Ooh, so pretty and Orangey!

Yes, it’s a Martini.

Yes, it’s for breakfast

Actually it doesn’t have to be for breakfast at all. It’s just as good at any other time of the day or night.

It’s almost a real Martini, not just a random concoction with the suffix -tini tacked on the end of its name. It is based around a large portion of gin, but the Dry Vermouth that you would find in a traditional Martini is replaced with Cointreau.

I know that I’m a bit flirtatious with my tastes, but right at this moment I’m going to say that this is easily one of my favourite drinks ever.

It’s all about the ingredients

There are a couple of things that are important to think about with the ingredients in this drink.

The first is that the tanginess and taste of the whole drink is largely down to the quality of the marmalade that you use at the start. All of the flavours of the marmalade are retained and it is the predominant flavour in the drink, so pick one that is tangy and not too sweet. We aren’t making a cake here, so whilst you might get away with ‘generic store value marmalade’ when it is going to be cooked into something, you can’t get away with it in this drink.

The other important ingredient is of course the gin. I’d suggest a decent quality of gin that isn’t too specific or unusual with its botanical ingredients. Something smooth that holds onto the taste of juniper is what you are really looking for. Tanqueray would be perfect.

Cointreau can be substituted for any other triple sec, if that is what you have. Personally I love the taste of Cointreau and think that what it adds to a drink is worth the higher price.

How to make a Breakfast Martini

1. Stick a big chunk of ice in a Martini glass to chill it while you are mixing the drink.

2. Put the marmalade together with the gin in the bottom of your shaker and stir them together until the marmalade dissolves.

3. Add the lemon juice and Cointreau to the shaker along with a good amount of large ice chunks.

4. Shake well.

5. Remove the ice from the Martini glass and strain the drink through a find strainer into the glass.

6. Garnish by floating a twist of orange peel in the drink.