The martini — a cocktail made with gin and vermouth — made its spy-film debut with James Bond’s famous ‘shaken not stirred’ preference. However, Mr Bond has been missing out big time as he never dabbled in the strawberry martini game — luckily, you won’t make that same mistake with these recipes.
Strawberry Martini
Simple, to the point, boozy, and tasty — what more could you ask for?
To make one of these, you will need:
- 15ml dry vermouth
- 45ml vodka
- 3 whole strawberries
- Dash simple syrup
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Ice
- 1 slice of strawberry
*Simple syrup is an ingredient you will need to make yourself. Just heat up sugar and water (equal quantities of each) until the sugar has fully dissolved. This won’t take very long, so you can start making your delicious strawberry martinis straight away.
Method:
1. Place the sugar into a shallow dish.
2. Rim your martini glass’ edge with the sugar by twisting it.
3. Leave this to one side.
4. Put the whole strawberries and the simple syrup in a mixing glass.
5. Muddle well.
6. Put some ice in with the muddled strawberries.
7. Pour the vodka and dry vermouth in too.
8. Shake thoroughly.
9. Using a finely meshed sieve, strain into the martini glass.
10. Don’t forget to garnish with the strawberry slice.
Four Ingredient Strawberry Martini
This tipple may have only four ingredients, but it’s a mighty good-tasting cocktail!
To make two of these, you will need:
- 75g strawberries (cut them in half and remove the greens)
- 1tbsp sugar
- ½ lemon (juice it)
- 980ml vodka (use your favourite)
Method:
1. Place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice into a food processor or a blender.
2. Blend until the strawberries are fully pureed and runny.
3. Strain into a bowl (this will prevent the strawberry seeds from getting into your drink).
4. Pour the vodka and fruity concoction into a shaker.
5. Add ice.
6. Shake well for around 30 seconds so the ingredients chill and it’s all combined together.
7. Pour into a martini glass.
Strawberry Basil Martini
This, as you can probably tell, is a super summery number comprising of two favourite seasonal flavours — strawberry and basil.
To make one of these, you will need:
- 2 strawberries (quartered)
- 2 basil leaves
- 1 tbsp simple syrup*
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed preferably)
- 1 ½ tbsp St. Germain liqueur
- 120ml strawberry and basil infused vodka**
- Ice
- Whole strawberry
- Basil leaf
*See the first recipe to learn how to make this easy concoction.
**You can make your own strawberry and basil infused vodka, see end of these recipes to see how.
Method:
1. Fill a shaker with ice.
2. Put the quartered strawberries, basil leaves, and simple syrup into the shaker.
3. Muddle it together.
4. Pour the lemon juice, St. Gemain and strawberry vodka into the muddled mixture.
5. Shake, shake, shake.
6. Strain using a fine-meshed sieve into a martini glass.
7. Garnish with the whole strawberry and basil leaf.
Fresh Strawberry Lemon Drop Martini
If you have ever made (or drank) a lemon drop martini, then you are halfway to knowing what the fresh strawberry variant is. Funnily enough, you just add strawberries!
To make one of these, you will need:
- 2 shots vodka (choose your favourite)
- Juice of ½ lemon (you can use pre-bottled lemon juice, but fresh is best)
- 3 fresh strawberries (chop them)
- 2 tsp extra fine sugar
- Ice
- Lemon slice
- Extra sugar
Method:
1. Put chopped strawberries in a cup.
2. Crush them with a fork.
3. Stir in 1 tsp of the sugar.
4. Put to the side for 5 minutes.
5. Rub the lemon around the rim of a martini glass.
6. Put the sugar in a shallow dish.
7. Dip the lemon-ed rim into the sugar.
8. Place ice into a shaker.
9. Add lemon juice, strawberries, final tsp of sugar and vodka into it.
10. Shake 50 times.
11. Strain using a fine-meshed sieve into the martini glass.
12. Push the strawberry puree through it with the back of a spoon.
13. Garnish with the strawberry and a lemon slice.
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Martini
It’s tasty and pretty; you truly get the best of both worlds with this one.
You will need:
- 45ml strawberry vodka
- 45ml chocolate vodka
- 90ml strawberry puree***
- 45ml milk
- 8 ice cubes (crushed)
- Red sprinkles
- Chocolate syrup
- Chocolate covered strawberry
***See the end of these recipes for how to make your own.
Method:
1. Dip the rim of a martini glass in chocolate syrup.
2. Stick the sprinkles onto the chocolate syrup rim.
3. Make chocolate syrup patterns on the inside of the glass.
4. Put the vodkas, strawberry puree, milk and ice into a shaker.
5. Shake, shake, Shake!
6. Pour this into the martini glass you prepped earlier.
7. Garnish with the chocolate covered strawberry.
**Strawberry Basil Infused Vodka
Not only will making your own flavoured liquor save you money when you’re rustling up a variety of unique cocktails, but you can also experiment with a wide variety of flavours!
Plus, you can make them to your exact taste — no more wasting your money on liquors you end up not liking.
You will need:
- 300g strawberries (hull and quarter them)
- 10 big basil leaves
- 475ml vodka
Method:
1. Place the strawberries and the basil leaves into an air-tight container.
2. Pour the vodka all over them. Make sure it covers all of the basil and strawberries.
3. Put the lid on the container.
4. Leave it like this for a whole week.
5. Shake it and turn every other day.
6. Once the week is up, strain the vodka from the strawberries and basil.
7. Store in a jar or air-tight bottle for a maximum of 3 months.
***Strawberry Puree
You will need:
- 150g fresh strawberries
- 1tbsp water
- 1tbsp sugar
Method:
1. Put the strawberries, sugar and water into a blender.
2. Blend until it’s smooth.
Now you are more than ready to conquer any cocktail party you would ever hope to be invited to!