The drinks of Quantum of Solace

A look at the drinks consumed by James Bond in Daniel Craig’s second outing as 007.

The follow up to Casino Royale starts with Bond in an Aston Martin DBS and a number of Alfa Romeos in hot pursuit.

When he eventually gets the now battered DBS to a safe house in Siena, Bond opens to the boot. Inside is an injured Mr White. Bond pours himself a glass of whisky from a decanter (7:42) as M starts briefing him on Vesper’s lover, Yusef.

Later, after a shootout at the opera at Bregenz, Bond heads for Mathis’s new home on the Tuscan coast. It’s provided as compensation for being tortured by MI6 after Casino Royale. After Mathis’ girlfriend, Gemma, brings out a tray with a bottle of white wine in a cooler and glasses, he tells her “none for him”, pointing at Bond.

In Italian he continues, “This man had me imprisoned and tortured, and you want to serve him find wine?”

“You only buy cheap wine”, she tells him.

All the same, Bond asks Mathis to help him and pours himself a glass of wine (47:51). The label isn’t shown clearly so it’s difficult to know whether it really is a cheap wine or not.

Soon after, on a flight to Bolivia Mathis finds Bond at the bar (48:51). He’s a little the worse for wear after drinking six Vespers.

The bartender tells Mathis the drink is mixed from three measures of Gordon’s gin, one of vodka and, in some rather awkward dialogue, half a measure of Kina Lillet, “which is not vermouth”. In the background are a bottle of Gordon’s, Lillet Blanc, J&B whisky and some other bottles. They are difficult to make out as they are out of focus.

Mathis, who has some of the best lines in the film, tells Bond in a lovely bit of dialogue that he has “pills for everything. Some make you taller. Some make you forget”. It almost makes up for the clunky dialogue just before.

After arriving in Bolivia, Fields escorts Bond to a cheap hotel. It fits their cover of teachers on sabbatical, she explains. But Bond has other ideas. At the check in desk Bond tells the receptionist “we’re teachers on sabbatical and we’ve just won the lottery!”

So they check into a rather better hotel instead, where Bond seduces Fields. Bond sips a glass of champagne (53:37) when Mathis knocks at the door and the cork on the bedside table (53:45) clearly says Champagne Bollinger.

And then after arriving at Greene’s party Bond takes two glasses of champagne from a waiter (54:32). Although there are no visible bottles in this scene you can see what appears to Bollinger Special Cuvée (56:31) a little later on.

After Bond gets in contact with Leiter they meet in a bar. Bond has a bottle of beer in front of him (1:18:50) when the CIA man arrives, so he orders the same.

But despite being an official partner with advertising tied in to promoting Quantum of Solace, they don’t drink Heineken. The bottles are marked “Cervecita”, a Spanish colloquialism for beer which doesn’t appear to be a genuine brand at all.

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.


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