Cocktail recipe
French Martini
Pineapple lends a silky tropical lift to vodka and dark raspberry liqueur.
Ingredients
- 60 ml (2 oz) vodka
- 20 ml (⅔ oz) raspberry liqueur, Chambord-style
- 45 ml (1½ oz) pineapple juice
- Garnish: 1 fresh raspberry
Preparation
Shake vodka, raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice vigorously with ice to raise a fine froth. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass and place one raspberry at the rim.
Glassware
Chilled cocktail / Martini glass
History
The French Martini emerged in New York in the late 1980s amid a vogue for fruit-driven vodka 'martinis'. Difford's Guide places Dale DeGroff's inclusion of the drink at Keith McNally's Pravda in 1996, followed by McNally's Balthazar, which helped popularize it. Difford also reports Dick Bradsell serving the drink in London at Quo Vadis in November 1997, evidence of its transatlantic spread rather than proof he invented it. Accounts disagree on a single creator. Its 'French' identity comes from raspberry liqueur such as Chambord, not from a classic Martini's vermouth structure. **Attribution confidence:** See sourced account and qualifications above.
Mixology View
DeGroff and McNally were central to its New York success; Bradsell helped its London visibility. We do not assign an exclusive inventor. The drink contains vodka but is not a traditional vodka Martini because it lacks vermouth.