My Favorite Bond Girl’s Drink — The Pussycat

Cocktails are by no means my only interest and passion.  I am also a big fan of the James Bond franchise.  I probably could write a blog about James Bond related things, but there are far more cocktail fans in the world than Bond fans.  Of course, there is a lot overlap between these two groups.  In addition, the literary and cinematic character himself is a prodigious drinker, and according to this tongue-in-cheek study from The Lancet (the British counterpart of the American Medical Association Journal, click here to read it) a very high functioning alcoholic.

Every James Bond fan has their favorite movie, and I am no exception.  My favorite is Goldfinger, which is the third one in the franchise.  It has the just the right amount of everything – the rough and tumble version of the hero (the archetypal Sean Connery played him), a resonant title number (sung by Shirley Bassey), a classic line from the villain (“No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”), and a memorable Bond girl (thank you Honor Blackman) – Pussy Galore.

I must give credit to where it is due, so thanks to Beer Barrel bourbon to introducing me to this cocktail at the Tales Of The Cocktail conference.  Here is how you make it:

Combine in shaker with ice, shake like you’re a cat who knows it is on its way to the vet (you thought I was going to say something much dirtier, didn’t you?), and strain into a chilled glass.

Those of you who follow the Den will notice that there are some similarities between this cocktail and the Siesta, part of the Grapefruit Triad.  More specifically, both drinks contain fresh grapefruit juice and Campari.  Of course, the big difference is that this cocktail has bourbon as its base, and tequila is the base of the Siesta.  To me it is fitting that bourbon is the base spirit of the cocktail with which I associate Goldfinger.  James Bond drinks bourbon in the movie; he does it in the scene where Goldfinger explains why he wants to break into Fort Knox (spoiler alert — he doesn’t plan to steal the gold).

If you like tart cocktails, then this one is right up your alley (cat).