Vesper (cocktail)
The Vesper or Vesper Martini is a cocktail that was originally made of gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet. The formulations of its ingredients have changed since its original publication in print, and so some modern bartenders have created new versions which attempt to more closely mimic the original taste. Origin. The drink was invented and named by Ian Fleming in the 1953 James Bond novel "Casino Royale". Fleming continues with Bond telling the barman, after taking a long sip, "Excellent ... but if you can get a vodka made with grain instead of potatoes, you will find it still  better," and then adds in an aside, ""Mais n'enculons pas des mouches"" (""But let's not bugger flies""—a vulgar French expression meaning "let's not split hairs"). Felix Leiter jokingly suggests Bond name his drink the Molotov Cocktail. In the next chapter, "Pink Lights and Champagne", Bond names the drink the "Vesper". At the time of his first introduction to the beautiful Vesper Lynd, he asks her name in an "interrogation indirecte", "I can't drink the health of your new frock without knowing your Christian name." After learning her name, Bond decides that it is perfect for his recently  invented cocktail. He tells Vesper that his search for a name is over if she will permit him to name the drink after her. A "Vesper" differs from Bond's usual cocktail of choice, the martini, in that it uses both gin and vodka, Kina Lillet instead of the usual dry vermouth, and a lemon peel instead of an olive. Although there is a lot of discussion on the Vesper, it is only ordered by Bond once throughout Fleming's novels – although Bond drinks the "Vesper" in the film "Casino Royale" – and by later books Bond is ordering regular vodka  martinis, though he also drinks regular gin martinis. Felix Leiter ordered a Vesper for Bond in the novel "Diamonds Are Forever", albeit with Cresta Blanca in place of Kina Lillet, which Bond politely remarks is the "Best Vermouth I ever tasted." It may be that Fleming decided not to have Bond order a Vesper again due to the way in which "Casino Royale" ends. In actuality, the book version of the "Vesper" was created by Fleming's friend Ivar Bryce. In Bryce's copy of "Casino Royale" Fleming inscribed "For Ivar, who mixed the first "Vesper" and said the good  word." In his book "You Only Live Once", Bryce details that Fleming was first served a "Vesper", a drink of a frozen rum concoction with fruit and herbs, at evening drinks by the butler of an elderly couple in Jamaica, the Duncans, the butler commenting, "'Vespers' are served." Vespers or evensong is the sixth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office and are observed at sunset, the 'violet hour', Bond's later chosen hour of fame for his martini "Vesper". However, the cocktail has been misrecorded after mishearing the name in several instances, resulting in its being alternatively  named 'Vespa'. Contemporary versions. Since Kina Lillet was discontinued in 1986 and the proof of Gordon's Gin was cut in 1992, the original recipe can no longer be made exactly. Substitutes can be made that attempt to recapture the original flavour of the drink: "Esquire" printed the following update of the recipe in 2006: Shake (if you must) with plenty of cracked ice. 3 oz Tanqueray gin, 1 oz 100-proof [50%] Stolichnaya vodka, oz Lillet Blanc, teaspoon (or less) quinine powder or, in desperation, 2 dashes of bitters. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist a large  swatch of thin-cut lemon peel over the top. The recipe concluded, "Shoot somebody evil."