Black Velvet (beer cocktail)

At the time of this writing, the 23rd James Bond film by EON Productions is being filmed and, along with the 50th anniversary, is hotly anticipated. Everything from Tom Ford's suits for Daniel Craig (one size too small and too trendy, in this writer's opinion) to the product placement of beer manufacturer Heineken is being scrutinized and argued over. I'm sure, once Skyfall is released, we'll likely have other shallow subjects to get in a twist about but for the time being, this is it.

The argument regarding beer, in case you've been distracted by real life or you are somehow reading this from the far off future, is two-fold: One, the concern seems to be about product placement somehow compromising the artistic integrity of the film and other other is one of perception. The quote regarding the latter seems best summed up as: "Bond trades in his sophisticated vodka martini for a lowly beer." This unacceptable, right?  After all, Bond, as far as most film goers know, is a working class man with only the most elegant taste, who almost exclusively consumes vodka martinis. 

This is, of course, only true enough to make people believe it. 

First, let's get the pesky issue of product placement out of the way. Ian Fleming wasn't even a little bit shy about infusing his novels with brand names to give authenticity, richness and style to his own literary product. From the first, Bond is calling his favorite gin (Gordon's.... not that this writer agrees with him) and his champagne of the moment is almost always specified (Veuve Cliquot and Taittinger in Casino Royale, if memory serves). The 007 novels were intended as escapism and Bond's travels to exotic locales were almost overshadowed by the detail Fleming gave his epicurean adventures and personal preferences. His wrist watch, according to Fleming, was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual of some unspecified variety and, in Casino Royale, Bond sets the tone for ordering an avocado- something most subjects of post-war England would die for and could never have. His suits were tailored and his cigarettes handmade with a special blend of Balkan and Turkish tobacco with three gold bands on them and the list goes one. Bond knows what he likes from how his scrambled eggs are prepared to how his drinks are served. So when the films started introducing brands (Lore has it that Sean Connery wears an ersatz Rolex Oyster Perpetual modeled on Cubby Broccoli's own watch in Dr. No), it was not only not a violation of the character, it was almost a required element.  This is not to say that the films are always graceful about how they place their affiliates' products but the presence of recognized brand names goes all the way back, not only to the first film but the first novel.  The question is not about whether or not it's a sell-out. Of course it's a sell out!  It always has been. In the case of James Bond, it's arguably part not only of his character but the world he inhabits. The question then is about how it's handled and we won't know that until Skyfall is released. One hopes the presence of Heineken will only add to a sense of realism in the landscape Bond traverses and will not interfere with our suspension of disbelief.

The question then, is one of what Bond chooses to imbibe. James Bond drinks vodka martinis. And gin martinis. And Ouzo. And bourbon. And scotch. And glüh vein. And sake. And brandy. And, yes, beer. When James Bond drinks beer in the novel Goldfinger (popping off for a quick one as Sean Connery's Bond suggests in the film whilst Q introduces him to his enhanced Aston Martin DB5), it is Löwenbräu and used to chase down a double schnapps. He does the same in The Living Daylights. When he and Felix Leiter are driving from New York to Saratoga in Diamonds are Forever, he orders a Miller's High Life.  The novels are all about the high life and the literary Bond, like his celluloid counterpart, is very much a man who appreciates specificity.

In a way, this is the function James Bond serves in our culture. It's why we queue up to see each new film, whether our favorite actor is playing the role or not, whether the tone of the film is light, gritty or something in between. The writing, the music, the actors and the styles all change.  Even the brands change. Many of the brands Ian Fleming enjoyed have either been eclipsed by finer products, changed in quality or disappeared completely. What has not changed,  possibly, the only thing that has not changed in the nearly 60 years since Casino Royale was first published is that James Bond always lives the high life. He is a working man who somehow drives the best cars, travels to the most beautiful locales, wears the best clothes, makes love to the most beautiful women, eats the finest food and drinks the most sophisticated beverages. For most of us, the 007 films are our only glimpse into the way of the monied and James Bond is our proxy, showing us what sophistication looks like. We either want to be him or we want to bed him and his exotic lifestyle is the key. James Bond is a kind of blank canvas on to which we can superimpose ourselves** and the fact that there will always be another actor playing the role helps reinforce our own ability to imagine ourselves in 007's custom made shoes. There's something almost sacred in this pact.

The audience can forgive almost any transgression; from painful double entendres to logic holes so big you could hide a giant orbiting space station inside them but when the 007 franchise fails us in the high living department, we rebel. Timothy Dalton learned this the hard way with License to Kill in 1989.  His attempt at demythologizing James Bond was met with lukewarm box office returns despite his very credible acting and clear reverence for the original source material. Timothy Dalton was Fleming's Bond more than any other except for one thing: No one wanted to be his interpretation of James Bond*.

Which brings us back to beer. Regular folk drink beer. It is inexpensive and considered common. We look to James Bond to show us something special, something we cannot easily experience ourselves not something we could pick up at the local convenience store. This isn't just an affectation of the films, it's woven into the DNA from the very first words on the page.

But let's get one thing clear.  James Bond is a drinker. He has a high stress job and lives, at least in the novels, in a world where Xanax, Ativan and other at-will sedatives do not exist and even the admission of an emotional problem comes with a devastating stigma. Bond self medicates with booze. He also enjoys pleasant sensory experiences for all they offer in light of the fact that, as Daniel Craig's Bond states quite clearly, "00's have a short life expectancy."  James Bond is picky but not overly so. In a pinch, he will drink Martinis from a can (in the novel Live and Let Die) or whatever the local beer might be. In fact, the only thing James Bond does not drink, is water.

Not only will James Bond drink beer in a pinch but he enjoys it, particularly paired with food and usually during the day when he still needs his wits about him for the work ahead. In the novel Diamonds are Forever, Bill Tanner, the Chief of Staff and Bond's best friend in the service, takes Bond out to "black velvets and dressed crab" for lunch after their briefing about Bond's mission with M. Nothing tells you either you're a favorite in the firm or that you're about to go on a mission you're not expected to return from like a free lunch of dressed crab and black velvets!

Dressed crab is, of course, crab meat, scooped out of, and served up inside, the shell; traditionally served up with brown bread and high quality mayonnaise. Make mayonnaise yourself and you know what they mean by "high quality". It's a completely different product from what stores sell in vacuum sealed jars. Dressed crab is a luxurious and high-maintenance meal enhanced, no doubt by the Black Velvet which is, ostensibly, just equal parts Guinness draught beer and a brut champagne, served in either a champagne flute or a pint glass. Some float the beer over the champagne (which looks great but is something I was unable to accomplish), some float the champagne on top (at which I was marginally more successful) and some just mix the two (which I ended up doing for the mixed flavor of the two, which was delightful). 

As histories about mixed drinks go, most are more legend and myth than fact but the story of the Black Velvet is that, according to the legendary historian of mixed drinks David Wondrich (who endorses the mixing method), the drink was created by a bartender at the Brooks's Club of London in 1861 as an alternative to wearing a black arm band to morn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort who was very popular at the time. 

Here's how I made mine:

• Fill half a pint or highball glass with Guinness draught beer (Guinness extra stout works too but the flavors mix less seamlessly)
• Place a large spoon with the convex side facing skyward inside the top of the glass and gently top with champagne or another sparkling wine. I used a non-vintage (N.V.) Piper-Heidseick Brut but I suspect any sparkling wine will do.

If you like the notion of having a glass of sparkling wine followed by a glass of beer, enjoy.  If not, stir gently and drink the alchemical magic the two make together. Where the Guinness ends, the champagne takes over and just at the finish, both blend and become one; simultaneously light-hearted and sophisticated. For a simple drink, the Black Velvet is either incredibly brilliant or an incredibly lucky combination.

I tried both a stout and a draught from Guinness in two separate instances. While the draught flavors seamlessly integrated with the Piper-Heidseick (which is a very nice low-to-mid-end champagne), the stout did less well, maintaining a gaminess not present in the draught. In any case, this is a very forgiving drink and worthy of any warm day or occasion where your immediate superior offers you what might be your last free lunch.

•••

*Full disclosure: I totally wanted to be Timothy Dalton's incarnation of James Bond. Are you kidding me? Dalton was Bond as far as I was concerned. He was tough, dapper and took Bond seriously (this last trait is less important to me as I get older). The Living Daylights more than made up for the worst offenses of Roger Moore's tenure. That said, mine was certainly the minority opinion and License to Kill... ah, the lost opportunities.

 ** There is a good interview with David Leigh from James Bond Dossier on the subject that elaborates on this point.