The Breakfast Martini is the signature drink of the Maestro, Salvatore Calabrese. However, it was actually inspired by his English wife Sue.

Calabrese normally had little for breakfast, but one day during the 1990s she served him the very English dish of toast with marmalade.

Inspired by the flavours, he took the jar of marmalade to work that day; the Lanesborough Hotel in London. Once there, he got to experimenting and quickly came up with his standout creation.

You can read the whole recipe and rundown of ingredients on the Breakfast Martini page of this site, but it is essentially gin, lemon juice, orange liqueur and marmalade, muddled, shaken, strained and served.

Civil as an Orange

Fine cut marmalade is the preference and it would be a hard challenge to recommend anything but marmalade prepared with Seville oranges.

The drink can be garnished with some of the marmalade strands left in the strainer. Calabrese calls for adding shreds of freshly sliced orange peel.

It is also frequently garnished with a triangle of marmalade toast on the rim of the glass, catapulting the commonplace to somewhat surreal stardom. It is also more than acceptable to serve the toast on the side.

Otherwise, it goes very nicely with crystalised orange. It also pairs very well with dark chocolate, or indeed, a combination of the two.

Resurrection

Essentially the Breakfast Martini is a type of corpse reviver, also known as a fog cutter, hair of the dog or other form of hangover pick-me-up. They are usually sweet and sour, often with a citrus element or bitters.

Now, a Warning

Exercise caution. While one corpse reviver can be restorative, the Savoy cocktail book warned that “four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again.”

Don’t end up ‘brown bread’, cockney rhyming slang for… ‘unrevived’

Some corpse reviver recipes call for them to be served before 11am. The Breakfast Martini could therefore be considered appropriate for this time. However, the drink is only inspired by breakfast. It does not necessarily have to be served at this time of day. Indeed I think it is much more appropriate at other hours on the clock.

No Time to Die

The drink makes a very pleasant post-dinner dessert, or supper treat. It might be suitable for brunch but I would only choose it if I intended to spend the following hours unconscious on the beach or by the poolside.

For me, the perfect time for this drink is actually late afternoon. It goes very well after a busy day of running around in town, perhaps shopping or visiting museums. It can serve in place of an afternoon tea, providing a sweet pick-me-up and a light carbohydrate snack to lift you pleasantly before a journey home, or perhaps a shower and change of clothes in your hotel room before heading out again.

Indeed, a breakfast martini followed by a nap, shower and change of clothes can be the perfect preparation ritual for a night out.

Treat yourself!