The Vesper Edition

Anita Schillhorn van Veen (ASVV) is a friend of WITI and has a few other WITIs under her belt (Climate Tourism & Utopias). She’s a proud Dutch citizen who runs strategy at McKinney Los Angeles, and writes her own newsletter, which you can read here.

Anita here.(ASVV).

Earlier this year I visited fellow WITI-writer Steve Bryant in his home city of Mexico City. We took a long walk / adventure to Lago Algo, a gorgeous art-filled restaurant on a lake in the famous Chapultapec Park. “Do you like Vespers?” Steve asked upon reviewing the cocktail menu, and having never had one, my only answer was to try it.

Since then the Vesper has become one of my staple drinks. It is a martini, kind of. It’s elegant, clear and icy and flowery, with a wisp of lemon peel. It’s refreshing and summery, more feminine than the muscular umami flavor of, say, a dirty martini. It’s perfect for watching swans on a lake at an art venue in CDMX, but also for opening up your palate for a delicious dinner. But what makes this drink extra special is its origin story, invented by the king of martinis -- James Bond. 

Bond of course is the ultimate connoisseur of the martini. Ian Fleming first wrote up the Vesper in Casino Royale, in 1953, with Bond directing a bartender with a set of specifics: "Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it? ... This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name. " 

So the gist is 3 parts Gin to 1 part Vodka, and with a 1/2 part Lillet instead of the typical dry vermouth in a classic martini. The Lillet lends the refreshing floral note, and gives the botanicals in the gin a lovely boost. The fun comes from trying different gins in this drink, and even trying different garnishes beyond lemon; LA restaurant Saffy’s makes a delicious one with rose petals. 

And the name? Well, later in the novel, Bond meets Vesper Lynd, a beautiful double agent, who becomes the namesake for his invention.

Why is this interesting? 

Discovering a new-to-you drink is always a little wade into history - and when that history includes James Bond, it’s even more fascinating. Apparently Ian Fleming had never tried this particular mix, and when he did, declared it unpalatable. But, like a modern influencer, Bond held sway over the public, and the Vesper made its way onto bar menus and into people’s gullets. 

This was an early example of products going from page or screen to IRL. Other examples of this include Bubba Gump’s Shrimp, jumping from Forrest Gump to a cheesy outdoor mall near you; Soylent, a product (but hopefully not a recipe) inspired by the film Soylent Green; and the Flaming Moe, a recipe of everything at the bottom of your liquor cabinet straight from the Simpsons. 

The drink has evolved from Bond’s original strict recipe. These days, Kina Lilet is no longer made. Kinas were a form of liqueur with quinine in it, and the Kina Lilet was discontinued when the particular bitter taste of quinine fell out of favor in the 1980s. (Quinine flavor, of course, is still attainable in tonic water, and is a great companion to gin). The current Lillet blanc, more flowery and less bitter, is used instead, although those who seek to replicate the original more closely can turn to a bitter like Cocchi Americano or Kina L’Aero. 

I hope that Vespers take on the creativity that gin and tonics have over the last decade, where the explosion of possibilities with different gins, tonics and garnishes have led to an inventiveness that has kept many a Spanish bar afloat. 

Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Anita (ASVV)

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