Paint It Black is one of my favorite Rolling Stones tunes.  The Berry Crush has nothing to do with the song, but it does contain a particular type of berry -- yes, the blackberry. I slightly modified the recipe in Chilled magazine; someone at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas created the original cocktail.

1 ounce vodka (right now I'm drinking Belvedere)
1 ounce Cointreau
1/4 lime cut into small chunks
4 blackberries
.5 ounces super simple syrup

Muddle the blackberries and lime in the bottom of a shaker.  Add the other ingredients and ice, shake like you're Mick Jagger on stage, and strain into a chilled glass.  Blackberry garnish optional.

The original Berry Crush uses more lime, but I cut it back so the blackberry flavor is more pronounced. After all, this is the Berry Crush. The cocktail is messy, even if you muddle the fruits properly (press firmly but gently, don't beat the hell out of it).  I think I had to scrub the cocktail shaker two or three times before I finally removed all of the blackberry pulp.

The mess is worth the effort.  Now go make yourself a Berry Crush and get some liquid satisfaction.

What makes a vodka martini more intense?  Belvedere Intense vodka.  Belvedere, which is now James Bond's vodka, issued this limited release earlier this year.  My wife and I had the pleasure of discovering it while going through duty free at Heathrow Airport in London. 

How does Belvedere Intense differ from regular Belvedere (which is one of my favorite vodkas)?  The proof is in the proof.  Regular Belvedere is 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume), and Belvedere Intense comes in at a muscular 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume).

If you acquire Belvedere Intense and want to make your Double O Intense Martini in the style of Sir Roger Moore, click here for how to do it.  If you like to make your Double O Intense Martini some other way, go for it.

So how did Ian Fleming, who wrote the novels, come up with the Double O label?  Thanks to Stewart, a fantastic guide for the James Bond walking tour at Brit Movie Tours, I learned the answer -- 007 was a German diplomatic code during World War I.  British intelligence cracked the code and intercepted what is now known as the Zimmerman Telegram, which influenced the decision of the United States to enter the war.

Now you've had a cocktail knowledge shot with a history back. Cheers!

Sometimes changing one ingredient transforms an entire cocktail.  The Vesper is no exception.  I made my version of this classic 007 cocktail, which James Bond himself created, with Bianco Ambrato vermouth from Mancino Vermouth.  Full disclosure -- I did not receive any compensation, but Giancarlo Mancino generously gave me a free bottle when I met him at Tales of the Cocktail earlier this year.  I also met the U.S. distributor, so we can get it through the Internet.

3 ounces vodka
1 ounce dry gin
.5 ounces Mancino Bianco Ambrato vermouth

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake con passione as if you were with a Bond girl or Bond (depending on your preference), and strain into a chilled glass.

The Bianco Ambrato has a distinctive flavor compared to other dry vermouths.  It strikes the delicate balance of asserting itself without overpowering the entire cocktail.  Bravo!

"The bitch is dead" -- this is how James Bond describes the demise of Vesper Lynd, the girl who broke his heart.  In Casino Royale (both the novel and the movie starring Daniel Craig), Bond falls in love with Vesper before he learns she is a double agent and she commits suicide.  All of this happens after he creates a cocktail in her honor.  Here is my version:

3 ounces vodka (I recommend Belvedere or Zyr)
1 ounce dry gin
.5 ounces dry vermouth (I like Noilly Prat)

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with the fury of 007 exacting vengeance on his enemies, and strain into a chilled glass.  Garnish with lemon peel.

Those of you who are fans of James Bond and/or the Vesper immediately will notice the big difference between my version and the original.  The original calls for a 3:1 ratio of gin to vodka (click here for a YouTube clip of Bond ordering the drink).  I like vodka a lot more than I like gin, so my Vesper reverses the ratio in favor of vodka.  Also, I use dry vermouth instead of Kina Lillet, a French aperitif wine (with a new formula it's now known as Lillet Blanc), that Bond mentions because it's easier to obtain.

Bond would respect my variation on the Vesper, as he is a bit of a cocktail maverick himself.  After all, his preference that his vodka martinis be "shaken not stirred" runs contrary to the Hamlet Cocktail Conundrum.

The Vesper is a big cocktail in that it contains four ounces of high proof alcohol.   Think you can handle it?  Go Bond or go home.

Inspiration can strike at any time.  This citrusy epiphany came one night as I stared at the lineup of homemade liqueurs in my refrigerator.  The number three is important in American society, e.g. three branches of government, the Triple Crown in baseball and horse racing, etc., so I decided to see what I could do with three ingredients of the same flavor.  And voila -- the Triple Orange.

2.25 ounces vodka
.75 ounces Lupo arancello (orange liqueur)
Juice from 1/4 orange
2 dashes orange bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with the excitement of winning the Triple Crown (like you're Miguel Cabrera or American Pharoah's owner), and strain into a chilled glass.  Orange peel garnish optional.

You make Lupo arancello just as you would make Lupo limoncello, but you use oranges instead of lemons. If you can't wait to make a batch of arancello, use Cointreau or something similar as a substitute.  However, as arancello is sweeter (half of it is super simple syrup) if you use a substitute you may want to scale back on the juice and/or bitters, or add some super simple syrup.

Plan to have three Triple Oranges?  To paraphrase the old Doublemint gum commercial, you'll have triple the fun.  And probably triple vision and triple the hangover.

We've all heard of the Kama Sutra, the ancient Indian treatise on sex and love.  Kama Sutra roughly means "love manual" in Sanskrit.  Barrow's Intense ginger liqueur (full disclosure -- I am a very small investor) created this cocktail.  Just as the Kama Sutra spread its teachings to people all over the world, I'm happy to share my knowledge of the Intense Ginger Sutra to drinkers all over the world.

Did you expect an erotic photo? Consider this boozerotica.

2 ounces vodka
.75 ounces Barrow's Intense
.5 ounces glorious grenadine

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir with the passion of (use your imagination), and strain into a chilled glass.

In 2014 I discovered Barrow's Intense and had the privilege of meeting the people behind it.  If you can't get your hands on a bottle of Barrow's Intense, there are other ginger liqueurs on the market, but they pale in comparison. 

Will this cocktail put you in a state of ecstasy?  There's one way to find out.  Will it help you and your spouse/partner/significant other achieve a state of ecstasy?  That's your business, not mine.

Martini, Vodka Martini.  This is 007's cocktail.  Of course, martinis predated the literary and cinematic franchise that Ian Fleming spawned.  However, those martinis used gin.  Due to my obsession with James Bond, I've read a lot about his drinks and drinking habits (I even attended a seminar) and contributed to the discourse, e.g. click here to read about a cocktail I associate with the movie Goldfinger.

Drink like the world's most famous British spy.

This recipe comes from a man who knows a lot about James Bond -- Sir Roger Moore.  With apologies to Sir Roger, I changed the recipe  ever so slightly:

3 ounces vodka (I recommend Zyr)
.5 ounces dry vermouth (I used Noilly Prat)

Pour the vermouth in a martini glass, swirl it around, then pour the excess into a shaker.  Swirl the vermouth around the shaker, and discard the remainder.  Put two ice cubes and the vodka into the shaker, shake as if you're maneuvering an Aston Martin DB 5 around Blofeld's trap, then put the shaker and the glass in the freezer.  Wait 30 minutes (if you can) and strain the shaker's contents into the glass.  Garnish with lemon.

Click here for an article in the Guardian in which Moore discusses how he makes a vodka martini.  Even though I really like Zyr, use whichever vodka you prefer.   

You'll notice that a shaken vodka martini clashes with the Hamlet Cocktail Conundrum.  Why shake a cocktail that has no citrus or egg white?  Shouldn't you stir it?  Technically you should stir, not shake.  But in the spirit (pun intended) of James Bond, dare to be different.  There will be no spectre of a weak drink.

If you want more passion in your cocktail life (who doesn't?), this clear liquor based drink is for you.   Adapted from a recipe I found on cocktails.com, the highlight of the drink is POG vodka from Island 808 in Hawaii.  I'm a big believer in trying the local booze when I travel, and I have had the pleasure of drinking Island 808 vodka on trips to Hawaii.

A taste of the Aloha State

1.5 ounces Island 808 POG vodka
1.5 ounces light rum
.5 ounces Cointreau
Juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake like you're cutting through the waves on the North Shore of Oahu, and strain into a chilled glass.

Two questions probably popped into your mind -- (1) why the number 808? (2) what the hell is POG?  808 is the area code for Hawaii.  POG is an acronym for pineapple-orange-guava.  POG juice is pretty common in Hawaii, and it's quite tasty.

Island 808's POG vodka is only 60 proof (most vodkas are 70-80 proof), which makes this a dangerously drinkable cocktail.  If you can't get POG vodka, you probably can use a pineapple flavored vodka, or straight vodka and a small amount of fresh pineapple juice.

There seem to be a lot of places selling pearls in Hawaii, so it is fitting to use a Hawaiian vodka in this cocktail.  Even if the title of this post is a double entendre.

Elmer Fudd says: "This a gwate dwink if you wike waazbehweez or yowah going to kill da wabbit!"  It's also a good drink if, as in the classic Prince tune, you happen to work part time in a five-and-dime (Younger readers -- you may need to Google the term five-and-dime.  If you need to Google who Prince is -- don't tell me because then I will feel really old).

Pink can be powerful.

Sorry Elmer, but it's Prince who provided the inspiration for the name of this cocktail.  There are other cocktails with the same name.  What makes this one unique is that it uses Lupo lamponecello.  Lampone is the Italian word for raspberry, and lamponecello is a raspberry liqueur made with raspberries, grain alcohol, and simple syrup.

2 ounces vodka (I recommend Zyr)
1 ounce Lupo lamponecello

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir as if you're riding down by old man Johnson's farm, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a raspberry.

This is a good drink for warm weather or if you're dreaming of warm weather.  If it to sweet for you, just add a little more vodka. While the cocktail may not be fit for a king, it's definitely fit for a Prince.

I recently started a new batch of Lupo limoncello.  I ended up with a lot of lemons, so I decided to make a Lemon Drop. Do those two words trigger a visceral reaction of disgust?  If so, you probably had a version of this cocktail that was so sickeningly sweet your teeth fell out or you got diabetes.  It doesn't have to be like that.  It can be a simple balance of tart and sweet just like this:

Why use lemons to make lemonade when you can make a Lemon Drop?

2.25 ounces vodka (I prefer Zyr)
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
.75 ounces super simple syrup

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake like you're having a flashback to a bad cocktail experience (or the resulting hangover), then strain into a chilled martini glass.  Sugar rim on glass and/or lemon garnish optional.

Like someone who does a lot of yoga, this cocktail is very flexible.  Want it more tart?   Don't rim the glass with sugar, or add more lemon juice.  Want it more sweet?  Add more super simple syrup (but not too much unless you really want to go to the dentist or endocrinologist).  Want it stronger with different citrus?  Add .75 ounces of Cointreau.  Want it stronger with the same citrus?  Add .75 ounces of Lupo limoncello.

Now go get the drop on your sobriety.