[#image: /photos/55898a402a8212d204de4d54]|||||| Photo: Everett Collection

Look, we’re not going to pretend to know who invented National Martini Day, or why (working theory: a vermouth publicist; $$$) but we will take just about any opportunity to evangelize about making good cocktails. The Martini’s not just a classic—up there with the Manhattan and Old Fashioned in the Mixology Hall of Fame—it’s also a starting point for a whole bar’s worth of classic variations. You’ve got the Perfect Martini, with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth; the Dirty Martini, with a splash of olive brine; the Gimlet, which is just a martini with an onion instead of an olive; and about a dozen others we could tick off before we get into Chocolatini territory.

Our favorite of the bunch? That’s the Vesper Martini, which—true story—was actually invented by Ian Fleming while he was writing the James Bond novel Casino Royale. Bond asks for "three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, and a half measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel." A variation on this scene happens in the movie version as well, but only in the book does Bond spell out why, exactly, he’s ordering it that way: he’s only going to have one drink before dinner, but he wants it to be very strong, very cold, and very well made.

Count us in! You can make the Vesper Martini pretty much exactly as Bond describes it (heads up, though: Kina Lillet is now just Lillet) but we recommend the slightly toned down version being served at The Polo Bar, Ralph Lauren’s new, classy-AFm restaurant in Manhattan. Remember, in the James Bond original, we’re talking about 4 oz of straight booze, basically double the alcohol content of a normal cocktail. Polo Bar’s Vesper Martini dials down the gin, uses slightly more vodka (but a very nice one) and splashes a drop of bitters on top, so you could actually drink two before dinner without falling down. In homage to the classic Bond line, they shake the thing up, but any good bartender knows you’d never shake an all-booze cocktail like a Martini, no matter who’s ordering it. We recommend stirring, but follow your heart.

Here’s the recipe.

The Polo Bar Vesper Martini

2 oz Stolichnaya Elit (or: your best vodka)

1 oz Monkey 47 (or: a pretty good gin)

1/4 oz Lillet blanc

A dash of Angostura bitters

Shake well. Serve up. Garnish with a lemon twist.