Daily intake is about a half bottle of spirits. You are never drunk in public, but you may have to act the part if mission circumstances warrant [M 6-7]. You primarily drink hard liquor, though there are wines that appeal to you.

Beer

You drink it occasionally; In Geneva, a Löwenbräu; in the states, a Miller's High Life, a couple of Red Stripes in Jamaica and as many as four steins of local brew in Munich if you find yourself with an ex-Luftwafffe pilot. But eschew English beer; It, like cider, belongs in pubs and 007 does not.

Whiskey

Bourbon is preferred: Old Grand Dad [LALD 10], I.W. Harper's [OHMSS 4], Walker's deluxe [TMWTGG 7] or Jack Daniel's [OHMSS 23]. Have the entire bottle brought, served on a tray with a bowl of ice and a tumbler. You prepare the drink as follows:

• Half fill the glass with ice and add three fingers of whiskey. Swill it around to cool it and break it down with the ice. Drink it down in two long draughts, feeling its friendly bite at the back of your throat and in your stomach. Refill the glass, this time with more ice than before and take it slower. A good opportunity to reflect on your current assignment [TMWTGG 7].

Bourbon on the rocks is good with a steak [LALD 15]. If you wish, you may dilute the drink with soda [DN 14]. Branch water is nice, at least when in the USA [DAF 17].

For long car journeys and outdoor missions, fill your flask with three qaurters bourbon and one quarter coffee [FYEO 2].

Irish whiskey is tolerable if yor find yourself killing some time, say, at Shannon Airport and wish to imbibe a Gaelic coffee: Hot black coffee, sugar and a large measure of whiskey are transferred to a wine glass and served with chilled double cream floated on top. You know how to prepare this expertly [DAF 6].

Rye whiskey is acceptable, if it is Canadian Club [DN 7].

Scotch is palatable, if its Dimple Haig served up with a splash of soda [LALD 5].

Gin

Beefeater [TMWTGG 8] or Gordon's [FYEO 4] only. Enjoyed with plenty of Angostura bitters or with tonic and fresh lime [G 10]. Gin is also a component of some of your favorite cocktails, but overall plays a small role in your universe compared to Vodka.

Vodka

Russian only. Stolichnaya is fine, but you seize upon pre-war Wolfschmidt from Riga, though you haven't run across a bottle in years [M 5].

Drink vodka neat and ice-cold as an accompaniment to caviar and smoked salmon. It should be served in a small crystal carafe nestled in a bowl of crushed ice [CR 8, M 5]

To impress with your knowledge of true vodka savvy, first sprinkle a few grains of black pepper in the drink. Explain that the grains absorb the fusel oils and other impurities as they sink to the bottom of the glass. The Russians taught you this trick in Moscow, and you just got to like the taste [M 5].

In hot weather, you enjoy a vodka tonic with a dash of bitters [T 11].

Brandy

You seldom drink Brandy, typically as a finale to a memorable French dinner [G 12]. But you also regard it as a medicinal drink for certain emergenceis and ordeals.

With soda and a couple of Phensic tabs, it makes a useful hangover remedy [T 1]. Mixed with ginger ale, it serves to ward off the effects of lengthy flights [OHMSS 8]. You once had a nasty episode in a health clinic traction machine when a Portugese-Oriental Count with links to the Red Lightning Tong tried to put a "lengthy" end to you. After that ordeal, a brandy on the rocks was most restorative [T 4].

Cocktails

You enjoy the following, always knowing how they are prepared, but seldom doing the mixing yourself:

Old Fashioned:

• Dissolve a level teaspoon of castor sugar in the minimum quantity of boiling water. Add three dashes of Angostura bitters, a squeeze of fresh orange juice and a large measure of bourbon. Mix. Pour on to ice cubes in short tumbler. Stir . Garnish with slice of orange and a Maraschino cherry [T 14].

Martini:

• Made with vodka, medium dry [Something like four measures of vodka to one of dry vermouth] with a twist of lemon peel [DN 14]. Shaken, not stirred.

The Vesper: The nearest thing you have to a "signature "cocktail. The bartender will need some instruction on this one:

• Three measures of Gordon's gin, once measure of vodka and a half measure of dry vermouth as shaken in a together until ice-cold. Serve in a deep champagne goblet with the ubiquitous large thin slice of lemon peel [CR 7].

You may need to explain that when on the job, you never have more than one drink before dinner. But you do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well made. You hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad.

(Since the war is long over, you no longer need to mention that bit of puffery that the drink would be better made with grain-based vodka rather than potato-based. It will have been made with grain alcohol; Potato-based vodka, the equivalent of bath tub gin, would no longer show up on either side of the erstwhile Iron curtain -- even if it were still drawn.)

The Negroni:

• One third gin, one third Campari and one third Cinzano. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or stir and serve on the rocks in a tumbler with a slice of lemon and a swizzle stick [FYEO 4].

The Americano:

• A mix of Campari and Cinzano with a large slice of lemon peel and soda [FYEO 1]. The least offensive of the musical comedy drinks served in Continental cafes. For the soda, stipulate Perrier. You know expensive soda water is the easiest way to improve a poor drink.

Champagne

You enjoy all the well-known cellars: Clicquot [CR 14], Dom Perignon [M 5], Krug [OHMSS 3], Pommery [G 2] and Taittinger [OHMMS 2]. Its best to go for a vintage about ten years old.

Champagne is a drink that inspires you to dine. Order either $250 worth of Beluga caviar [T 15] Explain to your companion that anything less than this amount would be a mere spoonful [T 5]. Ask the waiter to bring plenty of toast points, adding aside that "The trouble always is not how to get enough caviar, but how to get enough toast with it. [CR 8]. After such a repast, your companion may remark how an expensive a repast it is, to which you reply "Nonsense. Its only a good plain wholesome meal."

Otherwise, underline the simplicity of true elgance with a meal of scrambled eggs [CR 14]. And scorn the usual highbrow sneer laid at pink champagne; Clicquot rose is a nice choice [FYEO 1, T 15].

Should a champagne á l'orange made with fresh juice appeal to you at lunch time, similarly show your disregard for snobbery by pouring benzedrine powder into your Dom Perignon [M 5]. You always take your benzedrine in powdered form; Inhaler's, you notice, are strictly the accessories of sadists from the East [CR 11].

Table Wines

Not your specialty, by any stretch. But a ten year old claret from any reliable house will suit a meal of roast partridge [OHMSS 2]. A well-iced pint of rose d'Anjou will complement the sole meuniere [G 12] and a bottle of the rawest cheapest chianti available is just the thing with spaghetti bolognese [T 4-5], particulary if you have just endured a health cure at Shrublands and need to replenish yourself before a much needed session of lovemaking.

Liquers

You may order a glass of ten year old Calvado [OHMSS 2] or, following the lady's lead, a Stinger made with equal parts white creme de menthe and brandy, shaken with crushed ice and strained into a glass [DAF 9].

Soft Drinks

You don't.