French Martini

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (184 ratings)

Serve in a Martini glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Ketel One Vodka
12 oz Black raspberry liqueur (e.g. Chambord)
1 12 oz Pineapple juice
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Martini glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of pineapple wedge on raspberry.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with a pineapple wedge on rim or float raspberry in centre of cocktail.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 4/10

Review:

Raspberry and pineapple laced with vodka. Easy drinking and very fruity.

View readers' comments

AKA: Flirtini

Variant:

This, my preferred French Martini recipe, is made to a 4:1:3 formula: heavy on vodka and light on the liqueur. By adjusting the proportions of the ingredients, French Martini can be tailored to suit almost every palate:
3:1:3: 45ml (1.5oz) vodka + 15ml (.5oz) black raspberry liqueur + 45ml (1.5oz) pineapple juice
3:2:1: 3 parts pineapple juice + 2 parts vodka + 1 part raspberry liqueur
1:1:2: equal parts vodka and raspberry liqueur with two parts pineapple juice
See: Riffs & variations on the French Martini with other spirits and liqueurs.

History:

The French Martini is based on one of the most straightforward recipes: base, modifier, and juice. Liqueurs burst onto the scene as cocktail modifiers during Prohibition when homemade spirits needed to be masked. Having been so well embraced, they never declined after liquor became more refined and once again legal.

Vodka, particularly during the late 1980s-90s when this cocktail was created, had, and perhaps still does have, the broadest consumer appeal, while pineapple is crucial to both the drink's flavour and texture: frothy without being heavy.

Despite what you may have heard, the French Martini wasn't invented by Chambord as part of a marketing campaign, although it would be hard to deny that the French Martini has done a lot to promote the brand of black raspberry liqueur.

Named for its use of French blackberry and raspberry liqueur and the fact that it was served in a V-shaped glass, this Neo-Martini doesn't contain vermouth and is a long way from being a true Martini. However, during the late 1980s, when this fruity cocktail emerged in New York City, pretty much any drink served in a V-shaped glass was named Martini, and the name has stuck. Just as it has for the Espresso Martini. [See Martini cocktail and its evolution]

In 1996, Dale DeGroff put the French Martini on the menu of Keith McNally's vodka-themed New York bar, Pravda. However, it was later that year, when the cocktail appeared at McNally's renowned Balthazar restaurant in New York's Soho, that it started to fly.

By 1997-8, the French Martini made it onto the menu at London's Met Bar, then the favoured hangout of the glitterati and a bar which championed this style of fruity vodka-based cocktails, dubbed "fresh fruit Martinis".

But it was Dick Bradsell, then Europe's most influential bartender, who made me my first French Martini at London's Quo Vadis in November 1997. In the editor's letter of the following month's CLASS magazine, I gushed, "My favourite Martini of the moment has to be the French Martini, a drink that looks set to be the hit cocktail of 1998. The French Martini resembles a Sex on the Beach, but without the sex - i.e. no peach schnapps or melon liqueur".

CLASS was a newly established magazine and needed funding. I knew both the UK distributors of Chambord and Absolut Vodka were looking for a cocktail to promote their products so I had a full-page advertisement designed and approached both of them to support jointly. The ad ran for the first time in that December issue and every issue for months after. So, in a way, the French Martini helped establish my magazine, and I helped establish the French Martini in the UK.

Nutrition:

One serving of French Martini contains 208 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 16.22% alc./vol. (16.22° proof)
  • 19.5 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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Showing 10 of 13 comments for French Martini.
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Mark Fraioli’s Avatar Mark Fraioli
11th April at 00:16
Has anyone ever tried this with Old Tom gin? I just did — and found that it added some nice complexity.
Rob Simpson’s Avatar Rob Simpson
16th March at 15:50
A lot of people these days like them frothed up (with egg white/aquafaba etc on top of the pineapple) and served in a coupe a la clover club. I am ambivalent about this, I think it's frothy enough with the pineapple. It's always fun to get a nice head on any drink though.
The drink itself is a bit sweet for me, lemon juice tempers it quite well if you like that sort of thing .
it's nice to have a creative use for Chambord
Ross McGill’s Avatar Ross McGill
4th May 2024 at 18:22
It was easy to make; tasted good.
Peter McCarthy’s Avatar Peter McCarthy
27th April 2024 at 01:32
Not too sweet! You can taste each of the 3 components. Nice!
13th January 2023 at 01:14
Very tasty, good balance, many recipes I found the pineapple too strong but this one had a great balance to me.
10th January 2023 at 06:55
I used store bought pineapple juice which was quite sweet (no added sugar though) and it masked the vodka more than most flavored martinis. That can be good since some do not like the vodka taste. I liked the Chambord in it.
Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
29th October 2022 at 21:20
Very pineapple forward with a slight raspberry finish at the end. A simple yet very tasty cocktail.
Kevin Haynes’ Avatar Kevin Haynes
6th October 2022 at 22:00
Very tasty! I'm so tempted to put some creme de cacao for a chocolate raspberry flavor!
David Porter’s Avatar David Porter
23rd June 2021 at 19:16
Yep agree nowhere near as sweet as I was expecting, the extra portion of vodka smooths out pineapple that i always find a bit harsh.
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Anonymous

18th April 2021 at 11:10
I didn't have any Chambord, only Creme de Mure. It came out excessively sweet for my taste. Could be adjusted perhaps with a little lemon juice and less creme de mure