General: Cloak and Dagger Drinks

If you are going to embrace the worldly lifestyle of international espionage, then you have to know the right drinks. It may depend on the type of spy you most relate to. Special Forces are likely more apt to drink a beer after their mission, and PIs might like whiskey as well. The fact is that real spies will drink very little during their missions, and they will have the local favorites in order to blend in. So should you while "on mission," but for R&R purposes, here's a few drink recommendations.

The martini is the natural classic. Most think gin and olives, but the "real" James Bond martini is made with Vodka and with a lemon peel. Vermouth is optional, but it must be dry. All this is according to the movies, and, yes, they are shaken, not stirred, a choice that makes the vodka ice cold. According to the book (and also the recent movie, which by the way was great), the martini will not only be made with vodka, but also gin and Lillet blanc... may I wish you the best of luck in finding that.

Here is my preferred recipe:

• Place several ice cubes in a martini glass to chill it while you make the martini.
• Peel off a bit of lemon peel.
• Place more ice cubes in a cocktail shaker.
• Pour any quantity of vermouth in the shaker - doesn't matter how much.
• Shake, strain out the vermouth, and retain the ice. Discard the strained vermouth.
• Open the shaker and add 1 - 3 shots of your favorite vodka.
• Shake again, remove the ice from the martini glass, and pour in the martini.

It is best to drink the martini immediately after creation, so lay out your equipment in advance or have someone else make it for you. If you want to try it out now, in you happen to be in the Atlanta area (unlike me), try Olive's – they have it on the menu, and is highly recommended by a fellow operative.

You are not limited to martinis, of course. Sparking wine (e.g. Champagne) is a good bet as well. It is classy and something that is good to know a bit about. My advice to those of you that don't know much about it:

• Champagne is sparking wine from the Champagne region of France, everything else is simply sparking wine.
• Know what you like before you buy. If you like wine dry, go for Brut or Extra Brut. If you like sweet, God knows why, then go for Spumante. A good rule of thumb: if you like your coffee sweet, you probably like your wine sweet, otherwise go dry.
• Avoid any colors other than white. Steer clear of pink except in the rarest of circumstances.
• Know how to pop the cork. The incorrect way is to shoot the cork out, especially towards an unsuspecting audience. The correct way is to firmly grasp the cork and turn the bottle slowly – the cork will pop but stay in your hand, and you won’t lose any of the wine. If you haven’t done it before, go out and buy 3 or 4 bottles of Cook’s. You’ll have it down in a very short time, and it will look like you’ve done it all your life.

My personal favorite is Campari and tonic. It is an acquired taste, or so I hear. Since it is low alcohol, it is also an ideal drink on mission. Chances are your target won't order the same, and you can easily have three to his or her one martini. That is the very reason this is my choice for corporate parties. Bonus point: I later found out that Campari is also authenic to the espionage fantasy - if you read the novels, you'll find that James Bond had a fondness for them in his youth.