| from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday |
 From his cool looks to his love of the latest gadgets, Bond is the ultimate role model. But for bartenders, it's his passion for the perfect cocktail that has made him a hero. Richard Ehrlich visits four cool bars and asks, what would you serve 007? The James Bond in Ian Fleming's novels has a steady hand, a cool head, and a cast-iron liver. He is an expert on cognac, a connoisseur of champagne and a whisky aficionado. But the action hero's name is most closely associated with the Martini. Bond's connection with Martinis begins in Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, where he orders a drink that has outraged Martini purists ever since. It's a Martini, but one made to his specifications: three measure of Gordon's, a measure of vodka, and half a measure of Kina Lillet, a French apéritif liqueur formerly containing quinine. The drink is to be shaken and served with a slice of lemon. Bond names it the Vesper Martini. What's wrong with this? Plenty, according to purists. Gin and vodka mixed - no. Lillet instead of vermouth - no again. And shaken, rather than stirred - you've got to be kidding. When Ian Fleming created James Bond in 1952, the world at large had not yet awakened to the beauties of the Martini. Nowadays, of course, Martinis, cocktail bars and vodka are big business. They've become the domain of ordinary mortals. And that makes me wonder how Bond would have adapted. What would he be drinking, and where would he drinking it? And if we ordinary folk want to emulate his echt-coolness, what should we ordering? We put these questions to superb bartenders at four of London's best bars. |