A Martini Worthy of James Bond: Dukes Bar, London

Where in London would the fictional James Bond drink a Martini.  Lots of choices.  There’s even a bar in Covent Garden called “The Dirty Martini.”  Perish the thought.  J.B. has class.   So did his creator, Ian Fleming.  Dirty Martini?  Chocolate Martini?  Piffle and twaddle!

I know exactly where Fleming went to relax, chat with pals and slake his thirst:  Dukes Bar at the Dukes Hotel.  I’m not sure many people know all that much about Fleming himself, certainly not as much as they know about his creation.

To say Fleming lived a life of adventure is to grossly understate the case.  Womanizer, booted from this school and that, including the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.   Studied abroad briefly at the Universities of Munich and Geneva.  Stockbroker: failure.  Banker: failure.  Applied for the Foreign Office:  Couldn’t pass the exam. Royal Navy Intelligence Officer: great success.  Had multitudinous affairs, including with the woman he later married, whom was at the time married to another.

The first Bond book, Casino Royale was published in 1952 and the rest is a story of more affairs and even more success as a writer.  Fleming came from a wealthy family (Banking) and it’s no wonder he drank in the small, but elegant bar at Dukes Hotel, London.  It’s said that in Dukes Bar, he coined the phrase “Shaken not stirred.”

Although he frequently was thought of by the intelligentsia, as his wife said, “A writer of cheap pornography,” in 2008 The Times ranked him as 14^th on a list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945.  His lack of a writer’s prestige didn’t seem to bother him:  “I’m not in the Shakespeare stakes.  I have no ambition.”

On to James Bond’s Martini, as taken from the pages of Casino Royale:

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. 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?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

As we all remember, James also drinks regular gin and vermouth Martinis, as well as vodka Martinis.  But, the Vesper Martini is the one most remembered.

So, of course, being in London and ever so slightly above the drinking age, I had to visit Dukes Bar, settle into a leather armchair and have a debonair, Italian barman in a white dinner jacket, roll a cart to my table and build me an Ian Fleming Vesper Martini. I was stirred, not shaken by the experience.

Is it the same recipe as written by Ian Fleming in Casino Royale?  Close, but not quite.

The nibbles in Dukes are superb!

In the first place, the Dukes version is neither shaken nor stirred.  The glass, the gin, and the vodka are frozen for 24 hours.  No ice is used. 

3 Measures of Fortnum & Mason’s No. 3 Gin (Bond favors Gordon’s or Plymouth gin)

1 Measure of Potocki Polish Vodka

½ Measure of Lillet Blanc  (a French aperitif, similar to vermouth, but a touch sweeter and more flavorful.  It’s no longer labeled as Kina Lillet)

2 drops bitters

A long, thick twist of orange peel

Because no ice is used, the drink is not diluted, giving this concoction the power of the clean-up hitter for the 1927 New York Yankees.  In fact, Dukes places a limit of two Martinis per customer.

Good reason for that.  After just one, I found myself singing Rule Britannia, marching through Mayfair, and needing a guide dog to get me back to my hotel.  Unfortunately, it was not Vesper, the Bond Girl doing the leading.

So how do you make this concoction?

Put the drops of bitters in the frozen glass, add the Lillet, then the gin, and finally the vodka.  Carve off a healthy swath of orange peel, give it a twist and slip it into the glass.  Presto, you will be irresistible to women, lose all fear of men with guns, and remain calm, even when walking on narrow planks several hundred feet in the air.   I really like this drink! 

Of course, these magic personality enhancements don’t come cheap.  $27 per glass at today’s exchange rates.  Who cares?  M will always cough up a few more quid.

But, that’s not the end of the story.  Naturally, back home, I made a glass for my girlfriend (who insists on calling herself my wife) and one for me.  But, not having a bar stock worthy of Dukes Hotel, I made a few changes.

Liquors and glasses straight from the freezer!

2 Parts Dutch gin, 35% alcohol

1 Part cheap vodka, 40% alcohol

½ Part Lillet Blanc (given the popularity of Jimmy Bond, it should be available locally)

1 Large curl of orange peel

Didn’t have any bitters handy and given my demanding thirst, I didn’t race to the store.

Bottom Line…or should that be Bottle Line?  Excellent!  And just as it was at Dukes, one was enough.

When we arrived, the bar was almost empty.  That soon changed!

Plymouth Gin: From Plymouth, England, of course!

Let’s talk about gin.  I don’t mean just any gin.  Must be thousands of them and more on the market everyday.  Let’s chat about Plymouth Gin, made in Plymouth, England, in the oldest gin distillery in Britain.  Plymouth is one of those geographical contrivances.  Like Cognac and Champagne in France, if the gin isn’t made in Plymouth, you can’t use the town's name.

Why talk about Plymouth Gin specifically?  Oh lots of reasons.  History. Romance.  Need more reasons?  Wow, you are so jaded!

Ever wonder where the word gin came from?  Sure you did, you’re just ashamed to admit it.  Let’s go back to 1688 and the Glorious Revolution that unseated James I and set William and Mary of Orange (Dutch monarchs.) on the throne of Britain. W & M brought an alcoholic beverage with them called jenever shortened to gin. Jenever is the Dutch word for juniper, and juniper berries are what give gin the biggest part of its distinctive flavor. 

Never seen juniper berries?  Sure you have, you just didn’t know it.  Next time you see the common juniper bush, an evergreen shrub growing by so many front doors, notice the little blue-gray berries.  Dig your thumbnail into a berry and presto, you smell the flavor of gin.

Gin really took off once it hit the English royal court.  Even in Plymouth, there were lots of gin stills, but only one is left, Black Friars Distillery.

When you start peeling the onion of English history, it’s tough to know when to shut up and start drinking.  But, you’ve got to hear a word about Black Friars Distillery.

The building dates to the early 1400s.  It’s been a monastery, a debtor’s prison, a meeting hall for French Huguenots, and in 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers spent their last night there before heading across the briny to the New World.

Which brings us to 1793 and the start of the gin business.  Plymouth is still made the same way it’s always been made.  Seven botanicals bring the original Plymouth gin its distinctive flavor, but there’s also Plymouth Navy Strength (114 Proof!), which for years, along with Pusser’s Rum, sailed on every British naval vessel.  The third Plymouth Gin is Sloe Gin, flavored with sloe berries from the blackthorn bush and sugar.

http://plymouthgin.com/index.php

Ok, ok, you’re saying, where’s the romance?  Devious sexual practices?  Dark cellars of the soul?  You’ve heard of James Bond.  Doesn’t get much sexier than that.  Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming served in Naval Intelligence in the Second World War and he also liked martinis.  Notice how Bond likes his martinis shaken, not stirred?  Same with Ian Fleming, who used to inhabit the bar at Duke’s Hotel, St James, London.  His preference? Plymouth Gin, of course.  Dukes is still the most famous place for martinis in London.  Fancy an overnight?  The least expensive rooms go for about $535.  Suites are over $2000.  Add another thousand if you want the penthouse.

But if all you want to do is learn to make the perfect martini, enroll in Duke’s Martini Masterclass.  http://www.dukeshotel.com/foodanddrink

Besides Ian Fleming, let’s not forget Winston Churchill, one of the world’s most notable drinkers, be it Cognac, Champagne, or gin.  His choice?  Take a wild one!  During the Second World War, French vermouth was almost impossible to obtain.  Sir Winston took to drinking his gin, with a perfunctory nod toward the French coast.

How about Plymouth’s Original Gin itself?  Smooth.  Juniper tones, of course, but without the wildness or harshness of most gins.  Once you try it, you’ll understand why Black Friars Distillery didn’t just fade away like hundreds of other English gin distilleries.

1793 was just the beginning of a long journey that leads to today.

What kind of martini do you favor?  Lots of them out there, but the traditional is all I need.  A measure of Plymouth gin.  A third measure of Martini clear vermouth.  Shaken with ice, not stirred……OF COURSE!  Pour it in a martini glass. Add three olives speared on a toothpick and enjoy...........The name is Stroud... William Stroud.

A few more Martini Cocktails from The Savoy

You need this cocktail Bible in your library!

‘Tis the Season To Be Drinking!

Ok, I know there’s more to the holidays than merry spirits.  But, an opportunity is an opportunity.

I’ve got two libations to show you that thrive in this festive season.  Both are from England (sort of), but approach merriment from two different sides of the Atlantic:  Gin and Rum.

Noticed that the distilled spirit pundits have begun to edge away from Scotch whiskey and toward other ways to celebrate?  The Scotch whiskey song has been played so often the CD is thin and the ears weary.  Now we’re seeing a breakaway into more fashionable quarters.  First, vodka (mostly the bottles, in my opinion) showed new colors, new designs, and newly enhanced prices. 

I’m beginning to see the same curtains being pulled back in two more interesting areas.  Come ‘on now!  Once you’ve added lime or other flavoring to Vodka, what more can you do?  Triple distilled, quadruple distilled.  Gonna move on to completely dehydrated vodka?  For me, if you say Tito’s, you’ve said all you need to say about vodka.

Enough beating around the juniper bush!  Let’s move on to two of my new favorites, the first being The Botanist, a gin from Scotland, and more exactly from the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay.  Yeah, but gin is gin, n’est pas?  Oh, bite your tongue! Your taste buds have been neutered.  Traditionally, gin is a neutral spirit, flavored with juniper berries.  The Botanist goes far beyond that.  Two species of juniper go into the mix, along with twenty-two other herbs, all but two of which are harvested in the local area by two botanists.

Fine.  But, does all this rigmarole make a difference in the flavor?  Yes. 

It’s not that I can take a sip and suddenly pronounce all the Latin names, but my taste buds get a whisper of gin, instead of a hard bite.  That’s true whether I’m slow-sipping a marvelous martini, or nursing a gin and tonic.  There’s also a certain amalgamation of flavors that both calms and satisfies.  When I tried my first gin and tonic made with The Botanist, my melodious remarks were:  smoooooth, and flavorful.  In fact, The Botanist is so smooth, I normally go 1/3 to 2/3, gin to tonic.  Then I add a twist of lemon.  Then I have a second and a third.  (about $35 a bottle in England)

In the realm of rum,  I was drawn to Pusser’s because it’s a vital part of naval history.  First a word about the name.  From 1655 to 1970, a British seaman was given a ‘tot’ of rum a day and the man who dished it out was the Purser, later corrupted to Pusser.  From wooden ships to steel hulls, the Royal Navy floated on Pusser’s.

What happened in 1970?  The Admiralty Board (The Secretary of State For Defense is Chairman) decided that rum had no place in a modern Navy.  I’m thinking the blokes actually doing the fighting didn’t get a vote.  After all, Pusser’s Rum only contributed to victory after victory over several centuries.  Good reason to change.  And, what direction has the British Navy sailed since.  Downhill is a good guess.  Not the seamen, I might add, just the Royal Navy, as dictated by government rogues. Today, the once might Royal Navy has only 19 surface warships, including 1 helicopter carrier, and 10 submarines.

On July 31, 1970, referred to as “Black Tot Day, men raised their glasses as a long, unbroken tradition of the sea was cast aside.  They could have been drinking to the demise of the Royal Navy as well.

Thank god, the Admiralty Board didn’t have a say in ringing this marvelous rum’s death knell!  It’s still the only rum blended in accordance with the exact
Royal Navy specifications in place in 1970.  And unlike many rums, there’s nothing artificial about Pusser’s, not color and not flavor.

I’ve had plenty of rum, mostly from Puerto Rico, but also from various other spots around the Caribbean. Why there?  Rum is made from sugar cane.  ‘Nuff said. Haven’t had any that were  undrinkable, but neither have I had one that stirred me, made me purse my lips and scream, “Ahoy!”

Pusser’s is special.  A deep caramel color.  It’s also smooth as glass.  Often I sip it straight, as I would any other fine whiskey.  I like to let the aroma surround me, and the taste gently fade at the end of each sip.

Pusser’s Rum is bottled in Barbados, in the British Virgin Islands*, from stills in both Trinidad and Guyana.  Barbados has a strong tie to the United States.  Most planters and most of the early slaves came to South Carolina directly from that island.  There are lots of other Barbados rums and I admit I haven’t tried another.  This one is enough.  Not sure if my heart and my taste buds could handle anything better.  Pusser’s makes several varieties.  I drink the 42% alcohol variety.  ($18 a bottle)

     

   * Yes, it says British Virgin Islands on the bottle, but in fact every country I mentioned is independent, since the 1960s.