Here’s a selection of signature martinis to fit every mood and every palette of this spirit animal constructed on the template of gin—or vodka—and vermouth plus a bit of garnish. Namesake of the special drink of patrons of the Occidental Hotel of San Francisco would be offered before embarking on the ferry to Martinez in Contra Costa, the cocktail has undertaken, with the famous variant occurring in a dialogue the spy has with a barman in Casino Royale, changing his order from a dry martini to a special recipe of his own invention. “Just a moment: three measures of Gordon’s [gin], one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet; shake it very well until its ice cold, then add a large, thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?” Bond adds, “I’m going to patent it when I think of a good name.” Later, he names it in honour of MI6 coworker and double-agent Vesper Lynd. Though perhaps with a bit less of provenance and backstory, we did nonetheless like the inverted variations of the Astoria and Lifetime Ban and elegant Martini Sauvage—gin with chinato liqueur and orange bitters, mixed and chilled overnight.
Sunday, 15 January 2023
shaken, not stirred (10. 417)
Tuesday, 13 December 2022
hot toddy (10. 383)
We quite enjoyed this guide to mastering canon of seasonal classics with instructions for serving the perfect Irish Coffee, Cafรฉ Brรปlot (to serve twenty-four: a bottle of Courvoisier, a bottle of Kirschwasser—cherry brandy, twenty whole cloves, orange zests, six cinnamon sticks, sugar syrup, a bottle of rum and a litre of strong French-roast coffee), the titular medical drink (brandy, lemon juice and ginger syrup) or the indulgent and outmoded Tom & Jerry nineteenth century punch (to serve our twenty-four: a kilogram of refined sugar, a bottle of cognac, a bottle of rum, a litre of whole milk with nutmeg, allspice, cloves and cream of tartar to taste). Click through at the links above for detailed recipes and more holiday libations.
Friday, 4 November 2022
8x8 (10. 271)
make it another, double, old-fashioned please: a definitive, festive guide to whisky cocktails
born in arizona, moved to babylonia: a new book on the King Tut’s parents, Akhenaten and Nefertiti

planchette: the intersection between profit and superstition revisited with a look at the story of the Ouija borad—see previously
toynbee tiles: an enduring urban myth—see previously
they’ve got it all on uhf: Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliff appearing in musical biopic parody of Weird Al Yankovic (previously)
palimpsest: peeling back the layers to rediscover ancient manuscripts recycled as early modern incunabula
limoncello: a doubly lemon aperitif in the ‘Amalfi Dream’
catagories: ⚰️, ๐น, ๐ฌ, ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐, ๐ฅ, archรฆology, Middle East
Wednesday, 12 October 2022
7x7 (10. 216)
negroni sbagliato: your guide to the new hot adult beverage
naked eye: a gallery of some of the best images of microscopic photography from the past year

little big world: a tilt-shift tour of Mรผnchen and Oktoberfest
if pigs could fly: iconic Battersea Power Station reopens to the public as a luxury property development–via Things Magazine
mutual of omaha: superlative wildlife photography
ss23: backless menswear suits seem to be here to stay
Sunday, 31 July 2022
8x8 (10. 027)
รฒgรณgรณrรณ: decolonising a West African palm sap spirit that unfairly unearned the reputation of a cheap gin substitute

smaller footprint: updates on NEOM—the planned vertical skyscaper of Saudi Arabia
hysterical urbanism: a counterpoint to the above—with several historical antecedents
brominated vegetable oil: EU and Japan bans Mountain Dew and Fresca for ingredients that contribute to memory loss
we intend to cause havoc: Andrew McGranahan’s psychedelic posters for Paul McCartney’s 2022 gigs and tours
odonymy: an ongoing project revealing the origin of street names in Los Angeles—via Web Curios
mensascran: comparative studies of university and business cafeterias and canteens around the world—see also—via ibฤซdem
Wednesday, 20 July 2022
the moonwalk (10. 005)
To commemorate the lunar landing on this day in 1969, head barman at the Hotel Savoy’s American Bar Joe Gilmore created a champagne cocktail that ought to be revived, equal parts Grand Marnier and grapefruit juice with a dash of rosewater and topped with champagne. During Gilmore’s long tenure, spanning from when he came in as a trainee at the swanky London establishment in 1940 until his retirement in 1976, he invented many more cocktails for royalty, politicians and other celebrities—including the My Fair Lady to celebrate Julie Andrews’ opening night in the musical (equal parts gin, lemon juice, orange juice and sirop de fraise with a dash of egg white, shaken and strained) and the Link Up for the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975 (Southern Comfort and vodka, tempered with lime juice). More to explore at the links above.
Monday, 16 May 2022
6x6
dandelion wine: slow drinks made with our favourite noxious weed—see also
give that wolf a banana and before that wolf eats my grandma: Norway’s Eurovision entry—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links
stablecoin: the collapse of NFT and crypto markets
for every bear that ever there was: 1984 reportage of Keanu Reeves covering a teddy bear convention for the CBC—via Everlasting Blรถrt
homeostatic awakening: new developments in the Fermi paradox—see previously here and here
quattro bianchi: Italy’s answer to the Long Island Iced Tea packs a wallop
Sunday, 31 October 2021
dia do saci
Designated by an NGO calling themselves amigos of this trickster character of Brazilian folklore to coincide with Halloween as a way to counter American cultural hegemony, the holiday, even where backed with state-support, only enjoys limited recognition and celebration—despite familiarity and popularity of its mascot.
The monopod figure with an enchanted cap and always smoking a pipe, mostly active at night, can be dangerous and malicious—though most pranks are merely annoying—but will grant the wishes of those who trap him or free him, liable to caught in a bottle while disappearing and reappearing in the midst of a whirlwind. Reportedly Saci’s magic cap, according to those who’ve tried to steal it, has an indelibly foul smell and those who’ve handled it can never wash the stench away. Saci can be propitiated with offerings of a libation of cachaรงa and a measure of tobacco for his pipe.
catagories: ๐, ๐น, ๐, ๐, myth and monsters
Sunday, 19 September 2021
make it another old-fashioned please
Friday, 13 August 2021
6x6
clink clink: a snappy little animated short of guests at cocktail hour
samarkand: an East German couple’s tour of Uzbekistan fifty years ago with photography from 1971 and 2021expectation management: a comprehensive look into how the Delta variant changes the pandemic endgame—via Kottke
noah’s violin: the twelve metre long wooden stringed instrument is a floating stage, inaugurated along with Project Moses to protect Venice from flooding
the rural juror: a spoof streaming service (see also)—via JWZ
the effect is shattering: a vodka advertising campaign that became a snow clone
Wednesday, 23 December 2020
8x8
the santaland diaries: a holiday classic from David Sedaris
by jove: more on the complex system of Jupiter and its moons—including Valetudo, which crosses between the prograde and retrograde orbitals—see previously
mimicry and mutualism: the monkey slug caterpillar (Phobetron pithecium, the larva of the hag moth) that evolved to resemble a tarantulawhere do i begin: Erich Segal’s Love Story at fifty
posse commmutatus: a fresh tranche of pardons (previously) from the outgoing and impeached Trump is an assault and insult on justice
tree fm: for those who can’t readily go forest bathing or hug a perennial friend, tune into the soundscape of woods around the world—via Things Magazine
pork-barrel politics: Trump frames riders in COVID aid bill as disgraceful after seven months of contentious negotiation, demands revision
suggested serving: wintry cocktail and hot toddy recipes from eastern Europe
Saturday, 14 November 2020
palรฆomixology
The ever adventurous team of explorers at Atlas Obscura bring us the story of a university palรฆontologist celebrating his first published paper—on archaeopteryx feathers—was taken to commemorate his accomplishment with a signature cocktail for the occasion, sharing the recipe and toasting remotely with his friends and colleagues over a video conference call. Afterwards the hobby bartender was inspired to create more drinks honouring other prehistoric icons including Lucy and a ginkgo mimosa. What other dinosaur and dinosaur-adjacent cocktails might you mix up? Much more to discover at the link up top. Here’s a slightly modified version of the namesake drink of the Urvorgel (see previously) with appropriately German ingredients.
- Two full shot-glasses (a shooter glass—three ounces) worth of black-berry or black currant (Schwarze Johannisbeere) soda or syrup
- One shot Jรคgermeister
- One shot lime juice
- One shot of Stone Fruit (Pfirsich oder รคhnliches) syrup
- One dash of activated charcoal plus 3 dashes of bitters
Mix all the ingredients in a couple (a broader, shallow stemmed flute) glass, saving the charcoal for last and garnish with a black feather—the colour of the plumage (the cocktail by the same name is however brandy, Cointreau, vermouth plus bitters) being one of the conclusions drawn from the paper.
catagories: ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐น, ๐, ๐ฅ, archรฆology
Thursday, 22 October 2020
scarlet gn
Monday, 24 August 2020
the cogito ergo zoom
Via JWZ, mindful that the upcoming fall semester, however classes are held, will be a challenging one for academics, we appreciated this growing list of cocktails from author and historian Philipp Stelzel. Pictured is the Inaccessible Archive:
6cl gin, 2cl green Chartreuse, 3cl fresh orange juice.
Stir and serve with an orange zest.
The recipe notes that the high cost of Chartreuse is offset by not having to go into the physical archives. The titular drink calls for bourbon, tart cherry juice, bitters and simple syrup. I don’t think precise measurements matter—just maintain the proper ratio. Many more to be found at the links up top.
Sunday, 5 July 2020
6x6
tรฉlรฉvision ลil de demain: a prescient 1947 short about the future ubiquity of screens
zeus mode: alternative phone casings featuring accessories including a built-in stun gun
harvey wall-banger adjacent: click on grid mode to see how these cocktail ingredients compare—via Nag on the Lake’s always excellent Sunday Links
corona cosplay: understanding Americans’ aversion to wearing masks—via Duck Soup
we’ll celebrate once we have a reason to celebrate: revisiting (see also) Fredrick Douglass’ 5 July 1852 speech
ipertesto: Agostino Ramelli’s sixteenth century bookwheels recreated by modern designers
catagories: ⚕️, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐น, ๐, ๐ก, ๐, ๐ฑ, ๐ฅ, holidays and observances, revolution
Friday, 21 February 2020
7x7
en nat pรฅ bloksbjerg: the incredible art work of Dutch illustrator Kay Nielsen—see previously, whom contributed to Fantasia but Disney let go
band camp: an overlooked and not unlistenable resource: Can This Even Be Called Music?—via Kicks Condor
theire soe admirable herbe: English colonist discover what the natives have been smoking in seventeenth century India
winter stations: interactive installations of Toronto’s beach to encourage outdoor play in the cold months
cabin-crew: the JFK retro TWA terminal hotel (previously) turns the body of a vintage jet into a bar and museum space
salon d’automne: a neural network trained on cubist art produces an infinite stream of paintings, via Waxy
a parade of earthly delights: scenes from recent annual aquatic celebrations of Jheronimus Bosch (previously) held on the waters of ‘s-Herogenbosch—the next event begins in mid-June
Sunday, 15 December 2019
8x8
it putteth away dumpishness & sadness, and bringeth mirth: a 1559 recipe for mulled wine
fox and liberty forever: the chaotic General Election of 1790, the polling and purdah lasting from 16 June to 28 July, via Strange Company
the power of youth: the photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva behind the iconic image of Greta Thunberg’s TIME cover—we personally found this honour to be pretty moving as well
link in bio: the insidious nature of Walled Gardens (see previously) and social media’s attempts to corral the free Internet
the land of the asuras: a Buddhist monk leads a solemn ceremony to eulogise untaken time off from work in Japan—hardly done despite legislation that all workers take a minimum of five paid vacation days per year
๐: this feline face filter underscores how poorly we understand our cats’ cognition
flight and blight: a survey of some of the historic character lost in New York City over the past decade
your branches green delight us: a tour of London’s Christmas trees
catagories: ๐ซ๐ฎ, ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐น, ๐, ๐ท, architecture, environment, labour, networking and blogging
Saturday, 2 November 2019
gilded age or singapore sling
Though a beautifully brooding building, Parkview Square of downtown Singapore, the office complex that hosts embassies and art galleries on its twenty-four storeys, also boasts a multi-level bar at its core, complete with a “library” of some thirteen-hundred varieties of gin from around the globe (the signature cocktail was invented at the venerable, nearby and more authentically Art Deco Raffles Hotel on Beach Road). Prior to acquiring its current theme—which offers no less of an experience, the space hosted a wine bar with the sommelier on duty magically hoisted up and down by a wire to retrieve bottles from the high stack of shelves.
catagories: ๐ธ๐ฌ, ๐, ๐น, architecture
Friday, 29 March 2019
8x8
von neumann probes: perhaps autonomous, self-replicating interstellar explorers are destroying each other, accounting for their lack of evidence
bahnhofsuhr: the iconic Swiss train station clock designed by Hans Hilfiker
dactylography: an interesting survey of ancient latent fingerprints and the scientific rigour of forensics
incidental music: a cocktail party version of the main Star Trek theme exists in the Star Trek universe
parclo interchange: the elegant engineering of Japanese freeway junctions from above
a rabbit’s revenge: a further study of the prevalence of bunnies committing violence on humans (previously) in medieval marginalia
breakfast at mondrian’s: studio Brani & Desi translate the Dutch artist’s geometric works to floors and furnishings in a concept apartment
aerography: huge rivers coursed across the Martian surface for billions of years, via Slashdot
Thursday, 6 December 2018
5x5
betamax xmas: we get reintroduced to a nostalgic, internet classic—via Waxy
optician sans: a sleek free font from ANTI Hamar and Fรกbio Duarte Martins
i heard you on the wireless back in ‘sixty-two: a whole universe of pre-MTV music videos
premiรจre arabesque: guitarist Kyle Schaefer arranges and performs Claude Debussy’s early masterpiece in progressive rock style
modernistmas: an updated gallery (previously) of Brutalist and Post Modernism gingerbread houses for the holidays