Vesper is the James Bond Martini variation combining gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc. It is shaken hard and served very cold.
Shake gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc with ice until very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with one thin lemon peel twist.
Serve up in a chilled martini glass with one lemon peel twist. The Vesper should look pale, cold, and severe, with the lemon oil adding aroma while the glass keeps the focus on the gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc structure.
Pair it with oysters, caviar, smoked salmon, olives, salted almonds, or dry canapes. Its high strength, citrus aroma, and bitter-wine edge work best with briny, salty, and clean aperitif food.
The Vesper was introduced in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale and named after Vesper Lynd. Its fame comes from that literary origin, but its structure also matters: gin leads, vodka sharpens the body, and Lillet Blanc replaces the usual vermouth role with a softer wine-citrus note.
Best for spirit-forward aperitif drinking, literary-themed menus, formal cocktail service, and moments where the drink should feel colder, stronger, and more austere than a softer gin-and-vermouth serve.
Gin provides botanicals and juniper, vodka adds clean strength and chill, Lillet Blanc softens the edges with wine and citrus, and lemon peel brightens the nose. The finish should be dry, strong, and aromatic.
Strong, cold, elegant, literary, and uncompromising.
Use Cocchi Americano for a more bitter historical approximation of older Kina Lillet. Keep the gin-forward balance intact; too much vodka makes the Vesper cleaner but less aromatic.
31%
⚠️ Alcoholic beverage: not suitable for minors, pregnant individuals, or designated drivers. Please enjoy responsibly.
Start from the ingredient that shapes this recipe before moving into broader style, method or glassware lists.
Same ingredient inside the Spirit-Forward style.
Follow the same category, preparation method or glassware logic to compare drinks that behave like Vesper in a specific way.
Cocktails in the Spirit-Forward category prepared with the shaken method.
Cocktails in the Spirit-Forward category served in a martini glass.
Cocktails that combine a spirit-forward profile, the shaken method, and service in a martini glass.
These routes use ingredient pairs that actually appear in Vesper and group cocktails with the same pairing logic.
Cocktails where Gin and Vodka appear together in the recipe structure.
Next paths
Choose the next route by style, method, glass or ingredient.
Browse all recipes A–Z
See more from this style
Explore cocktails built the same way
Find serves in this glass
Explore drinks where Gin shapes the recipe.
Learn the spirits, liqueurs, and mixers in our index
