Moonraker

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“‘Could I have a dry Martini?’ he said. ‘Made with Vodka. Large slice of lemon peel.’ ‘Rot-gut,’ commented M. briefly as the waiter went away.” —Chapter 4

Published: 1955. Printed in the United States as Too Hot to Handle.

Overview: Seemingly a British patriot, but really a vengeful Nazi, Sir Hugo Drax plans to destroy London with a nuclear-tipped missile named the Moonraker. Only James Bond can stop the countdown to doom. The novel includes one of the more memorable drinking and dining sequences in the series, the dinner with M at Blades.

What does Bond drink?

• Following his meeting with M, Bond has lunch in the officer’s canteen, and drinks half a carafe of white Bordeaux.
• As they prepare to play Piquet at Blades, M orders a whisky and soda, and Bond asks for a dry vodka martini with a large slice of lemon peel. M disapproves.
• After they order dinner, M asks Grimley the wine-waiter for some vodka, and remarks to Bond, “Not the stuff you had in your cocktail. This is real pre-war Wolfschmidt from Riga.” Saying he’s too old for champagne, M then orders a half-bottle of Mouton Rothschild ’34. He tells Bond that Blades has some good champagnes, but that it doesn’t carry 007’s beloved Taittinger. After dismissing the brand as just a “fad,” Bond asks Grimley for a recommendation, and the wine-waiter suggests a Dom Perignon ’46.
• When the vodka arrives in a frosted carafe, M pours three fingers of the liquor for 007. Bond then takes a pinch of pepper and drops it in the vodka. Most of it settles to the bottom, but 007 uses his fingertip to dab up the remaining grains on the surface, and then knocks back the vodka. M gives him a look of “ironical inquiry.” Bond explains it’s a trick he learned while he was attached to the embassy in Moscow. The dash of pepper sends poisonous fusel oil from badly distilled vodka to the bottom of the glass. He adds that he got to like the taste, “But I shouldn’t have insulted the club Wolfschmidt.” M remarks, “So long as you don’t put pepper in Basildon’s favourite champagne.”
• So what does 007 do to Basildon’s favorite champagne? He adds powdered Benzedrine to a glass of it, stirs the mixture with a scrap of toast, and drinks it in one long swallow. “It doesn’t taste...and the champagne is quite excellent.” M comments, “It’s your funeral.” As the dinner draws to a close, Bond finishes the bottle of champagne.
• During the bridge game, all four men enjoy cigars, coffee and the club brandy. As M explains, the liquor comes from one of the Rothschild estates at Cognac, which provides one barrel to Blades every year. During World War Two, they hid the yearly barrels from the Germans, sending them all when the war ended in 1945. “Ever since then we’ve been drinking doubles.”
• At the beginning of the bridge game, Bond allows Drax to goad him into overbetting. After cursing his own impulsiveness, 007 thinks “Champagne and benzedrine! Never again.”
• As the match progresses, M asks if anyone wants a drink. He offers Bond another bottle of champagne, remarking “The second bottle always tastes better.” 007 takes up the offer, while M, Drax and Meyer all order whisky and soda. When the champagne arrives, Bond drains the first glass, in an ongoing effort to convince Drax that he’s drunk and reckless. A little later, he drinks down a second glass.
• Major Tallon was shot and killed by Egon Bartsch in “World Without Want,” a public house near Dover. The Ministry of Supply security officer was drinking a whisky and soda at the time. The next day, Bond stops in at the Inn’s private bar, where he orders a large whisky and soda. The bartender gives him two measures of Black & White in a glass along with a syphon of soda. The bartender reveals that when the shooting occurred, he dropped a pint he was serving to a customer onto the floor.
• When Bond meets with Drax in the house at the Moonraker complex, Drax asks Krebs to prepare his “Excellent dry martinis.” Krebs returns with a tray with four of the cocktails for 007, Drax, Gala Brand and himself (Dr. Walter does not drink). Bond thinks the martini is excellent, and says so. Drax asks Krebs to fill up Bond’s glass.
• Following the attempt on their lives on the beach, Bond and Gala Brand walk to St. Margaret’s, where they have stiff brandy and sodas. Bond drinks three, Gala has two.
• As he waits for Gala at his “favourite restaurant table in London,” Bond has two dry vodka martinis with large slices of lemon peel.
• After Bond and Gala use the blowtorch to free themselves, he searches Drax’ office and finds a half-full bottle of Haig and Haig scotch in the desk. He pours three-quarters of a glass and drinks it down in two gulps. As he smokes, 007 feels the “Liquor burn down through his stomach into his legs.” When Gala returns from the bathroom, he pours her a glass, refills his own, and they both drink. Bond plans to have another drink before going out and blowing up the Moonraker.

The morning after: When he reports to work after his big night at Blades, Bond feels dreadful, suffering from a headache, as well as “Acidity and liver...the bitter taste of the midnight hours...still with him.” Later, M observes “You look pretty dreadful, 007.”

Other people’s drinks:

• When Bond opens during the final rubber, Basildon is so startled, he drops his whisky and soda on the floor, breaking the glass.
• When Bond and Gala enter Drax’ dining room (following the attempt on their lives), Krebs is so stunned to see them that he pours wine down his chin and onto his chest. When Krebs later faints, Drax tries to explain it by saying the German drinks too much.

Brand names: Taittinger, Dom Perignon, Mouton Rothschild, Wolfschmidt vodka, Black & White scotch whisky, and Haig and Haig scotch whisky.

Other observations:

• As Bond decides how to spend the £15,000 he won from Drax, he considers buying several dozen bottles of Taittinger.
• Blades is based on Boodle’s, a St. James’s Street men’s club to which Ian Fleming belonged.

Total: 18. At least one glass of white Bordeaux wine, three vodka martinis, a glass of straight vodka, at least four glasses of Dom Perignon ’46 (although Bond drinks two entire bottles), a cognac, a whisky and soda, two martinis (probably gin), three brandy and sodas, and two straight scotches.