Doctor No

Buy it from Amazon.com

“Bond said, ‘And I would like a medium Vodka dry martini—with a slice of lemon peel. Shaken and not stirred, please. I would prefer Russian or Polish vodka.’ Doctor No gave his thin smile an extra crease. ‘I see you are also a man who knows what he wants.’” —Chapter 14

Published: 1958.

Overview: The intensely private Doctor Julius No is secretly sabotaging American missiles. After a round of drinks with the bad doctor, James Bond must negotiate a deadly obstacle course of death in order to save the day.

What does Bond drink?

• After Bond arrives in his room at the Blue Hills Hotel in Kingston, he rings for a waiter and orders a double gin and tonic and a whole green lime. When it arrives, he cuts the lime in half, drops the squeezed halves into the long glass, fills the glass with ice cubes and pours in the tonic. He then takes the drink out on to the balcony, where he admires the view, “luxuriously, letting the gin relax him.” He orders a second and drinks that as well.
• When Bond and Quarrel arrive at Pus-Feller’s restaurant, a calypso trio is playing “Take Her to Jamaica Where the Rum Comes From.” Bond orders another gin and tonic with lime, and Quarrel asks for a Red Stripe beer. When the drinks arrive, 007 notices the glasses are dripping with condensation. After their dinners arrive, the two men order another round of drinks. When Quarrel grabs Annabel Chung (who is taking photos of Bond), he tells her “Cap’n like you take a drink wit’ we.” As Quarrel twists her arm and Bond futilely questions her, 007 says “Tell and it will stop and we’ll be friends and have a drink.”
• After 007 discovers the poison fruit in his hotel room, he orders a drink from room service, and after finishing it, orders another. While Fleming does not specify what the two drinks are, it’s fairly likely they are gin and tonics. (As we have seen, when Bond is in a specific setting, he tends to consume the same drinks.)
• As Bond prepares to depart from Beau Desert for Crab Key, he gets a pint of Canadian Club Blended Rye, ice and soda water from the icebox. As he sits in the garden drinking and watching the sun set, he picks up the bottle and sees that he’s finished a quarter of it. He pours another big slug and adds ice. He wonders why he is drinking, and then finishes his whisky when Quarrel tells him it’s time to go.
• Bond and Honey’s suite in Dr. No’s compound has a sideboard with a drink tray. Bond notes it has “everything.” Propped among the bottles are two menus featuring items like Beluga Caviar and Sorbet à la Champagne. After he orders that night’s dinner, 007 fixes himself a bourbon and soda, and after drinking it alone in his bedroom, has another.
• As Bond and Honey examine Dr. No’s office, he notices a drink tray and sideboard are against the room’s aquarium wall. After he meets Dr. No, Bond requests a Coca-Cola for Honey and a vodka martini for himself (by the way, it's the first time he utters the phrase "shaken and not stirred"). The villain’s bodyguard prepares the drinks. Dr. No asks 007 if the drink is to his liking, and then instructs his bodyguard to leave the shaker next to Bond. 007 refills his martini twice. At one point, Bond considers breaking his martini glass, and using the jagged stem to kill Dr. No.
• As they prepare to eat dinner, Dr. No apologizes for the modesty of his cuisine and cellar. During the meal, Bond intentionally knocks over his glass of champagne, creating a diversion so he can secret his steak knife within his kimono. Later, as 007 bitterly realizes he is probably going to die, he picks up his champagne glass and drains it.
• As Honey arrives to take Bond to dinner in her cellar at Beau Desert, he is finishing his third bourbon on the rocks.

Other people’s drinks:

• As Strangways leaves his bridge game at the Queen’s Club to call in to London, he tells Bill Templar to order a round of drinks, including the “Usual for me.” After he departs, the other three order drinks for themselves and a whisky and water for Strangways. We learn that the British station chief performs this ritual every day, but pays for his absence with a round of drinks.
• During his first morning in Jamaica, Bond asks Quarrel if he’s had breakfast. The Cayman Islander replies he’s had “Salt fish an’ ackee an’ a tot of rum.” When 007 remarks that’s “tough stuff to start the day on,” Quarrel replies, “Mos’ refreshin’.”
• As Crab Key prepares for the arrival of the supply ship, we learn the workers and their overseers are looking forward to their monthly spree of drinking rum and dancing.

Brand names: Canadian Club Whisky, Red Stripe Beer.

Other observations: Fleming mentions the 5:30 p.m. cocktail traffic on Kingston’s Richmond Road.

Total: 18. Four gin and tonics with lime, two undetermined drinks (probably gin and tonics), at least two glasses of Canadian whiskey, two bourbon and sodas, three vodka martinis, two glasses of champagne, and three bourbons on the rocks.