007 Drink: Americano

Drink: Americano
Bond book appearances: Casino Royale (1953), From Russia With Love (1957), From a View to a Kill (1960), Devil May Care (2008)
Experience of 007 Travelers: At home

The Americano is an IBA official cocktail composed of Campari, sweet vermouth, and for the sparkling version, club soda and garnished with a slice of lemon. The cocktail was first served in creator Gaspare Campari’s bar, Caffè Campari, in the 1860s. It is the direct descendant of the “Milano-Torino” which consisted of Campari, the bitter liqueur from Milan (Milano) and Punt e Mes, the vermouth from Turin (Torino) but lacked soda water. This drink was itself a descendant of the “Torino-Milano”, a concoction consisting of equal parts Campari and Amaro Cora.

It is the first drink ordered by James Bond in the first novel in Ian Fleming’s series, “Casino Royale” (1953). In “From Russia With Love” (1957), Bond drinks “two excellent Americanos” in Rome during his flight to Istanbul. In the short story “From a View to a Kill” (1960), Bond chooses an Americano as an appropriate drink for a mere café; suggesting that “in cafés you have to drink the least offensive of the musical comedy drinks that go with them.” Bond always stipulates Perrier, for, in his opinion, expensive soda water was the cheapest way to improve a poor drink. See more here (Wikipedia).

“He contented himself with buying a suitably risqué postcard for Moneypenny and went to a small pavement café on rue des Bourdonnais to write it. He ordered an Americano-Campari, Cinzano, lemon peel and Perrier–not because he particularly liked it, but because a French café was not a place in his view for a serious drink. It was surprisingly good, the zest of the lemon cutting through the sweetness of the vermouth, and Bond felt almost fully restored as he left some coins on the zinc-topped table and stood up. He would double back, cross the river at the Pont Neuf and walk slowly towards the Dôme. He had time to kill.”

Sebastian Faulks: “Devil May Care” (2008)

See more 007 DRINKS here