Shaken: How to mix the perfect… Goldfinger

Wondering what Christmas present to give the James Bond fan in your family?  Look no further than Shaken: Drinking with James Bond and Ian Fleming.  This fantastic cocktail book is a collection of classic drinks from the books and new drinks inspired by the characters and plots of the James Bond novels and the life of Ian Fleming.  Devised by the mixologists at award-winning bar, Swift in London’s West End, these cocktails are a delicious voyage of discovery through Fleming’s writing.  In the lead-up to Christmas we’ll be sharing five recipes from the book to whet your appetite; starting with the cocktail Goldfinger.

The avaricious villain whose name looms large, needs no introduction.  He is the man who has devoted his life to collecting and worshipping gold.

‘Mr Bond, all my life I have been in love. I have been in love with gold. I love its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness. I love the texture of gold, that soft sliminess that I have learnt to gauge so accurately by touch that I can estimate the fineness of a bar to within one carat. And I love the warm tang it exudes when I melt it down into a true golden syrup. But, above all, Mr Bond, I love the power that gold alone gives to its owner – the magic of controlling energy, exacting labour, fulfilling one’s every wish and whim and, when need be, purchasing bodies, minds, even souls. Yes, Mr Bond, I have worked all my life for gold and, in return, gold has worked for me and for those enterprises that I have espoused. I ask you,’ Goldfinger gazed earnestly at Bond, ‘is there any other substance on earth that so rewards its owner?’

Shaken is out in shops now and available through this link.  Stay tuned for next week when we’ll be sampling the poison of SPECTRE.