The James Bond Films

“You can watch it all on TV. It’s the last program you’re likely to see.”
—Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Movie audiences got their first look at James Bond in 1962. Twenty-one films (and somewhere around four billion dollars) later, Agent 007 is the most popular fictional character of all time. Like his literary counterpart, the silver screen version of 007 inherited his drinking habits from his creator, Ian Fleming. Exposed to vodka during his time as a correspondent in the Soviet Union, Fleming loved martinis. But he enjoyed a lot of other drinks as well, including bourbon, pink gins and the tropical libations native to his second home in Jamaica.

So, why is 007 best-known as a martini drinker? There are two reasons. First, EON's first Bond film was Dr. No. In the novel, vodka martinis figure prominently during 007's encounter with the eponymous villain. If the first Bond film had been, say, Goldfinger, where he drinks a lot of Kentucky's finest, we might today only know 007 as a bourbon drinker.

Second, although the literary 007 drank many vodka martinis long before 1962, it was the product placement of Smirnoff vodka in Dr. No that truly put the cocktail on the map. (One interesting note: those aren't actual drinks you're seeing in the early Bond movies. The filmmakers substituted ginger ale for champagne, watered-down coffee for whiskey, and pure water for all those martinis.)

In a time when vodka accounts for a quarter of all liquor drinks sold in the U.S., it's hard to remember when it was unpopular, even slightly dangerous to drink it. During the early part of the Cold War, Americans steered clear of anything Russian (heck, in those days, Chicken Chow Mein was edgy cuisine). But by the early 1960s, economic success and growing globalization led to new attitudes. Bond's love of vodka, the very drink of his enemies in the Soviet Union, resonated with audiences. This idiosyncracy made 007 more worldly and complex, a man willing to do whatever it took to better understand and ultimately defeat his foes. By drinking his vodka in the form of martinis, he added an additional layer of sophistication, which also appealed to movie-goers.

In the early films, Bond consumed a variety of alcoholic beverages. In fact, Connery’s 007 samples at least ten distinct drinks. Bond may have had his favorites, but like most of us, he also enjoyed many others. This began to change as 007’s libations became part of his mythology, as integral as the Walther PPK or his doomed marriage to Tracy. Today, the strict adherence to this formula has meant that Bond almost never strays from vodka, champagne or straight whiskey. Even the martini has been distilled: in Dr. No, 007 drinks exacting medium-dry concoctions with lemon peel; by the Brosnan era, it’s simply a vodka martini, shaken and not stirred.

The films, like Ian Fleming, once used alcoholic beverages to emphasize the exotic locations to which Bond travels. In the same way we might enjoy a Japanese beer with sushi, 007 drinks raki in Turkey, or bourbon in Kentucky. This performed a double purpose, adding authenticity while at the same time providing the viewer with a vicarious thrill. Unfortunately, Bond now drinks the same Bollinger champagne when in Baku or the Bahamas.

During this section, we'll answer often inscrutable Bondian alcohol questions, such as, what is Bons Bois? Or raki? Or solera? Should sake really be served at 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit? And the puzzler of them all—has 007 ever had a beer? We’ll also compare and contrast the drinking scenes that come straight from the Fleming books. Pay attention, and maybe—just maybe—you'll know what drink to order the next time you find yourself across the baccarat table from an international criminal mastermind.