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The French martini is a triumph! This classy cocktail is perfectly balanced with vodka, pineapple juice, and raspberry liqueur.

French martini
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Here’s a sophisticated cocktail that’s calling your name: the French martini! This martini is hardly related to the classic dry martini at all. It’s fruity and balanced, featuring a fancy French black raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice. Each sip is so intriguing and nuanced, it’s hard to put the glass down! As expert mixologists with over 300 cocktail recipes in our library, one’s become a favorite over here. Here’s how to make the perfect French martini!

What’s in a French martini?

The French martini is a fruity spin on a vodka martini made with raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice. It might seem like a retro classic cocktail, but it was invented in the 1980’s by New York bartender Allen Katz. It’s gone on to become a sort of modern classic! This cocktail makes the list of International Bartender Association’s IBA official cocktails, so it has an official definition. The ingredients in a French martini are:

  • 2 oz vodka
  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • ½ oz Chambord (or other raspberry liqueur)

Want a substitute for Chambord? Use crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) or crème de mure (blackberry liqueur) in a French martini. Or you can make the Clover Club instead, a similar cocktail made with raspberry syrup and gin.

How to make a French martini

How to make a French martini

It’s so easy to make a French martini, there’s barely anything to it! This drink follows the basic “shake and strain” model for cocktails (or go right to the recipe):

  1. Shake in a cocktail shaker. Take 2 oz vodka, 1 oz pineapple juice, and ½ oz Chambord, and shake it together in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
  2. Strain into a glass and add garnish. Strain the drink into the cocktail glass. Garnish with a raspberry.

What is Chambord?

The French martini requires a special ingredient: Chambord! It’s got a beautiful gold and purple round bottle with a crown insignia. But what exactly is it?

  • Chambord is a black raspberry liqueur made in France. Despite the fancy historic looking bottle, the brand started in the 1980’s. But it was inspired by a raspberry liqueur recipe from the the 1680’s, so it has historic roots.
  • The flavor of Chambord is rich and fruity, with strong raspberry notes and hints of citrus.
  • Is Chambord worth buying? A small bottle costs about $20 (in the US). It’s worth buying if you’re an adventurous home mixologist, but skip it if you’re a minimalist.

What else can you make with Chambord? Try the popular Chambord and Champagne, swap it for crème de cassis in a Kir Royale, or try it with Prosecco and soda water as a Chambord spritz.

Chambord

More martini recipes

Flavored martinis are a modern invention built on the vodka martini. The French martini is nothing like the classic dry martini, made with gin and dry vermouth! Most vodka martinis drop the vermouth, so they’re hardly like the base drink at all: more an excuse to drink a fruity vodka cocktail! Here are some of our favorite martini recipes:

French martini

Other French-inspired cocktails

Of course, the French martini isn’t classically French. But if you love a French martini, you might like these France-inspired cocktails! Here are a few more to try:

When to serve a French martini

This French martini is a sophisticated upscale cocktail. It’s great as a:

  • Signature drink
  • Happy hour drink
  • Dinner party drink
  • Late night drinks drink
  • Guys or girls night drink
  • Cocktail hour drink
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Classic French Martini

French martini
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5 from 3 reviews

The French martini is a triumph! This classy cocktail is perfectly balanced with vodka, pineapple juice, and raspberry liqueur.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 drink 1x
  • Category: Drink
  • Method: Shaken
  • Cuisine: Cocktails
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) vodka
  • 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) pineapple juice
  • ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) Chambord* or other raspberry liqueur
  • For the garnish: raspberry (optional)

Instructions

  1. Add the vodka, pineapple juice, and Chambord to a cocktail shaker. Fill it with ice and shake it until cold.
  2. Strain into a cocktail glass. If desired, garnish with a raspberry.

Notes

*If desired, substitute crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) or crème de mure (blackberry liqueur). 

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More vodka cocktails

Here are more of the best vodka cocktails to use up the rest of the bottle:

  • Vodka Gimlet A variation on the classic gin gimlet with a smoother flavor! It’s got just three ingredients: vodka, lime and syrup.
  • Vodka Tonic or Vodka Soda These two-ingredient cocktails are bubbly, citrusy, and refreshing.
  • Vodka Sour A classic sour cocktail: refreshingly sweet tart with a frothy egg white foam on top.
  • Classic Moscow Mule Vodka, lime and ginger beer in a copper mug. Try all the variations!

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi! We’re Sonja and Alex Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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5 Comments

  1. Joe says:

    Too good. Catchy and we’ll connection.

  2. Pat says:

    Love the color.






  3. Tim Smith says:

    Delicious!






  4. CANDY RUDY says:

    We’re having a Flamingo Friday Party for our neighborhood in May. Soooo we must have a pink arrival cocktail. Easy choice… Pink French Martini 🦩

  5. Gail M says:

    Nice combination of 3 ingredients I enjoy and you can tweak proportions according to your personal taste