Shaken, Not Stirred - my favourite tipples from the world of James Bond.

'Maybe I misjudged Stromberg. Any man who drinks Dom Perigean '52 can't be all bad' - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Unsure whether you have noticed or not, but there is another Bond film coming out.
SPECTRE, Daniel Craig's fourth outing as the legendary 007 opens in cinema's on 26th October...do you have your tickets booked?  We sure do!

A lot of people know me to be quite a geek, with a love of all things superhero, Doctor Who etc.  Many of you will know me for my love of beer.  However, my biggest passion is the franchise goliath that is James Bond.

Still taken from Goldfinger via Getty Images 

Ever since I opened a VHS copy of Goldeneye & Dr No at Christmas and saw the Q-Boat chase of The World Is Not Enough in the cinema (I am only 26 after all) I have been obsessed with the giant that is the worlds longest running movie franchise.  Even featuring it when discussing the role of British film franchises in cinema for my university dissertation, so it is safe to assume my excitement of seeing 007 come up against an old enemy in the form of the villainous organisation that is SPECTRE.

Throughout the cinematic history of 007 (and even in the novels), alcohol has played a huge part in James Bond's lifestyle. Whether it to be a way to showcase his lavish lifestyle, a way to figure out a villain in plain sight (Red Grant in From Russia With Love 'Red wine with fish, that should have told me something') or even as a blatant piece of product placement. Here I will discuss my favourite tipples from the James Bond franchise.

First up I will start with the champagne. From dining with colleagues and villains, to (mostly) accompanying him to bed with one of his many Bond Girls, champagne is present in almost all the James Bond films.
'Bollinger? If it is a '69, you were expecting me' - Moonraker
I have to admit, I first purchased a bottle of Champagne Bollinger purely after seeing 007 drink it, I was not disappointed in the taste! I remember having some friends over many years ago where we drank a bottle watching a Roger Moore 007 film. Sometimes the bottle is hidden in the back of shot, however I can remember at least three times where it was blatantly in shot of the camera...my favourite being the champagne cooler built into Pierce Brosnan's DB5.
Champagne Bollinger has been present in the James Bond films since Roger Moore in Live And Let Die and continues to pop up even now into Daniel Craig's era.
Due to the iconic connotations of Bollinger, the brand has taken up the 007 logo on many limited edition bottles...something that I have yet to have the joy of purchasing. For SPECTRE, Bollinger have released a limited edition Crystal cooler. at £4500 it is certainly not cheap, but one for the collectors.

Image taken from JamesBondLifestyle.com.

Bollinger SPECTRE 007 Limited Edition Crystal cooler

with Bollinger R.D. 1988 Magnum bottle.

photo © Champagne Bollinger

So Bollinger is still Bond's Champagne of choice, however he has not always had such a tie to one brand. Another famous Champagne seen in the films is Dom Perignon. This champagne was present from Sean Connery to Roger Moore. I have not yet had the opportunity to sample this tipple so I can not really comment on it...when ever I see a bottle in Selfridges it is at least £100 more than my budget for that day.  However what I love about the inclusion of this brand is that 007 uses it many times to comment on his adversaries...or even just to impress a woman.

'My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perigean '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees fahrenheit. Thats as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs' - Goldfinger (1964)

Moving on to the most famous of James Bond's tipples...the Martini
Iconically ordered by Sean Connery in Dr No to be 'shaken, not stirred' this quote can not be said without trying to imitate Sean's Scottish accent. As Daniel Craig's films aimed to take 007 back to how Fleming wrote him it was natural to bring the recipe of 007's own version of the drink into the films. In Casino Royale, 007 orders a Vodka Martini with:
'Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel'
This is then named the Vesper...which is now top of the list of the Martini section in many cocktail bars in Leeds...even though one ingredient Kina Lillet is no longer available. As I have never had a Martini containing Kina Lillet I have never actually had a Vesper, but many bars just add vermouth. The first time I ordered a Vesper was whilst trying to impress Liz in Harvey Nichols on Valentines Day...she is still with me so didn't scare her off, which was probably down to holding in the Connery accent. On a personal level though, I have to say I generally order a gin martini as opposed to 007's vodka martini, which I now find strange how for years Bond ordered 'vodka martini' when the Vesper contains two parts Gordons....anyway I digress.
Just a note for those in Leeds, the 360 Bar in Trinity Kitchen does an amazing Martini with Bombay Sapphire, the barman even attempted a Connery accent!

Finally I wanted to discuss the alcohol that Bond drinks which are clearly paid for by the company themselves. Now I have nothing against this, product placement in movies is more often than not a vital way of the producers being able to actually finance the film...my favourite moment being when Bond first meets Vesper in Casino Royale when she is literally sizing up 007. Vesper comments on his expensive watch 'what is it...Rolex?' to which Bond replies 'Omega' with the face of the watch facing the camera...they could have just taken that clip for Omega's ad campaign. In Skyfall there was a small uproar about Bond drinking Heineken. Beer has been present in several of the films, but not really associated with the 'gentleman spy' image. However Daniel Craig has openly commented how Skyfall could not have been made without the advertising funds...I think I read that Heineken paid £30million ! Luckily Bond takes a few swigs before drinking a Scotch with Silva.
In SPECTRE Bond will be drinking Belvedere vodka, whether he will actually request the brand or whether it is just in the background is currently unknown however the brand are cashing in on their investment with limited edition bottles...is it sad that even though we do not generally drink Vodka in our house I still want a bottle in my bar?

SPECTRE opens on Monday in the UK...I have booked for Friday so no spoilers on Twitter or Facebook please !!! - Sam

Trembling Madness York

There is something calming about walking around York centre. Yes it is busy, and you are forever being slowed down by groups of tourists, however the old buildings and traditional back street shops have that much character that you can never get tired of.
We popped over to York for no particular reason, just feeling in the mood for a bit of window shopping...and a fat rascal from Betty's!
Cue the exciting look on my face when we walked past a beer shop, not just any beer shop...but the best beer shop in York!
Trembling Madness is situated on Stonegate in York. Walking down the cobbled street you could almost miss it. From the front it looks like just a little shop, but don't let the small shop front deceive you...it is like the Tardis of the beer shop world.
Upon entering you are greeted with a selection of Cider and fridges full of canned favourites from the US & Europe. This room was exciting enough, until we spotted a separate room towards the back. I can not put this room into words so please refer to the pictures! Wall to wall beer, including known brands from all over the world as well as a huge selection of craft beer's from small and local breweries. Their website boats that the store has 5000 different tipples ... WOW !
Not to end there, the stairs downstairs lead to a huge selection of spirits....and upstairs their own bar! How had I never seen this place up until now. Visit their site at http://www.tremblingmadness.co.uk ... or just visit the store!

After about 15 minutes of browsing we finally make a decision as to what tipples we would purchase. Liz went for a cider, not just any cider but Rum & Poached Pear Cider 4% from Blind Pig. The cider had a subtle scent of white rum (reminded me of our 'house' Havana Club from our home bar). The poached pear was quite a subtle but sweet flavour and a welcome addition to the rum. As a cider this was still very refreshing as you would expect. The guys at Blind Pig also do a Whiskey, Honey & Apple Cider and a Bourbon & Blueberry... we will certainly be purchasing these on our next visit.

My choice of beer was a little harder to come across than with Liz and her cider. I think I picked up and put back about 8 different beers before I came to it. I put down a trappist beer, a Thornbridge bottle as well as various different Belgium beers (the reason being I wanted to save that sort of purchasing for our upcoming trip to Bruges). As we were in York I finally decided to pick something local. The York Chocolate Stout 5.9% from Rudgate brewery does exactly what it says on the tin. Sometimes I find that chocolate stouts are a bit too heavy and should be saved for a day when you are 'just having one'. This however did not sit too heavy, even with the strong flavour. It had a good mix of sweetness and bitterness that is found in good quality rich chocolate. For a city with such a long chocolate heritage, this really hits the spot.

Next time we visit York we will be taking a bigger beer budget! One thing for sure we will not eat lunch first, as their pub is on our list of places to lunch!

-Sam

n.b following our visit to Trembling Madness it turns out that the Blind Pig Cider is actually made my Heineken...surprising !

First dabble into Sloe Gin

Winter is coming !
What tipple do you most associate with the cold weather, roaring pub fires and the snow. If you are like me you will immediately think of Sloe Gin.
In the village where I grew up the local pub hosted an annual Sloe Gin competition, where the locals would battle out for the tastiest tipple of the year. Working behind the bar was always a benefit as I managed to sneak many samples throughout the night...this began my taste for Sloe Gin.

Now you can pick up Sloe Gin anywhere nowadays, with Gordons offering their own brand, as well as specialist companies such as SloeMotion. This for me just is not the same, it has to be home made!
So this year I decided to finally (after years of saying 'this year I am going to...) make my own.


The only problem I found that I know nowhere local where I can find hawthorne bushes, so this blog may seem controversial to the purists. I went online and (wait for it) purchased a bag of dehydrated sloe's. They came from amazon at around £7.50 posted, which for someone with no time to go exploring the woods was quite a bargain. The only problem with purchasing these sloe's is that on starting the gin the rich red colour that you usually see is not as rich as you would expect, at this stage a purply grey... I am sure in time it will get better!



So the recipes:
I decided to make two different tipples, a conventional Sloe Gin & a Christmas version.
You need (makes two gin's):
500g Sloe Berries
500g Caster Sugar
1litre Gin (cheaper the better...apparently)
2x flip top jars (found for less than £2 each in IKEA)
2x months of patience



Simply, take 250g of sloes (if you buy dehydrated make sure you soak and wash them thoroughly, then leave to soak in warm water overnight...just to rehydrate them). Add the sloes to the jar, followed by 250g of caster sugar and half a litre of gin. It is as simple as that !

For my Christmassy Gin I used the above recipe and added a cinnamon stick and a couple of whole star anise....little bit on an experiment.
All in all, for all the ingredients (inc the Xmas spices) it cost just under £20.

Following this leave the jars out of direct sunlight and turn every couple of days. After approximately 2 months strain out the gin, rebottle and enjoy...maybe with a mince pie!
Once we completed the Sloe Gin, we still had a lot of sloe's left...so out came our untouched bottle of Smirnoff (for guests as we do not usually have vodka!) and a bottle of Sloe Vodka was added (same recipe just different spirit)

Like I said earlier, the inclusion of the dried sloes is a bit of an experiment...it may or may not work, so come back in two months and lets see what it is like!

-Sam