Speaker 1: Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda land Audio in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Mr Constantine, Dr t W
Speaker 1: Andrew Sydney Riley on one passport. He traveled under the
Speaker 1: alias George Bergman. The man we're talking about in this
Speaker 1: episode was a British intelligence officer, and he's considered the
Speaker 1: most accomplished spy in history. Most of Riley's account of
Speaker 1: who he was and what he did was probably a lie,
Speaker 1: but we do know about his execution. Ordered by Stalin,
Speaker 1: Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremarquis and I'm Holly Frying.
Speaker 1: Many knew the man on the hot seat today as
Speaker 1: Sidney Riley, but he was born Sigmund Georgevitch Rosenbloom. Probably,
Speaker 1: in fact, most of what is known about him should
Speaker 1: probably be qualified as a Probably what else but a
Speaker 1: tangled web would you expect from the most accomplished spy
Speaker 1: in history. Though right much of what historians think they
Speaker 1: know about him may be false. Because Riley was a
Speaker 1: master of deception. Siegmund Rosenbloom turned himself into a man
Speaker 1: with more than a dozen identities. He became a businessman
Speaker 1: and multi lingual Khan man whose real line of work
Speaker 1: was espionage. By the beginning of the twentieth century, he
Speaker 1: was working as an agent for the British Intelligence Agency,
Speaker 1: assigned to spy on expat communities in Paris and London,
Speaker 1: with dispatches to Germany, the Russian Empire, and across the
Speaker 1: Far East, a European term referring to the geographical regions
Speaker 1: that include East and Southeast Asia, as well as the
Speaker 1: Russian Far East. Rosenbloom was born on March seventy four
Speaker 1: into a Polish Jewish family with an estate at Bielsk
Speaker 1: in the Grodno Province of Imperial Russia. Grodno, now a
Speaker 1: city in western Belarus, is near the Polish and Lithuanian borders.
Speaker 1: He was the only son of Paulina and Gregory Rosenbloom,
Speaker 1: a pianist and contractor, respectively. Or maybe he wasn't. Some
Speaker 1: reports suggest he was born in eighteen seventy three in Odessa, Ukraine,
Speaker 1: then part of the Russian Empire. Author Andrew Cook, in
Speaker 1: his book Ace of Spies The True Story of Sidney Riley,
Speaker 1: states that Riley was born on March seventy three as
Speaker 1: Solomon or Shlomo Rosenbloom in the Jewish care soon Berna
Speaker 1: of Imperial Russia. He writes that the man who called
Speaker 1: himself Sidney Riley was the illegitimate son of a woman
Speaker 1: named Paulina, who was Riley's acknowledged mother, and a doctor
Speaker 1: Mikhail Rosenbloom, the first cousin of Riley's presumed father, Gregory.
Speaker 1: Is he right? There's always that? But though, isn't there?
Speaker 1: But uh so? Riley told several wildly different versions of
Speaker 1: his own origin story on purpose. As a spy, he
Speaker 1: always wanted to confuse and mislead other people. He would
Speaker 1: tell the story that he was the son of a
Speaker 1: merchant marine captain and his acknowledged true mother, Paulina. It's
Speaker 1: also said that he claimed to have been born to
Speaker 1: an Irish sea captain, or sometimes it was an Irish clergyman,
Speaker 1: or a habitue of the imperial court of Czar Alexander
Speaker 1: the Third of Russia. Riley himself really liked to tell
Speaker 1: one particular origin story that historians know today just absolutely
Speaker 1: does not add up. His birth name, he claimed was Georgie,
Speaker 1: and he told this tale about his beginnings once while
Speaker 1: attending a chemistry course in Vienna. He was called back
Speaker 1: to Odessa for his mother's funeral, and during the ceremony,
Speaker 1: as Riley told it, his uncle revealed that the child Georgie,
Speaker 1: was actually the result of an affair between his mother
Speaker 1: and a doctor rosen Bloom, a Jewish physician who had
Speaker 1: treated her for an unknown condition. Riley claimed he chose
Speaker 1: to take the doctor's name, but recent evidence suggests that
Speaker 1: though Riley never wavered from his deception, and he told
Speaker 1: this story a lot, the doctor rosen Bloom in the
Speaker 1: original tale that he told was a fabrication. The doctor
Speaker 1: in question was Riley's uncle that he used as a
Speaker 1: character in his yarn. The whole thing was just false.
Speaker 1: He had borrowed from reality and twisted it into something new.
Speaker 1: Riley's tale continued because he also claimed that he faked
Speaker 1: his death in Odessa's harbor and stowed away a board
Speaker 1: of ship bound for South America. He claimed to have
Speaker 1: saved three British officers on an expedition into the Amazon,
Speaker 1: who then offered him passage to England in gratitude. That
Speaker 1: would have happened right around, but there are no records
Speaker 1: to substantiate these claims. We do know, though, that Riley
Speaker 1: did arrive in England in and it wasn't long before
Speaker 1: he became involved in clandestine affairs. Before the Russo Japanese War.
Speaker 1: He spied for, actually he spied for a few places.
Speaker 1: He's fined for both the British and Japanese. In Port Arthur.
Speaker 1: There he's still Russian plans for the Harvard Defenses, passing
Speaker 1: them to the Japanese for a naval attack. When several
Speaker 1: British ship building firms discovered that Riley had gotten the
Speaker 1: contracts for the Germans instead of the British, they considered
Speaker 1: his actions to be bordering on treason, But that accusation
Speaker 1: felt at the side when the Admiralty began receiving copies
Speaker 1: of German naval plans. He'd posed as a welder in
Speaker 1: the corrupt gun works, supposedly stealing German armament plans. But most,
Speaker 1: maybe all, of Riley's actual accomplishments are murky and controversial.
Speaker 1: So we're really not even going to talk about his assignments,
Speaker 1: not many of them, at least, because we'd be fighting
Speaker 1: with what might be act and what might be fiction.
Speaker 1: To talk about Riley is to talk about his legend.
Speaker 1: Some historians see him playing a double role in some events,
Speaker 1: such as selling munitions to both the Germans and the
Speaker 1: Russians during the First World War. Historians have also established
Speaker 1: that Riley was entrusted by the British Secret Service with
Speaker 1: espionage and Russia through relationships he was able to develop
Speaker 1: through his miracle cure business. Uh, you did not mishear
Speaker 1: that that was his miracle cure business. And if you
Speaker 1: were not expecting that, neither were we. By eighteen ninety six,
Speaker 1: Riley had also established himself as a consulting chemist. Within
Speaker 1: nine months of his company's launch, he became a fellow
Speaker 1: of the Chemistry Society and a member of the Institute
Speaker 1: of Chemistry. His business, though, was not what it appeared
Speaker 1: to be. He was manufacturing and distributing so called miracle
Speaker 1: cures to an unsuspecting public. Literally, he was a snake
Speaker 1: oil salesman. And that is how Ryle met his first wife.
Speaker 1: And on that thought, we're going to take a break
Speaker 1: for a word from our sponsor, and when we're back,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about how Riley's personal relationships were as murky
Speaker 1: as his work. Welcome back to CRIMINALLYA Let's talk about
Speaker 1: how Sigmund Rosenbloom got his first British passport allegedly in
Speaker 1: Riley met year old Margaret Thomas. The short version of
Speaker 1: the story is that he married the widow Margaret Thomas
Speaker 1: at the Holborn Registry office in London on August, but
Speaker 1: there's a whole lot more to it than that. There
Speaker 1: are many versions and many tales of Riley the Womanizer.
Speaker 1: Many historians believe Riley and Margaret had an affair while
Speaker 1: she was married to sixty three year old Reverend Hugh Thomas.
Speaker 1: Riley and the Reverend met in London through Riley's Ozone
Speaker 1: Preparations company, which peddled all sorts of fake cures. The
Speaker 1: reverend had kidney inflammation, which was reportedly attributed to Bright's disease,
Speaker 1: and he was intrigued by the cures Riley could offer him.
Speaker 1: Thomas introduced Riley to Margaret at his manor house, and
Speaker 1: an affair developed between the two over the next few months.
Speaker 1: On March four, the Reverend updated his will and appointed
Speaker 1: Margaret as executor. A week after finalizing that new will,
Speaker 1: Reverend Thomas traveled with his nurse to the new Haven
Speaker 1: Harbor Station hotel. On March twelve, in that same hotel,
Speaker 1: the reverend was found dead in his room. No one,
Speaker 1: it seems, could remember any specific details, but there had
Speaker 1: been a doctor, doctor T. W Andrew, who matched the
Speaker 1: physical description of Sidney Riley, who had appeared at the
Speaker 1: hotel to certify Thomas's death as influenza. Among the documents
Speaker 1: he signed was one claiming that there was no need
Speaker 1: for an inquest. Records indicate that no one calling themselves
Speaker 1: Dr T w Andrew existed in the British Empire. In
Speaker 1: or around about six weeks later, Margaret inherited roughly eight
Speaker 1: hundred thousand pounds. The Metropolitan Police, whom Riley may or
Speaker 1: may not have been connected to, did not try to
Speaker 1: locate or investigate a doctor T. W Andrew, nor did
Speaker 1: they investigate the nurse who Margaret had hired to care
Speaker 1: for her husband, even though the nurse was previously linked
Speaker 1: to the arsenic poisoning of a former patient. A few
Speaker 1: months later, on August, Riley and Margaret got married. Giles Milton,
Speaker 1: the author of Russian Roulette, How British Spies Thwarted Lennon's
Speaker 1: global Plot, has quote All accounts agree that he had
Speaker 1: a seductive charm, loving women as he loved himself, a
Speaker 1: string of mistresses would fall under his spell. Monogamy did
Speaker 1: not come naturally to Riley, and although he was usually
Speaker 1: fastidious in his choice of women, it did not prevent
Speaker 1: him from cavorting around London on one of his visits
Speaker 1: with a common tart named Plugger. Margaret was the first
Speaker 1: of an unverifiable number of Riley's wives and mistresses. Estimates
Speaker 1: suggests he may have had three or four wives and
Speaker 1: at least six regular mistresses. His relationships are as elusive
Speaker 1: to pin down as his work. At least two of
Speaker 1: Riley's marriages were witnessed by members of the British Secret
Speaker 1: Intelligence Service, who knew that they were big amous, but
Speaker 1: said nothing because they too were involved in the deception.
Speaker 1: He once entertained the wife of the assistant to a
Speaker 1: Russian minister, a woman named Nadine Messino. Not long after
Speaker 1: she met Riley, he reportedly planted stories in Russian newspapers
Speaker 1: claiming that his wife, Margaret, had died in a train crash,
Speaker 1: and he then paid Nadine's husband a large sum of
Speaker 1: money to divorce her. Nadine and Riley married in New
Speaker 1: York City in nineteen sixteen, Margaret, though had not died
Speaker 1: and Riley was committing bigamy. In nineteen Riley and Nadine divorced,
Speaker 1: and although Riley was still legally married to Margaret, in
Speaker 1: two he committed bigamy again when he married a young
Speaker 1: actress named Pepita Bobadilla Nelly Louise Burton. Pepita described their
Speaker 1: first meeting in Berlin, quote, for a moment, his eyes
Speaker 1: held mine and I felt a delicious drill run through me.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing about Riley. Through the accounts of
Speaker 1: those who knew him, we know that Riley's character definitely
Speaker 1: left an impression. He was suave, self confident, and charming.
Speaker 1: It said he was generous with his friends, he enjoyed gambling,
Speaker 1: both with his money and with his life, but he
Speaker 1: could also be cold and pragmatic, capable of using any
Speaker 1: means necessary to get what he wanted. On his personal
Speaker 1: stationary was the motto mundo no la fetus, which translates
Speaker 1: as put no faith in the world, or even more simply,
Speaker 1: trust no one. According to Richard B. Spence, the author
Speaker 1: of Trust No One. The Secret World of Sydney Riley,
Speaker 1: Riley was a quote, mercenary of a rather specialized sort,
Speaker 1: a freelance entrepreneur in the business of information and influence.
Speaker 1: Commenting on his own character, Riley was known to describe
Speaker 1: himself as quote a practical man. But back to Margaret.
Speaker 1: There were many women. But marrying Margaret gave Riley the
Speaker 1: wealth that he had desired at a time when he
Speaker 1: really needed it for travel, and it also provided a
Speaker 1: pretext to discard his identity of Sigmund Rosenblue for a
Speaker 1: fresh new I Wish origin story. Marriage helped him craft
Speaker 1: the identity of Sydney George Riley. Riley was a surname
Speaker 1: in Margaret's family, or maybe it wasn't marriage that had
Speaker 1: anything to do with that first passport of questionable origin.
Speaker 1: Author Richard B. Spence writes of the Riley name quote
Speaker 1: in eight he became Sydney George Riley by receiving a
Speaker 1: passport in that name, though he never legally adopted it
Speaker 1: or became a British subject a patron. Possibly his way
Speaker 1: into British intelligence was Sir Henry Josier, powerful Secretary of
Speaker 1: Lords connected to the War Office Intelligence branch. With his
Speaker 1: strong Jewish features and accented English Riley was an unconvincing Englishman,
Speaker 1: but this became his favorite of many alternative identities. Riley's
Speaker 1: new British passport could also have been a cover identity
Speaker 1: created by William Melville, who was the first chief of
Speaker 1: the British Secrets Ervice Bureau, which was the precursor to
Speaker 1: m I five. According to True Prime author Brian Mariner,
Speaker 1: and we definitely believe this Riley quote possessed passports in
Speaker 1: eleven different names. Allegedly he spied for at least four countries,
Speaker 1: and we think that number is higher than four. Secret
Speaker 1: Intelligence Service Captain Mansfield Smith coming one set of Riley
Speaker 1: that he was quote a man of indomitable courage, a
Speaker 1: genius as an agent, but a sinister man who I
Speaker 1: could never bring myself to holy trust. It's believed that
Speaker 1: as well as working for the British government, Riley was
Speaker 1: also spying for the Czarist regime of Imperial Russia. The
Speaker 1: newly named Sidney Riley, with his new bride, moved to St. Petersburg,
Speaker 1: where he immediately became friendly with members of the revolutionary underground.
Speaker 1: Richard Deacon, author of a history of the Russian Secret Service,
Speaker 1: writes that quote he was certainly being well paid. As
Speaker 1: of nineteen o six, he had a lavish apart mean
Speaker 1: in St. Petersburg, a splendid art collection, and was a
Speaker 1: member of the most exclusive club in the city. Although
Speaker 1: still married, Margaret becomes less of a character in Riley's story.
Speaker 1: Around this time. She remained in St. Petersburg while Riley
Speaker 1: went on assignments from the British Secret Service Bureau. One
Speaker 1: early assignment, it's reported, was to survey the Caucuses for
Speaker 1: its oil deposits, compile a resource perspectus, and report the
Speaker 1: findings to the British government. Such the life of a
Speaker 1: burgeoning spy, Riley, who spoke several languages, including German, used
Speaker 1: his linguistic skills to join the German army on the
Speaker 1: Western Front. After the First World War broke out in
Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Great Britain received detailed information from him on
Speaker 1: German troops which he sent. It said by carrier pigeon,
Speaker 1: we are going to take a quick break here for
Speaker 1: a word from our sponsor. Many modern historians consider Riley
Speaker 1: to be the first twentieth century super spy, but was
Speaker 1: he the inspiration for the character James Bond? Welcome Back
Speaker 1: to criminalia. Let's talk about Riley's arrest and execution and
Speaker 1: how he may have been undermined by another British agent.
Speaker 1: Riley returned to Russia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik
Speaker 1: Revolution in an attempt to both give aid to anti
Speaker 1: Bolsheviks and to top of Vladimir Lenin, the head of
Speaker 1: the Bolshevik Party. The most often cited plan is this
Speaker 1: he had prepared a covert plot to use the disillusioned
Speaker 1: guards protecting the Kremlin to kill key figures in the
Speaker 1: Soviet government, including Lenin, at a meeting at the Bolshoi Theater.
Speaker 1: In a twist of fate, his preparations were undermined by
Speaker 1: another assassination attempt on Lenin, this by Fanny Kaplan, which
Speaker 1: triggered the Red Terror that resulted in the deaths of
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of suspected counter revolutionaries. Once news reached
Speaker 1: the press, Riley was vilified as a key conspirator and
Speaker 1: he was sentenced to death in absentia. A man hunt
Speaker 1: was ordered, but Riley had vanished by the time the
Speaker 1: secret police reached to St. Petersburg apartment. Riley escaped through Finland,
Speaker 1: but he was lured back to Russia by a faith
Speaker 1: organization created by the Joint State Political Directorate to capture him.
Speaker 1: The Joint State Political Directorate, or o g p U
Speaker 1: as it was called, was the intelligence and State Security
Speaker 1: Service and secret police of the Soviet Union from nine
Speaker 1: to nine thirty four. Earnest Boys, the British Secret Intelligence
Speaker 1: Service station chief in Helsinki, wrote to Riley asking him
Speaker 1: if he would meet the leaders of the Monarchist Union
Speaker 1: of Central Russia, a right wing nationalist organization out of Moscow.
Speaker 1: Riley replied, quote, much as I am concerned about my
Speaker 1: own personal affairs, which as you know, are in a
Speaker 1: hellish state, I am, at any moment, if I see
Speaker 1: the right people and prospects of real action, prepared to
Speaker 1: check everything else and devote myself entirely to the syndicate's interests.
Speaker 1: I was fifty one yesterday and I want to do
Speaker 1: something worthwhile while I can. He met with Boys in
Speaker 1: Paris before crossing the Finish border on September. Two days later,
Speaker 1: during that meeting in a safe house outside of Moscow,
Speaker 1: he was arrested by the Russian secret police for his
Speaker 1: attempts to overthrow the Bolshevik government. Riley had been one
Speaker 1: percent convinced that he would be meeting with the leaders
Speaker 1: of an anti Bolshevik group. There were claims that Boyce
Speaker 1: was a double agent and had been paid for information
Speaker 1: about British intelligence agents, but this, like other stories, has
Speaker 1: many versions. In this version of Riley's life story, Voice
Speaker 1: may have been responsible for betraying him through a counter
Speaker 1: intelligence operation run by Soviet agents. That operation, called Operation Trust,
Speaker 1: ran from nineteen twenty one to nineteen twenty six, and
Speaker 1: it was created specifically to tease out the man the
Speaker 1: Soviet intelligence groups considered their most formidable enemy, and that
Speaker 1: was British agent Sydney Riley. Riley was brought to the
Speaker 1: Yanka prison in Moscow, and the man incarcerated in Cell
Speaker 1: seventy three was kept a closely guarded secret. According to
Speaker 1: the Soviet account of his interrogation, Riley wasn't physically tortured,
Speaker 1: but he was subjected to severe psychological torture, including a
Speaker 1: mock execution, an act that terrified him enough to possibly
Speaker 1: sign a confession. Though he was willing to give full
Speaker 1: information on the British and American intelligence services, Riley's appeal failed.
Speaker 1: Riley was regularly taken from the Lebyanka prison after dark
Speaker 1: and driven to the Soko Niki district for walks in
Speaker 1: the woods. Riley was always dressed in the uniform of
Speaker 1: the Soviet Secret Police for these outings. He was a
Speaker 1: secret prisoner, so all of this was so that his
Speaker 1: movements could be concealed. By November four, it was decided
Speaker 1: that Riley had nothing left to give, and it was
Speaker 1: believed that the longer he remained alive, the greater the
Speaker 1: chance word of his incarceration would leak out. Stalin it said,
Speaker 1: Quote anticipated this situation and ordered his execution on the
Speaker 1: evening of November five, thinking that he was going for
Speaker 1: another walk in the woods. Riley was shot in the
Speaker 1: back as he walked away from the car. A few
Speaker 1: years after Riley's death, in May of n one, the
Speaker 1: London Evening Standard published what they call a master Spy cereal,
Speaker 1: in which they read articles glorifying Riley's exploits. That twenty
Speaker 1: years after his execution, a young naval officer named Ian
Speaker 1: Fleming was working with the Director of Naval Intelligence during
Speaker 1: the Second World War. While doing his work coordinating Allied
Speaker 1: espionage and occupied Europe, Fleming discovered the legend of a
Speaker 1: spy code named ST One in the archives, and ST
Speaker 1: One was that's right, Sidney Riley. Years later, Fleming admitted
Speaker 1: to a friend that his character James Bond was largely
Speaker 1: based on Riley, but even so, he said, quote, James
Speaker 1: Bond is just a piece of nonsense I dreamed up.
Speaker 1: He's not Sidney Riley. You know. Today many historians consider
Speaker 1: Riley to be the first twentieth century super spy. In
Speaker 1: the century since his death, the truth of his life
Speaker 1: is still quite difficult to distinguish from the lies that
Speaker 1: he told. His reputation, though, has held fast among members
Speaker 1: of the intelligence community. One former British Secret intel Leigant
Speaker 1: Service officer stated quote he was very, very good, a
Speaker 1: bit of a crook, you could almost say, certainly sharp practice,
Speaker 1: but as an agent he was superb. While Agent Double
Speaker 1: O seven may have accomplished his assignments with the gadgets
Speaker 1: provided by the creative and innovative character of Q, we
Speaker 1: can't confirm if he drank a Martini shaken not stirred.
Speaker 1: World War One spy Sidney Riley's accomplishments were due to
Speaker 1: his cunning, his wits, his appeal among women, and a
Speaker 1: complete lack of a moral compass. There's a pretty obvious
Speaker 1: connection as we walk into the perfecty poor with James
Speaker 1: Bond and alcohol, right obviously, yes, yes, for anyone who
Speaker 1: doesn't know, James Bond's martini, which is called a vesper,
Speaker 1: was a made up drink. It was not like a
Speaker 1: drink he was plucking out of historical drink books. That
Speaker 1: is a made up drink, the books in the films.
Speaker 1: That drink, in case you're curious, was three ounces of jim,
Speaker 1: one ounce of vodka, a half ounce of Lillt blanc
Speaker 1: or driver mouth, and then a lemon peel for garnish.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of alcohol, yes, and I thought, let's
Speaker 1: do that, but we're gonna do it a little bit differently,
Speaker 1: and we're switching ours up in a way that James
Speaker 1: Bond would probably be horrified by. I love to horrify
Speaker 1: a made up person. So here we go. We are
Speaker 1: calling this Riley's vesper, and it's really a very close one.
Speaker 1: So it's the three ounces of gin, one ounce of vodka.
Speaker 1: Please drink responsibly. This is a lot of drink. Instead
Speaker 1: of that driver mouth, we're going to do grapefruit liqueur.
Speaker 1: Here because that yeah, you still get like a bright
Speaker 1: kind of cutting flavor, but it's nice and it's got
Speaker 1: a juiciness to it. I would bump that up from
Speaker 1: half an ounce to more like three quarters because it
Speaker 1: just helps balance out all of that gin and vodka.
Speaker 1: And I would almost like do this and pour it
Speaker 1: into two glasses and share it with somebody, because that's
Speaker 1: that's a lot of liquor, a lot of it's almost
Speaker 1: five ounces of just spirit at that point. And then
Speaker 1: do your lemon peel or I did one in prep
Speaker 1: for this to test it, where I did a lemon
Speaker 1: and a grapefruit peel and I expressed a little of
Speaker 1: each on top and stuck him on a cute pick
Speaker 1: and made a cute thing. You are going to shake
Speaker 1: this like the Dickens in a shaker with ice the
Speaker 1: point for that shake and not stir. To say, when
Speaker 1: you shake it, you're getting more dilution of all of
Speaker 1: that alcohol a little bit because some of the ice
Speaker 1: will break down and it will water it down a
Speaker 1: little bit, which you do actually want in some occasions.
Speaker 1: And then some people like to double strain of martini
Speaker 1: like this. You can if you want. I just did it.
Speaker 1: Once into a pre chilled glass, because that that very
Speaker 1: cold glass is going to keep this tasting nice and
Speaker 1: crisp for you, and not that, oh, that just tastes
Speaker 1: like a lot of alcohol. It's really fascinating how temperature
Speaker 1: shifts your perception of flavor when it comes to alcohol.
Speaker 1: It's a good one, but it is very much like
Speaker 1: a heavy hitter. The one thing that my my beloved
Speaker 1: noted when he and I were testing this was that
Speaker 1: the smell of the grapefruit actually for him countered that
Speaker 1: heavy punch of alcohol, like just that aroma of it
Speaker 1: really like it does something else to your palate, and
Speaker 1: he found it to not be as biting as like
Speaker 1: just drinking that much straight alcohol. So the mock tail
Speaker 1: for this is very different, obviously because this thing is
Speaker 1: all alcohol, but it's also very fun. It's very easy. Also,
Speaker 1: you're just gonna use grapefruit syrup. You can pre buy it.
Speaker 1: You can also make grapefruit sorr it pretty easily, and
Speaker 1: then you can add either club soda or ginger ale
Speaker 1: to it and just make a beautiful grape fruit soda.
Speaker 1: If you are not opposed to using bidders, because they
Speaker 1: do have a slight minuscule alcohol content, a couple of
Speaker 1: dashes of angist or Bidders did something very cool in this,
Speaker 1: and it made it like a really yummy drink that
Speaker 1: kind of has that little bit of bite of an
Speaker 1: actual alcoholic cocktail, but instead it is well mocktail a refresher.
Speaker 1: Grapefruit is another flavor that I used to dislike, and
Speaker 1: I have come around on I'm still not gonna eat
Speaker 1: a grapefruit, but if you mix it with vodka, I'll
Speaker 1: do it. I was about to say, I'm actually not
Speaker 1: gonna eat a half of a grapefruit, but I love
Speaker 1: when it shows up in things, and I do love
Speaker 1: the sentiments beautiful. So uh, that is Riley's vesper And
Speaker 1: like I said, I don't know if you drank him.
Speaker 1: I don't think James Bond would like this version, but
Speaker 1: I like it and I hope you do too. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for spending this time with us while
Speaker 1: we talk about superspies and treason this week. We will
Speaker 1: be right back here next week with more treason and
Speaker 1: more drinking. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland Audio in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio,
Speaker 1: Please visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.