It was invented about 25 years ago by the king of the contemporary cocktail, Salvatore Calabrese and it really oughtn’t to be drunk at breakfast, well, not unless you’re willing to write off the whole day. But then, I’ve never had a Bloody Mary for breakfast either, so what do I know. I used Beefeater 24, which is a very elegant, well-mannered gin, made by the world’s most experienced Master gin distiller, Desmond Payne. The 24 refers to the number of hours the botanicals are steeped in alcohol before distillation: grapefruit, bitter almond, orris root and Japanese Sencha and Chinese green tea are key botanical ingredients and it’s my preferred gin for a Negroni - and the Breakfast Martini - because it complements other ingredients rather than getting into a punch-up, as some other gins, less polite about sharing the limelight, do.
If you want a demonstration, do look at my video on IGTV on @walpoleceo but I recommend you make your own - you’ll already own the ingredients, though you may need to pop to the shop for a lemon.
50ml Beefeater 24 gin 15ml Cointreau 15ml Lemon juice A generous spoonful of good marmalade
Method
Add gin and marmalade to a cocktail shaker and stir the marmalade into the gin until it’s dissolved. Add the Cointreau (or Triple Sec, or Grand Marnier) and lemon juice. Put ice in the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously to blend and chill the ingredients Strain into a martini glass (I use a champagne coupe: the lockdown has caught me without the full complement of barware, but do remember you can get 20% off Richard Brendon’s with the code WALPOLE20)
It’s sweet, and bitter, and orangey and boozy and I love it.
