The drink was invented and named by Ian Fleming in the 1953 James Bond novel Casino Royale.
'A dry martini,' he said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet.'
'Oui, monsieur.'
'Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'
'Certainly monsieur.' The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
'Gosh, that's certainly a drink,' said Leiter.
Bond laughed. 'When I'm ... er ... concentrating,' he explained, 'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.'
— Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir
Fleming continues with Bond telling the barman, after taking a long sip, "Excellent ... but if you can get a vodka made with grain instead of potatoes, you will find it still better," and then adds in an aside, "Mais n'enculons pas des mouches" (English: "But let's not bugger flies"—a vulgar French expression meaning "let's not split hairs"). Felix Leiter jokingly suggests Bond name his drink the Molotov Cocktail.
In the next chapter, "Pink Lights and Champagne", Bond names the drink the Vesper. At the time of his first introduction to the beautiful Vesper Lynd, he asks her name in an interrogation indirecte, "I can't drink the health of your new frock without knowing your Christian name." After learning her name, Bond decides that it is perfect for his recently invented cocktail. He tells Vesper that his search for a name is over if she will permit him to name the drink after her.
A Vesper differs from Bond's usual cocktail of choice, the martini, in that it uses both gin and vodka, Kina Lillet instead of the usual dry vermouth, and a lemon peel instead of an olive. Although there is a lot of discussion on the Vesper, it is only ordered by Bond once throughout Fleming's novels – although Bond drinks the Vesper in the film Casino Royale – and by later books Bond is ordering regular vodka martinis, though he also drinks regular gin martinis. Felix Leiter ordered a Vesper for Bond in the novel Diamonds Are Forever, albeit with Cresta Blanca in place of Kina Lillet, which Bond politely remarks is the "Best Vermouth I ever tasted." It may be that Fleming decided not to have Bond order a Vesper again due to the way in which Casino Royale ends.
In actuality, the book version of the Vesper was created by Fleming's friend Ivar Bryce. In Bryce's copy of Casino Royale Fleming inscribed "For Ivar, who mixed the first Vesper and said the good word." In his book You Only Live Once, Bryce details that Fleming was first served a Vesper, a drink of a frozen rum concoction with fruit and herbs, at evening drinks by the butler of an elderly couple in Jamaica, the Duncans, the butler commenting, "'Vespers' are served." Vespers or evensong is the sixth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office and are observed at sunset, the 'violet hour', Bond's later chosen hour of fame for his martini Vesper.
However, the cocktail has been misrecorded after mishearing the name in several instances, resulting in its being alternatively named 'Vespa'.
First appearance in Casino Royale published in 1953 by Ian Fleming
First appearance in Waukesha Plain Dealer published in 1870
The origins of the yellow bird name is unclear. Some sources mention that the cocktail was named after the Haitian tune "Yellow Bird", that was first rewritten in English in 1957 that became a sort of national anthem of the Caribbean due to the popularity of Harry Belafonte's recording. Hawaiian singer Arthur Lyman, one of the influencers of the tiki culture's exotica music, released a version of the song which rose to number four in July 1961 on the Billboard charts and was played weekly at Shell Bar in The Hawaii Village, a possible birthplace of the cocktail.
Others argue that it was not named after the song and obtains the name from its sunny color resulting from Galliano, a golden, sweet vanilla-anise Italian liqueur or from its color combination of yellow and orange fruits that are accompanied by a golden rum. The IBA does not include this latter ingredient.
First appearance in The Savoy Cocktail Book published in 1930 by Harry Craddock
First appearance in Cocktails: How to Mix Them published in 2022 by Robert Vermeire