The Real James Bond does not like Heineken

Not only are we (the writers at S&B) upset about the James Bond giving up his traditional martini for Heineken in the upcoming movie Skyfall – but TMZ is also reporting (via the Huffington Post) that George Lazenby is against it as well-

James Bond Heineken Deal Frowned Upon By Former Bond George Lazenby

Excerpt - Lazenby, who played Bond in the 1969 film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," reportedly told TMZ that the deal was bad for many reasons, not the least being that Heineken isn't "the best beer out there."

He also added that the Bond filmmakers "go where the money is," something that current Bond star Daniel Craig would likely agree with.

I totally agree with Mr. Lazenby, but also in the Huffing post article – Daniel Craig raises an interesting counter point.

"The great thing is that Bond is a drinker. He always has been. It’s part of who he is, and -- rightly or wrongly -- you can make your own judgment about it. Having a beer is no bad thing, in the movie it just happens to be Heineken."

So this leads us to wonder – what does Bond drink?

First off – It seems that in Champagne is really the drink of choice, appearing most in the movies. 

Fandango Groovers Movie Blog did some excellent research, of which I am lifting a little -

While Bollinger is most frequent in the movies-

Bollinger In Bond Films

• Live and Let Die: Bollinger
• Moonraker: Bollinger RD ’69
• View to a Kill: Bollinger ’75
• License to Kill: Bollinger RD ’75
• The Living Daylights: Bollinger
• Goldeneye: Bollinger Grande Année 1988
• Tomorrow Never Dies: Bollinger Grande Année 1989
• The World Is Not Enough: Bollinger Grande Année 1990
• Die Another Day: Bollinger ’61
• Casino Royale: Bollinger Grande Année 1990
• Quantum of Solacee: Bollinger

The original character in Ian Fleming’s novels preferred Taittinger 

Cassino Royale “[1943 Taittinger] is probably the finest champagne in the world”

Meanwhile, here are other types of Champagne in Bond films

• Dr. No: Dom Perignon ’55
• From Russia with Love: Taittinger Blanc de Blanc
• Goldfinger: Dom Perignon ’53
• Thunderball: Dom Perignon ’55 (to accompany Beluga Caviar)
• You Only Live Twice: Dom Perignon ’59,
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Dom Perignon ’57.
• The Man With The Golden Gun: Dom Perignon ’64

Now that we have established Bond to be a Champagne drinker – what about everything else?

• Martini – Overall, Martini’s are James Bond’s 2nd favorite drink, but he doesn’t only focus on Vodka.  While in the movies, it is always so – throughout the novels, Bond has consumed roughly 19-20 Gin Martinis (my personal favorite) and on several occasions, it is defined strictly as a Martini – with no clarification.
• Scotch and Soda – Sadly, this does not appear in any movie – but another fine drink (although I wish he would have drank it neat) over 20 times in the books.
• Gin/Vodka and Tonic – In Dr. No, Bond consumed 4 Gin and Tonics, while in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – he drank Vodka Tonics with Bitters.
• Americano - This is the first drink mentioned in Casino Royale, this cocktail was also appeared in  From a View to Kill.  Much like the rest of the drinks on the list, this was not included in the movies.
• Old Fashioned – Again, only in the books, this staple was usually a ordered as a double in Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and Thunderball
• Stinger – A cocktail shared with Tiffany in the Diamonds are Forever novel, it was paired with coffee in Thunderball while drinking at the  Nassau Casino bar with Felix Leiter.  Not seen in movies
• Mojito – An anomaly, this drink actually only appeared in the movie Die Another Day, but not the book.
• Black Velvet – Anything with Guinness cannot be bad – Appears in the book - Diamonds are Forever .
• Negroni – This obscure gin drink appears in the short story Risicio.

In addition to the above, we have slight mentions of other cocktails throughout the books - Pink Gin, Mint Julep, Irish Coffee and Rum Collins.

What does this all mean?  Well, Daniel Craig is right in his assessment – Bond IS a drinker…..but in all the novels and movies, not once does it mention him drinking beer.