How much booze did 007 consume, anyway?

Short answer: a lot. Slightly longer answer: an impressive amount. One of our favorite examples from the literary Bond:

Golfinger: Ian Fleming’s seventh 007 begins with James Bond in the Miami airport “with two double bourbons inside him” and nursing a third. Bond is rather moody, thinking about life and death, in particular how quickly death can arrive. Then, Bond’s flight to New York is delayed until the next day.

Bond had forgotten his drink. He picked it up, and, tilting his head back, swallowed the bourbon to the last drop.

(Goldfinger, page 11, Macmillan Company edition)

OK, that’s three double bourbons. Now, Bond has decided to get drunk. (We hope he’s not planning on renting a car around this time.) Then, he runs into Junius Du Pont (not one of the chemical Du Ponts), who had been a gambler the secret agent encountered in Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale.

Du Pont suggests they share a drink. Bond orders another bourbon on the rocks. Since Bond has to stay the night, Du Pont suggests they go out to dinner. After arriving, Du Pont suggests a cocktail “to start.” Bond orders a vodka Martini and Du Pont likes the idea and orders one himself. When the drinks arrive, Du Pont instructs that another two more be brought in TEN minutes.

When dinner arrives, the men consume pink champagne along with crabs for dinner.

The champagne seemed to have the faintest scent of strawberries. It was ice cold. After each helping of crab, the champagne cleared the palate for the next.

(Goldfinger, page 19, Macmillan edition)

There’s probably more here, but we’re getting hungover just re-reading this.