Vodka Martini

I have been putting off writing about the Vodka Martini, the most prominent of Bond’s drinks and a cocktail that gave birth to the most famous bar instruction of all time: “Shaken, not stirred”.

The Vodka Martini is a variation on the original Dry Martini, which, in turn, is descended from the Manhattan. The Martini was originally made with sweet vermouth, but, around the turn of the last century, it became more popular to drink it with dry vermouth. The first reference to the Dry Martini can be found in How To Mix Fancy Drinks from 1903.

A new book that takes a detailed look at the drinks of James Bond is being published just in time for Christmas 2010. The author, David Leigh, is a lifelong fan of James Bond and is responsible for this website. He became interested in James Bond after picking up his father’s copy of Casino Royale [...]

Video of how to mix James Bond’s vodka martini – shaken, not stirred – using Ian Fleming’s recipe from Live And Let Die

The Vodka Martini, “shaken not stirred”, is easily the most famous of all Bond’s drinks and ordered some 20 times in the Eon films. Shaking a Martini rather than stirring it will make the drink colder, more aerated and slightly cloudy due to the presence of ice shards. Smirnoff Black, which has a mellow smoothness [...]