HIGH SPIRITS: Daniel Craig in Casino Royale

Three measures of Gordon’s (gin), one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet (vermouth), shake it over ice and then add a thin slice of lemon peel.

When Daniel Craig as James Bond ordered this cocktail Martini in Casino Royale — named Vesper after his lady love — almost everyone at the cards table followed suit. And now, so is Calcutta’s party crowd.

The 007 drink is in big demand as the 21st Bond film runs to packed plex theatres in town. “Martini as a drink has never been popular in Calcutta, but ever since Casino Royale has been released (November 17) sales have just doubled, with Martini Morocco turning out to be the most popular cocktail,” says Sovan Mukherjee, manager of Shisha. “What’s even more fascinating is that we have had customers asking for the drink to be ‘shaken, not stirred’ in typical Bond style.”

If the Camac Street night haunt has been selling more vodka and gin martinis, Someplace Else (SPE), the live-music pub at The Park, has actually been concocting the Vesper Martini, labelling it the ‘cocktail of the week’. “We started the drink from the time the Bond film released at theatres and the response has been so good that we are actually promoting it now,” says Gautam Kumar Singh, manager of Someplace Else.

At Rs 300 a glass, the SPE Vesper Martini is made with French wine since Kina Lillet, is no longer available.

The sip has been even smoother at Underground, where a special Casino Royale night got things into 007 groove. “Our bartenders were specially trained to make this unique Martini cocktail,” reveals a spokesperson for HHI.

“The film has become so popular that some of our patrons have just come up and asked for the ‘Bond drink’, not sure about the exact name. It will now definitely be a permanent fixture on our menu.”

Much of the Martini mayhem has to do with the popularity of the movie. After notching up a record first weekend in India with a gross collection of Rs 14.94 crore, Casino Royale has just registered the largest second weekend with a Rs 6.05-crore haul.

“It has already made Rs 33 crore in just two weeks and should end as the second-largest grosser of all time for any foreign language film in India behind Titanic,” says Vikramjit Roy, publicity head of Sony Pictures India.

“It has also done remarkably well in Calcutta, for an English film,” chips in east India distributor Arijit Dutta, pointing to the 80 per cent average occupancy at INOX (Forum) over two weeks.