Quince Vesper

From the Oxford American Dictionary: vesper, ˈvespər | noun; to evening prayer; archaic evening. 

To the Cocktail World the Vesper is the martini version that James Bond introduced in 1953’s
Casino Royale—the first Bond book by Ian Fleming. The cocktail was named for double-agent (and Bond love interest) Vesper Lynd.

The drink takes a gin martini and ramps it up with a dose of vodka. The original recipe (that Bond recites to a bartender in the book) uses Kina Lillet instead of a martini’s typical dry vermouth. Kina Lillet has been replaced by Lillet Blanc – a sweeter variant without the quinine of the original.

Well, since you can’t even obtain the actual ingredients in the original recipe why not just try something completely different – which is what we do with most recipes anyway. We were fortunate to acquire a nice vodka and a lovely quince gin recently and thought that using the Vesper as a template would be a nice way to work with these ingredients. 

First, a word about the portion size. If you stick with the recipe given in the book you will end up with one potent cocktail! The Bond recipe uses 3 ounces of gin and an ounce of vodka with  a half ounce of Lillet. That’s quite a hit of alcohol for one drink! In our version we reduced the gin to 2 ounces, but the cocktail is still not one for light-weights.

Our base spirit is Whitley Neill Quince Gin – which has some sweetness and hints of citrus along with traditional juniper notes. We though that a bitter aperitif worked well alongside this gin (in place of vermouth or Lillet). We happened to have Bittermens Amère Sauvage Gentiane, but the Bittermens aperitif was a limited run, so you may not be able to track it down. Suze would be a comparable substitute. Our other base spirit is Nemiroff Premium Vodka. This Ukrainian vodka has slightly aromatic notes that hold everything in this cocktail in place. 

Our Quince Vesper comes through as a pleasantly complex cocktail to start off an evening. We paired it with a Cocktail Artist original watercolor of Washington National Cathedral. We can hear the Cathedral’s bells from our house (maybe ringing a call to vesper services). 

Cheers!


Quince Vesper

2 ounces Whitley Neill Quince Gin
1 ounce Nemiroff Premium Vodka
½ ounce Bittermens Amère Sauvage Gentiane

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes, and shake well. Strain into a well-chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.


Cathedral in Evening Light - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist


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