Most of the time I garnish my martinis with a very simple piece of lemon peel.

When I make the drink I take a strip of lemon peel and squeeze it over the glass so as to spray it with fresh lemon oil. After I have squeezed the peel I quickly trim it for presentation and drop it in the drink as a simple garnish

If you don’t keep it simple it will end up taking precious time. This can put your martini at serious risk of warming up.

Nonetheless, sometimes you can mix it up a bit, especially if you create the garnish in advance.

You can cut out some lemon peel, scrape off the pith and twist it into a shape. I then put it in the freezer to keep in shape until drink o’clock.

You saw this one here first. My dollar sign martini garnish TM.

The garnish doesn’t have to be lemon.

I’m sure there are a million possibilities. Like this octopus tentacle from an earlier martini I made.

Or you could try a thin apple-slice garnish for an apple martini

Or jam on toast for a breakfast martini

This simple nasturtium flower is one of the easiest garnishes I’ve ever used.

The garnish doesn’t need to be edible.

Or it can be completely edible. This is from the Raita martini I made to go with a curry.

Olives are classic and conventional.

They’re also very tasty.

But you don’t need to be classic and conventional all the time.

Lemon foam is slightly more modern (this one was added to an Earl Grey Martini I made earlier).

But you could use something that grows in your garden that’s been consumed by civilised humans since time immemorial. The Rosemary Martini.

It could be something caught on a fishing trip.

It could be sweet.

It could be sour.

It could be subtle.

Or it could be exuberant

But however you garnish your martini, the drink itself has to be good.

Remember that the full instructions on how to make a martini are located here.

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