When M. poured him three fingers from the frosted carafe Bond took a pinch of black pepper and dropped it on the surface of the vodka. The pepper slowly settled to the bottom of the glass leaving a few grains on the surface which Bond dabbed up with the tip of his finger. Then he tossed the cold liquor well to the back of his throat and put his glass with the dregs of pepper at the bottom, back on the table.Don't think the movie versions ever did this. If you are a literary type this quote will be well known to you though. Not harsh atall, and taste really opens up as the cracked pepper sinks down after a minute. Provides a warm glow on the tongue. Tiny bit of smoke. Had been meaning to try this for years.
"There's often quite a lot of fusel oil on the surface of the stuff -- at least there used to be when it was badly distilled. Poisonous. In Russia, where you get a lot of bath-tub liquor, it's an understood thing to sprinkle a little pepper in your glass. It takes the fuel oil to the bottom. I got to like the taste..."
-Fleming, Ian. Moonraker. New York: Macmillan, 1955.
