Who is your favorite James Bond?

[Mannahnin]

You forget the final step. Repeat 8x before lunch, and another 8x before dinner, then 8x before bed.

This could be a fun exercise to try once with a friend, but I know I'd regret it afterward.

 

[Deset Gled]

It's not about martinis, it's about Bond's reaction to danger. He can be physically shaken, but never emotionally stirred.

I like this interpretation.

Another related one is this: It's his way of showing off that he's drinking full strength cocktails. Some people intentionally drink "clear" drinks because you can water them down without being noticed. So at any point you could switch from martinis to water with an olive, and your party friends (or enemy henchmen for Bond) can't tell how many drinks you've had. But if aerating the drink by shaking it makes it cloudy, as has been suggested in this thread, then shaking becomes a way to visually tell people "this is still full strength, because I'm a bad mofo who hates his liver".

Of course, I think both of these are Kessel Run explanations. I'm pretty sure Bond has a signature drink because he's the kind of bougie bro that likes to show off by giving bartenders instructions on how to make his signature drink. The actual cocktail never really mattered.

 

[Mannahnin]

I like this interpretation.

Of course, I think both of these are Kessel Run explanations. I'm pretty sure Bond has a signature drink because he's the kind of bougie bro that likes to show off by giving bartenders instructions on how to make his signature drink. The actual cocktail never really mattered.

These are of a piece, and both pretty good.

Another related one is this: It's his way of showing off that he's drinking full strength cocktails. Some people intentionally drink "clear" drinks because you can water them down without being noticed. So at any point you could switch from martinis to water with an olive, and your party friends (or enemy henchmen for Bond) can't tell how many drinks you've had. But if aerating the drink by shaking it makes it cloudy, as has been suggested in this thread, then shaking becomes a way to visually tell people "this is still full strength, because I'm a bad mofo who hates his liver".

Except a glass of water with ice will also get cloudy if you shake it vigorously. Fun idea, though.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm pretty sure Bond has a signature drink because he's the kind of bougie bro that likes to show off by giving bartenders instructions on how to make his signature drink. The actual cocktail never really mattered.

It turns out all of these supervillains trying to kill him started off as bartenders taking his order.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Of course, I think both of these are Kessel Run explanations. I'm pretty sure Bond has a signature drink because he's the kind of bougie bro that likes to show off by giving bartenders instructions on how to make his signature drink. The actual cocktail never really mattered.

As I alluded to earlier in the thread, the emergence of the "signature" martini for Bond is a movie thing- the books have him drinking more scotch, bourbon, and.... everything else.

As for why it was popular, you have to remember that the UK was still in post-war rationing when the first Bond novels were released, and the idea of this type of consumption was probably some great escapism.

But looking more particularly at why the movie Bond drinks vodka martinis... well, vodka was considered an exotic product in need of an image makeover in the post-WW2 environment. They were doing everything possible, including trying to hype new drinks like the Moscow Mule. And trying to get business people to drink vodka because it didn't have the tell-tale odor of other drinks (so they claimed).


But you know what really worked? Watch Dr. No- that's right, not only the origin of the phrase "shaken, not stirred," but it has a very clear and shot of Smirnoff's vodka.


Marketing does amazing things, don't ya think? Now, don't even get me started on the people drinking Grey Goose.

 

[billd91]

I'm pretty sure Bond has a signature drink because he's the kind of bougie bro that likes to show off by giving bartenders instructions on how to make his signature drink. The actual cocktail never really mattered.

Yes. And if you remember the line in Casino Royale where he specifies Gordon's as a brand, you see that in a number of the books as well. Fleming name drops specific brands to set exactly what kind of consumer Bond is.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Pretending that pure gin or pure vodka are martinis is so weird. Who are they trying to fool and why?

Yeah, it's just not a cocktail at that point. I maintain that a martini requires at least half an ounce of vermouth. I generally go with 2.5/3 oz of gin or vodka to .5 oz of vermouth. For a dirty martini, I could see going as low as .25 oz to make space for the brine, but that's about it.