The Shaken Martini Lounge
Welcome to Shaken Martini Lounge, inspired by the impact that the James Bond novels and movies continue to have on the American cocktail culture. Nearly everyone knows James Bond as a suave, womanizing, super spy, whose drink of choice is the Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred.
Not true.Agent 007, Commander James Bond is a Whiskey man; he drinks 111 various types of Whiskey: 57 Bourbon Whiskeys, 47 Scotch Whiskeys, 4 undetermined Whiskeys, 2 Canadian Whiskeys, 1 Black Velvet Whiskey, and 4 Old Fashions, a cocktail made with Whiskey. Bond also drinks roughly 66 glasses of champagne, not counting empty or unopened bottles. Tied with champagne, Bond drinks 66 martinis; 41 obvious vodka martinis, 21 gin or undetermined and 4 Vespers.
The Vesper is the inspiration for the “shaken, not stirred,” martini theme; created by Bond (Fleming) in the first novel Casino Royal, in 1953. The drink was named for Bond’s first love Vesper Lynd, and is not actualy a martini at all, in that it uses both Gin and vodka, and a French wine instead of dry vermouth. And unlike most purely gin martinis at the time, it was shaken, not stirred.
While James Bond drinks his first shaken Vesper in the1953 novel, the phrase “shaken, not stirred” is not used until 1956 in the fourth novel, Diamonds are Forever. James bond does not actually say the phrase until the 6th novel, Dr No, in 1958.
‘I would like a medium Vodka dry martini with a slice of lemon peel. Shaken and not stirred, please. I would prefer Russian or Polish vodka.’
But it was the 1962 film adaptation of Dr. No and Smirnoff vodka that truly put the cocktail on the map. The bellman shakes Bond a Smirnoff vodka martini in Dr. No, but it isn’t until 1964 in the third film, Goldfinger, that Connery’s Bond actually says the phrase, “Just a drink. A martini, shaken, not stirred.”
