The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond, Second Edition

It stands to reason that if you've got a good idea, a really good idea, the kind of good idea that seems obvious the moment it appears in your mind, then it's a good bet someone else has already done it.  And when I conjured the notion to write a blog researching, cataloging and field testing everything James Bond drinks in the books and in the films, it did in fact occur to me to search the internet to see if anyone had done it first but, for whatever reason, my search came up empty. I blame it on sunspot interference or some other atmospheric anomaly.  In any case, I set about doing what any James Bond fan on a mission might: I turned to the source material and started documenting every scene where Bond and a beverage of any kind collide.

I mention all of the above because, shortly after starting this blog, I discovered The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond by David Leigh. Leigh runs the extensive and exhaustive site The James Bond Dossier and works harder than any single person I can imagine to find and share the best of everything the 007 world has to offer. And he finds it all.  David Leigh hadn't just started a blog, he'd completed a book. A book!

So I did what any James Bond fan on a mission that another agent had already completed would do: I bought his book and examined his work. It was good. Good and damned thorough. He'd listed everything by category, clearly identified which book and/or film where each drink was featured and even given context from the source material. As I said, it was very good. But I still wanted to share some feedback based on my experience making these drinks as well as discuss ingredients and techniques. In short, I still felt it was a worthy endeavor for me to continue sourcing spirits, field testing drinks and adding my voice to the mix.

To my complete surprise, David Leigh welcomed me on the scene and I have very much enjoyed corresponding with him about spirits, history and the world of James Bond (he even included some of my feedback in the second edition).  With The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond, 2nd Edition, Leigh has expanded and updated what was already an impressive effort with ingredients likely not available when he published the first edition (the world of craft cocktails is evolving at a furious pace), techniques and tools to help set the bartender up for success in a new section called Q Branch and has even managed to include the new film Skyfall, just a few days after its European release and days before it shows up in the U.S.

In short, this is a great book for a James Bond fan.  Until Skyfall is released,  it's a free download on Amazon.com.

Go. Now.