Enhance your classic martini with a spike of silky liqueur – preferably homemade!

This is a very simple but delightful variation on a classic martini. Make it the same way as the original, making sure to garnish it with lemon peel rather than olive, then add a teaspoon or two of limoncello and stirring it in with the lemon peel.

If you’re a lemon fan, this is for you. It’s particularly welcome after a hot day. If you would like some olives on the side, perhaps you could have some stuffed with lemon.

I would love to say that this is a classically Italian style of martini – and undoubtedly it is, but I was first introduced to the technique by an American in Beirut – a most esteemed martini destination in my opinion.

Martinis are, after all, a drink associated with internationalism and the mixing of cultures.