This year marks the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth. It is also the year in which Dukes, the hotel in St James’s famous for its martinis and where the Bond author wrote that the cocktail should be “shaken, not stirred”, turns 100. Now, therefore, seems a good time to learn how to make the perfect martini and Alessandro Palazzi, the bar manager at Dukes who has worked at The Ritz in Paris and The Mandarin Oriental in London, is the ideal teacher.

“The martini is a simple drink,” he says. “But as with food, the simple recipes are often the best. However, it is important that you use the best ingredients and know what you are doing. I have seen some bizarre things done in the making of martinis.”