Breakfast Martini

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (161 ratings)

Serve in a

Martini glass

Garnish:

Orange zest twist & slice of toast on rim

How to make:

STIR marmalade with gin in base of shaker until it dissolves. Add other ingredients, SHAKE with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.

1 barspoon Orange marmalade
1 2/3 fl oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1/2 fl oz Triple sec liqueur (40% alc./vol.)
1/2 fl oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
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Review:

The success or failure of this tangy drink is partly reliant on the quality of marmalade used. For ease of use, choose "fine cut" or even "no peel"/"shredless" orange marmalade.

Variant:

Marmalade Cocktail - orange marmalade, dry gin and lemon juice.
English Marmalade (Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini) - with orange marmalade, dry gin, red bitter liqueur, lemon juice and orange bitters.
Milanese Breakfast Martini - with orange marmalade, dry gin, red bitter liqueur, lemon juice and prosecco.
Paddington Bear Martini - with orange marmalade, dry gin, pisco and bianco vermouth.
Breakfast Gimlet - with orange marmalade, dry gin, lime cordial and lemon juice.
20 best Marmalade, preserves & conserves cocktails

History:

Not strictly a Martini, merely served in a V-shaped Martini glass, this now world-famous cocktail was created in 1996 by bartender, raconteur and long-term President of the United Kingdom Bartender's Guild, Salvatore Calabrese.

Being of proud Italian descent, Salvatore usually has little more than a swift espresso for breakfast. However, one morning, Sue his English wife, insisted he sit down for breakfast and served up toast and marmalade. Salvatore came up with the idea for his Breakfast Martini while enjoying the tangy preserve-covered toast and took the jar to work with him. Later that day, at London's Library Bar in the Lanesborough Hotel he perfected his signature cocktail.

Salvatore's Breakfast Martini has since inspired bartenders around the world to create their own cocktails using preserves such as jam and marmalade. Coincidentally, Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book includes a recipe to a Marmalade Cocktail, very similar to Salvatore's Breakfast Martini. However, Salvatore says that the inspiration to his drink, which is simply a White Lady with marmalade in it, was the hearty English breakfast and not the classic English bartending book.

Many bartenders have been inspired by Salvatore's creation with popular variations listed on our Marmalade cocktails page.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 26.81% alc./vol. (53.62° proof)
  • 21.5 grams of pure alcohol
Difford's Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Buy direct from
the_whisky_exchange store logo
£ -.--

Makes a minimum of ... cocktails
Just £ -.-- per cocktail*

* This list may not include all required ingredients.
Price per cocktail is an estimate based on the cost of making one cocktail with the available ingredients shown above and does not include any postage charges.
Buy direct from Difford’s Guide
Difford's Easy Jigger
£8.72 £8.72 exc VAT
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