“From a View to a Kill”

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“One cannot drink seriously in French cafés. Out of doors on a pavement in the sun is no place for vodka or whisky or gin....No, in cafés you have to drink the least offensive of the musical-comedy drinks that go with them, and Bond always had the same thing, an Americano—bitter Campari, Cinzano, a large slice of lemon peel, and soda. For the soda he always stipulated Perrier, for in his opinion, expensive soda water was the cheapest way to improve a poor drink.”

Published: Part of For Your Eyes Only, 1960.

Overview: In this short story, James Bond investigates the death of a Secret Service dispatch rider in France. In the process, he discovers and shuts down a secret Soviet spy outpost. The tale features new insights into some of 007’s drinking habits.

What does Bond drink?

• When Bond first appears, he is having his first drink of the evening, an Americano (“not a solid drink”), at Fouquet’s on the Champs Elysées. Among the other drinks 007 considers and rejects are fine à l’eau (which “intoxicates without tasting very good”), a quart de champagne or a champagne à l’orange (“one quart leads to another quart, and a bottle of indifferent champagne is a bad foundation for the night”), and Pernod (he doesn’t like its licorice taste). When Bond wants a solid drink in Paris, he goes to Harry’s Bar. We learn that the 16-year-old James Bond lost his virginity (and his notecase) after an excursion to Harry’s. When his drink arrives, Bond adds ice and Perrier, and then takes a long pull.
• After meeting with 007 at SHAPE headquarters, Colonel Schreiber asks an aide to take Bond to the bar and canteen for a meal and a drink.
• Bond makes a date to have dinner and pink champagne with Mary Ann Russell at “Some place like Armenonville.”

Brand names: Cinzano, Campari, and Pernod. Perrier sparkling water is also mentioned.

Total: One Americano.