: lack of flavor- each new brand guarantees a more pure and less flavorful product than the previously leading product. And fear of flavor is a very modern thing.

But I digress.  The Martini is not about vodka and it is not about lack of flavor. Quite the opposite, in fact.  The Martini is all about flavor, starting with the gin; a distilled spirit similar to vodka (at least in it's modern incarnation) but different in that the grain spirits that make it up are distilled with juniper, citrus elements and other herbal ingredients. And, of course, vermouth.  Dry vermouth.  Not the long-gone-rancid vinegar-like concoction on top of your dear old aunt Mildred's side bar but vermouth; a slightly sweet, slightly dry, slightly dry, herbal bitter of great complexity, beauty and delicacy based on a white wine and formulated with other secret herbs, across the world (initially France).

Today, a Martini is any cocktail served up in a triangular glass, regardless of the ingredients.  In the 1980's and '90's, it was a triangular glass, rinsed with the smallest amount of vermouth possible and filled to the brim with gin or vodka, shaken, not stirred, as the most famous super spy would demand.

Love 007 as we do, it hurts us more than it would him to say this but... James Bond was wrong.  Shaking a spirits-based drink isn't sacrilege, it's just ill-advised; you waste what's best about the drink and, paradoxically, don't get something as cold as you might like, nor do you get the dilution necessary to let the flavors in through the burn of the alcohol.

Okay, enough pontificating.  Let's get to the drink, shall we?

In the 1950's, when the majority of the stories were written, the Martini was quite a bit wetter than what would pass muster today.  And that's good.  It makes for less macho, less painful drink but more delicious and sophisticated experience.

According to Doctor Cocktail in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the standard 1950's Martini cocktail was:

• 2.5 parts dry gin
• 1 part dry vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters 
• with an olive or a twist of lemon
• stirred with ice for at least 30 seconds
• and served up or on the rocks

That's it.  And it's a fine drink. But nowhere in Ian Fleming's writings does he make mention of orange bitters, so we may assume what James Bond is drinking is akin to what the Savoy was serving at the time:

• 2/3 gin 
• 1/3 french (dry) vermouth

Shaken well and strained into a cocktail glass.

Personally, I prefer a 5 to 1 ratio (2.5 oz. gin to .5 oz. vermouth) with no bitters (as they there is plenty going on between the gin and vermouth) and an olive or two but the wetter version as documented in The Savoy Cocktail Book, is lovely and should be tried, if only for historical accuracy.  Whatever you do, do not cheat on the vermouth, either in quantity or quality. You will want to use fresh vermouth, putting it in the refrigerator when you're done. Vermouth is just fortified wine and will spoil like wine if left open at room temperature for more than a day or so.

Broker's Gin and Plymouth Gin both advertise themselves as being pure London Dry Gins and both are very fine products.  For American palettes (that is to say, in the U.S.), I prefer Broker's and enjoy Tanqueray Ten, particularly with Dolin vermouth. Is this what James Bond enjoyed? No. He drank Booth's House of Lord's gin, which is no longer available and he never had the brilliant Dolin products.  Sad for 007.  A company called Booth's still makes gin and you are welcome to give it a try. Please write in with your opinions.  Should we do the same, we will publish an update.

In the books, James Bond enjoyed a Martini (that is to say, NOT a vodka "martini") in Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love and Thunderball... almost always with his eating/drinking buddy Felix Leiter.

I suggest you enjoy one with a beautiful woman or a good friend who will have your back, come what may.  Ideally, your friend will look great in a sequined dress, fitting both categories.

Enjoy!

Glüh Wein

In the film For Your Eyes Only, this blogger's favorite of Roger Moore's outings in the 007 franchise, Kristatos meets James Bond at an outdoor skating rink and offers to share some of his Glüh Wein as they discuss Bond's mission.

Glüh Wein translating into "glow wine", meaning, in effect wine that makes you glow inside, is basically a mulled wine. Perfect for the cold of December. Paradoxically not available in most bars, restaurants or even bottled so one must make it ones self or leave it to chance that it will be served in the home of a friend.

A few months ago, I was given a scrapbook book of mixed drinks, written mostly in Danish. I translated the various Glüh Wein recipes and this is the most interesting of the bunch, although I'm sure there are hundreds.

4.25 cups red wine (I used an otherwise disappointing zinfandel)
12 oz. Water
6 oz. Sugar (I used Turbinado sugar)
Juice of 2 lemons
4 cloves, muddled
1 stick of cinnamon, muddled
4-5 oz. brandy (I used Courvoisier VSOP)
2 cardamom pods, muddled.

Boil the water with sugar and spices. Add lemon juice, wine and brandy. Heat to boiling. Taste and serve.

The result is a sweet, spicy mulled wine that could easily take the chill off a cold winter's day in the old cold war.

Vesper

As the first entry to this blog, it makes sense to start at the beginning.  The most famous cocktail 007 drinks is the one he creates in the first novel Casino Royale: The Vesper.


From Casino Royale, the passage reads thusly:

"A dry martini," [Bond] 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 pleased with the idea.

The barman wasn't wrong.  The Vesper is a beautiful drink, balancing sweet, dry, bitter and floral elements in a tightly constructed, dangerous little package.  Spicier than a dry gin martini, the Vesper promises sex, violence and high living in a way few other cocktails do. It was the perfect drink to launch Ian Fleming's stylish yet brutal series of novels and a worthy addition to the menu of any self respecting bar but it's not without it's problems.


The first problem with the Vesper, aside from the fact that most bartenders don't know how to make it is that the key ingredient that transforms it from a standard martini into the Vesper, Kina Lillet, doesn't exist anymore.  Lillet Blanc, the company's current offering is a very nice fortified wine, but just doesn't have the complexity or quinine elements to stand up to three parts of gin, even as diluted with one part vodka. And, at the time of this writing, no one else really offers a Kina. In fact, there is only one product on the market that claims to duplicate what Kina Lillet once was; Cocchi Aperitivo Americano.  Small batch distillers Tempus Fugit are coming to market with their own exhaustively researched Kina sometime soon so there will soon be more options to choose from. 


The second problem with the Vesper is that, according to those who seem to know, Gordon's gin isn't the same product in the U.S. as it is in the U.K. Many manufacturers adjust their recipes to meet local tastes and, over the years, often change recipes completely.  The U.S. product is, in the opinion of this blogger, simply disappointing.  Another gin is called for.  Of the gins I have tried, Plymouth, Tanqueray Ten, and Miller's are the most enjoyable mainstream gins and the Voyager brand from Tempus Fugit Spirits  is probably my favorite small batch gin for this drink.


And, his license to kill be damned, James Bond is wrong about the shaking.  A shaken spirits-based cocktail is less cold and less flavorful than one stirred because of the extreme oxygenation brought on by the shaking.  Also, dilution is an important factor in any mixed drink. Spirits forward drinks should almost always be stirred. Drinks with juice, milk or eggs should be shaken.  
Here's how I like my Vesper.


Stir with ice for 60 seconds:


3 oz. Voyager Gin or Miller's Gin
1 oz. Hangar One Vodka 
.5 oz. Cocchi Aperitivo Americano


Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass and cut a fresh twist of lemon zest over the top so the oils from the peel coat the surface of the drink and enjoy in the company of beautiful women.