Black Velvet


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Black Velvet is a quintessentially British cocktail that was devised in 1861 at Brooks’s Club in London to mourn the death of Prince Albert. It is one of the many great drinks which combine two seemingly incongruous ingredients to great effect. The cocktail goes particularly well with oysters and seafood and both components are traditional accompaniments. Indeed in Diamonds Are Forever, Bond offers a colleague a pint of Black Velvet to complement a meal of dressed crab at Scott’s, the legendary London restaurant. The original recipe calls for a simple 1:1 mix of the two ingredients, but after much experimentation we have found that the below recipe of 3:1 Champagne to Guinness, with a couple of dashes of demerara syrup, makes a smooth and refined Champagne cocktail which will please all but the pickiest of drinkers.

30ml (1fl oz) Guinness draught

2 teaspoons rich demerara syrup (see here)

90ml (3fl oz) chilled Champagne


Measure the Guinness and syrup directly into a Champagne flute. Top up with the Champagne, pouring gently to avoid frothing over.

FLEMING ON . . . CHAMPAGNE

Stout, notably Guinness, is an excellent drink with oysters and fish. Even better is Black Velvet, which is half-and-half stout and Champagne in a tankard.

FROM “WHEN DID YOU STOP EATING YOUR WIFE?”, HOLIDAY, APRIL 1956


Bond’s face relaxed. “Come on, Bill,” he said. “If that’s all there is to it, I’ll buy you lunch. It’s my turn and I feel like celebrating. No more paperwork this summer. I’ll take you to Scotts’ and we’ll have some of their dressed crab and a pint of Black Velvet. You’ve taken a load off my mind. I thought there might be some ghastly snag about this job.”

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

CHAPTER 3. HOT ICE


“Parfait,” said the sommelier, proffering the leather-bound wine list.

“If you agree,” said Bond, “I would prefer to drink Champagne with you tonight. It is a cheerful wine and it suits the occasion – I hope,” he added.

CASINO ROYALE

CHAPTER 8. PINK LIGHTS AND CHAMPAGNE


He squirmed as he thought of himself washing down Champagne in the Roi Galant while the enemy was busy preparing his counter-stroke.

CASINO ROYALE

CHAPTER 16. THE CRAWLING OF THE SKIN


“Then what?” asked M. “Champagne? Personally I’m going to have a half-bottle of claret. The Mouton Rothschild ’34, please, Grimley. But don’t pay any attention to me, James. I’m an old man. Champagne’s no good for me. We’ve got some good Champagnes, haven’t we, Grimley?’ None of that stuff you’re always telling me about, I’m afraid, James. Don’t often see it in England. Taittinger, wasn’t it?”

Bond smiled at M’s memory. “Yes,” he said, “but it’s only a fad of mine. As a matter of fact, for various reasons I believe I would like to drink Champagne this evening. Perhaps I could leave it to Grimley.”

The wine-waiter was pleased. “If I may suggest it, sir, the Dom Perignon ’46. I understand that France only sells it for dollars, sir, so you don’t often see it in London. I believe it was a gift from the Regency Club in New York, sir. I have some on ice at the moment. It’s the Chairman’s favourite and he’s told me to have it ready every evening in case he needs it.”

Bond smiled his agreement.

MOONRAKER

CHAPTER 5. DINNER AT BLADES


Von Hammerstein took up his place on the grass verge, a Champagne bottle swinging in each hand. The girls stood behind him, their hands over their ears. There was excited jabbering in Spanish, and laughter in which the two gunmen did not join. Through the telescopic sight their faces looked sharp with concentration.

Von Hammerstein barked an order and there was silence. He swung both arms back and counted “Un . . . Dos . . . Tres.” With the “tres” he hurled the Champagne bottles high into the air over the lake.

The two men turned like marionettes, the guns clamped to their hips. As they completed the turn they fired. The thunder of the guns split the peaceful scene and racketed up from the water. Birds fled away from the trees screeching and some small branches cut by the bullets pattered down into the lake. The left-hand bottle disintegrated into dust, the right-hand one, hit by only a single bullet, split in two a fraction of a second later. The fragments of glass made small splashes over the middle of the lake. The gunman on the left had won.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

FROM FOR YOUR EYES ONLY


Bond sat back. The wine waiter brought the Champagne and Bond tasted it. It was ice cold and seemed to have a faint taste of strawberries. It was delicious.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

CHAPTER 9. BITTER CHAMPAGNE


image Champagne is mentioned 121 times in the Bond novels.