Breakfast Martini

By
Colleen Graham
Photo of Colleen Graham
Colleen Graham
Freelance writer and cocktail book author Colleen Graham is a seasoned mixologist who loves sharing her knowledge of spirits and passion for preparing drinks.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 05/6/21
Breakfast Martini
The Spruce / S&C Design Studios
Prep: 3 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 3 mins
Serving: 1 serving
Yield: 1 cocktail
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
188 Calories
0g Fat
15g Carbs
0g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 188
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 8mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 15g 5%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 15mg 74%
Calcium 16mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 35mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The breakfast martini is a modern classic in the cocktail scene. Created in London in the late 1990s, it's a gin sour enhanced with orange marmalade for a bittersweet taste. Requiring just a few common bar ingredients, it's a cocktail that anyone can make at home.

Orange marmalade is the breakfast martini's signature ingredient, and it's best with high-quality marmalade. This is a perfect cocktail to showcase gin with a lighter botanical profile, including those focusing on floral and fruit notes rather than juniper-forward London dry gins. To round it off, choose a top-shelf triple sec and use fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and you'll have an exquisite brunch-worthy martini.

The original garnish for a breakfast martini is a wedge of toast slipped onto the rim. It's unusual but fun, though you are risking breadcrumbs in your drink. Orange twists are a more conventional alternative. Like the bloody mary, savory garnishes such as crispy bacon, cornichons, and sweet pickled peppers (e.g., Peppadew brand) are excellent additions that play off the breakfast theme.

Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons orange marmalade

  • 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

  • 1 3/4 ounces gin

  • 1/2 ounce premium triple sec

  • Orange twist, or cornichon, or sweet pickled pepper; for garnish

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for a Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

  2. In a cocktail shaker, add the orange marmalade and lemon juice. Muddle well to break up the marmalade strings.

    Muddling Orange Marmalade for a Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

  3. Add the gin and triple sec and fill the shaker with ice.

    Mixing a Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

  4. Shake well for about 15 seconds.

    Shaking a Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

  5. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass using a fine-mesh strainer.

    Fine-Straining a Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

  6. Add an orange twist, cornichon, and/or sweet pickled pepper garnish. Serve and enjoy.

    Breakfast Martini
    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

Tips

  • This martini typically calls for "1 barspoon" of marmalade. That measurement can vary from one spoon to the next, though it's generally equivalent to a heaping teaspoon.
  • If the marmalade you're using has very fine bits of orange peel or is "shredless," you can skip the muddle. Instead, stir it with the liquids until dissolved, then add ice and shake.
  • To fine-strain the cocktail, pour the drink through both your normal strainer and a fine-mesh strainer. It's not essential but ensures no marmalade bits make it into the glass.

Who Invented the Breakfast Martini?

The breakfast martini was created in 1996 by Salvatore Calabrese while working at London's Library Bar in The Lanesborough hotel. His inspiration was the orange marmalade his wife insisted he eat for breakfast. The taste of the bitter preserves prompted him to take the jar to work and develop this recipe which is now enjoyed worldwide. It was not the first cocktail to use marmalade, though it is the most famous. In the 1930 "Savoy Cocktail Book," Harry Craddock shared a marmalade cocktail recipe that also paired it with gin and lemon juice and is noted as "especially suited to be a luncheon apéritif."