What is a Vesper?
The word / The cocktail / The Vesper Hour
What is a Vesper? The word means evening, and the Vesper cocktail became famous through Casino Royale. For VESPER vodka, it is also an invitation to gather: The Vesper Hour.
Between the last light of day and the first drink of the night.
01 / The word
A word rooted in evening
The Latin word vesper means evening and can also refer to the evening star. Its history continues in vespers, the evening prayers that mark the close of the day.
Before the cocktail, before the bottle, there was this simple idea: evening deserves a moment of its own. The changing light. A pause. The beginning of something different.
02 / The cocktail
From evening to Casino Royale
The Vesper entered cocktail history in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, first published in 1953. James Bond orders a drink made with gin, vodka and Kina Lillet, shaken until very cold. He names it for Vesper Lynd.
The recipe gave Vesper a place in the martini family and an enduring association with a particular kind of evening. Today, the International Bartenders Association’s Vesper recipe uses gin, vodka and Lillet Blanc, finished with lemon zest.
How to make a classic Vesper cocktail
The IBA specification calls for 45 ml gin, 15 ml vodka and 7.5 ml Lillet Blanc. Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with lemon zest.
The classic Vesper cocktail and VESPER vodka have distinct identities. The history of the name is part of the world around our bottle; our own serves offer different ways to begin the evening.
03 / The hour
What is The Vesper Hour?
The Vesper Hour is our expression of that transition from day to evening. The work is put aside. The light softens. Someone arrives, a glass is poured, and conversation begins.
It belongs as easily to a table at home as to a New York bar, a balcony at dusk or a restaurant before dinner. There is no fixed time on the clock. It begins when you make room for the evening—and for the people you want to share it with.
The word is old. The Vesper Hour is our contemporary invitation: take a moment, gather your people, and let the night unfold.
Before the bottle
Uncle Frank’s Vesper
Before France. Before the bottle. There was Uncle Frank.
Sunday afternoons in New Jersey. The Yankees on television. Phil Rizzuto calling the game. Family gathered around the table.
Frank kept his martini glasses in the freezer. He brined his own olives. He stirred, never shook. Slowly, carefully, without making a fuss.
When the martinis arrived, something changed. Conversation softened. Stories got better. Nobody watched the clock.
Frank never explained why things should be done a certain way. He simply knew when they were right.
Uncle Frank’s Vesper was a dirty martini.
We just didn’t have the name for it yet.
Years later, that same belief in doing things right became the foundation of VESPER.
05 / What’s your Vesper?
Three different beginnings
The Usual — Dirty Smoked Olive
VESPER vodka, dry vermouth and smoked Castelvetrano olive brine. Cold, savory and smoky. The evening you know you want.
The Invitation — Poire Noir
VESPER vodka, French pear eau-de-vie, dry vermouth and expressed lemon peel. Dry, delicate and aromatic. The evening you didn’t expect to begin.
The Unexpected — The Detour
VESPER vodka, red bitter aperitivo, pink grapefruit and sparkling water. Bright, bitter and lightly sparkling. The evening that goes somewhere else.
Three VESPER serves, each with its own character. Poire Noir and The Detour are proposed tasting serves, ready to be refined at the bar.
06 / Questions
Frequently asked
What does vesper mean?
Vesper comes from Latin and means evening; it also carries associations with the evening star and evening prayer.
What is a Vesper cocktail?
A cocktail introduced in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel Casino Royale, made with gin, vodka and Kina Lillet. The modern IBA recipe uses Lillet Blanc.
What time is The Vesper Hour?
There is no fixed hour. It is the moment between the day’s last light and the night’s first drink—our invitation to gather and begin the evening.
Your evening begins here
The Vesper Hour.
Three different beginnings. One Vesper Hour.