The story of the Vesper Martini cocktail’s creation goes deeper than Fleming simply making up a drink for Mr. And yes, we like ours shaken, not stirred….

In Bond’s own words (which, again, were actually written by Ian Fleming), the Vesper Martini calls for “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet.” If you're wondering what Kina Lillet is, it’s “A liqueur made with white wine mixed with fruit liqueurs and flavored with quinine.” Our version of the Vesper Martini cocktail recipe calls for gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc. Seriously though, the gist of the Vesper Martini’s reputation is that Bond was/is basically a huge alcoholic, and one of his signature martinis is the Vesper Martini.

The Vesper Martini Wikipedia page actually has a whole half-page of direct quotation from the book revolving around the creation of the drink, and the dialog is actually pretty good! They should make a movie out of those books or something. James Bond too, ‘cause this bad boy first appeared in the 1953 novel Casino Royale. OK, now, as was mentioned, the Vesper Martini is indeed a classic James Bond cocktail - like, O.G. Before jumping into the Vesper Martini - which most definitely is an original James Bond (read: Ian Fleming) creation - here are some other martini cocktail recipes you may enjoy as well: the Classic Gin Martini, the Espresso Martini, the Blueberry Martini, and the Naked Martini.

Casino royale vesper martini