Octopus signs official James Bond cocktail book

Mitchell Beazley has acquired the official James Bond cocktail book, Shaken: Drinking with James Bond & Ian Fleming, created in close collaboration with the Ian Fleming Estate and Ian Fleming Publications.

Octopus publisher Alison Starling acquired world rights all languages from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown.

Shaken explores James Bond creator Ian Fleming's writings on the pleasures of drinking and offers 50 cocktail recipes created by the co-founders of Bar Swift in Soho– Edmund Weil (who is related to Fleming), Bobby Hiddleston and Mia Johansson. Fergus Fleming has written a foreword.

The cocktail collection will comprise 10 classic drinks from the pages of the 007 novels, for example The Vesper from Casino Royale, as well as 40 new recipes "inspired by the people, places and plots of the original novels". 

Weil, one of Bar Swift's co-founders, said it had been "a pleasure and an honour to revive this enthusiasm in Shaken, through the contemporary lens of today’s burgeoning cocktail culture".

The James Bond books have inspired 26 films, sold more than 60 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 20 languages, according to Octopus. 

Starling said the project was developed from an idea discussed at last year's London Book Fair. "When Gordon Wise mentioned this idea at last year’s LBF I jumped at the chance to acquire the book. It has been a huge privilege to work with the Ian Fleming Estate on this the first official James Bond cocktail book and bringing the award-winning team from Bar Swift into the mix has only added to the quality (and enjoyment) of the project."

Georgia Grimond of the Fleming Estate added: "Fleming was a stickler for well made and delicious things in life. Long before many others, he was writing in detail about how best to enjoy a good drink so it has been a delight to bring his writing, expertise and ingenious names to new audiences as well as those that know him and Bond well."

Shaken will be published by Mitchell Beazley on 6th September 2018 at £15 in hardback.