When you hear the name Breakfast Martini, you might think this Martini is made specifically for breakfast. It is delicious, easy to make, and a perfect drink to enjoy with brunch, of course, you can enjoy this drink literally any time of the day.
The Breakfast Martini was invented by Il Maestro, London bartender Salvatore Calabrese in 1996. Although Salvatore was an Italian descendant, he got his inspiration from the “English breakfast” served by his wife. The breakfast included a crispy toast with orange marmalade on top.
He loved the flavor so much that he decided to take the jar to work in London’s Library Bar at the Lanesborough Hotel. Although the work of Salvatore is the cocktail we enjoy today, there is another marmalade cocktail recipe in the history books. That Breakfast Martini recipe is from 1920 by Harry Craddock of Savoy Cocktail Book fame.
Thank goodness, Salvatore just took the marmalade from his breakfast to make this – if it had eggs, bacon, sausage, and beans in it – it might have been called the English Breakfast Martini!
What goes into a Breakfast Martini
This modern classic is super easy to make. You will need just four simple ingredients. These are the following:
- Gin: You can use any gin for this recipe, just make sure it’s good! A London Dry Gin is probably your best bet.
- Orange liqueur: You can’t have breakfast without Orange Juice and this is the adult version. Use Triple Sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier.
- Fresh Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds the zing of sharpness to what would otherwise be pretty sweet.
- Orange marmalade: This is definitely the Breakfast Martini’s signature ingredient. Please make sure you get a high-quality marmalade as it will make all the difference!
- Lemon wheel or Lemon Twist: Garnish this drink with a lemon wheel or twiat for more freshness and a hint of bitterness from the lemon rind. Soem also use an orange wheel, orange twist, or orange zest.
What tools you need to make a Breakfast Martini
You’ll need a cocktail shaker for this one! Grab a jigger, a barspoon, a strainer, a fine mesh strainer, and a chilled martini glass for this Breakfast Martini cocktail recipe.
Making Breakfast Martini is effortless. Here are a few simple steps you have to follow:
- Step 1: In a cocktail shaker, add ice cubes.
- Step 2: Pour in the gin, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. Add orange marmalade.
- Step 3: Seal the shaker and shake, shake, shake for a minute or two until the drink is chilled and everything is well combined.
- Step 4: You’ll need to double strain this. So grab your shaker and strain with the Hawthrone strainer and then fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Step 5: Add a lemon wheel to the glass and serve chilled.
- 🍸Top Tip(le): It’s best if you put your martini glasses in the freezer to get them really cold beforehand.
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Where to find ingredients for Breakfast Martini cocktails
You can find all the ingredients at Spirits Kiosk (10% off the entire site by quoting this code: ALushLife10SK.) in the UK; or Saucey.com in the USA!
Where to find more gin recipes
Here are a few of my favorites:
- How to Make the Dry Gin Martini
- How to Make the Tanqueray Negroni
- How to Make the Gin Sour
- How to Make the Gin Fizz
- How to Make a White Lady
Plus more orange cocktail recipes here
Here is the recipe!
Breakfast Martini
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Gin
- 1/2 ounce Orange liqueur
- 3/4 ounce Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 barspoon orange marmalade
- Lemon wheel
Instructions
- Add the gin, orange liqueur, lemon juice, and marmalade to a shaker
- Add ice
- Shake, shake, shake
- Double strain into a chilled Martini glass
- Garnish with a lemon wheel
Notes
Nutrition
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Love my marmalade and just learning to love martinis. How to make them is another story. I do have coupe glasses which shows I do know something.