The Story Behind The Grapefruit Gin Martini

Sometimes I find myself in the mood to really experiment when it comes to creating cocktails, trying to mix ingredients that one might not immediately consider as partners, and today’s cocktail creation is a perfect example of that. While recently testing bloody mary recipes, I realized that making a bloody mary was the only time when I’d ever use my celery bitters. I resolved that that needed to change, so I began testing other cocktails in which the bitters might make sense, and I settled on a riff of a gin martini.

For the drink I chose a navy strength gin — such as Tanqueray No. 10 — to stand up to the bitters and replaced the vermouth with a bit of grapefruit juice, as I found the juice played much better with the gin and bitters than the vermouth did. The light citrus notes in the gin played perfectly with the grapefruit while the celery bitters brought a delicate, tart acidity. It’s an easy sipping martini you’re sure to enjoy.

Ingredients

2 ounces navy strength gin
½ ounce grapefruit juice
3 dashes of celery bitters
1 cup ice

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake gently to combine and chill ingredients.
Strain into a martini or coupe glass and garnish with a celery stalk or a grapefruit slice.