So I found a bottle of Martini at the back of the drinks cabinet and thought to myself, “Martini, cocktails, yes” and so my sorry tale begins. We’re testing pumpkin-spiced syrups this week, as you do, and I found, what I thought was the jackpot. Go Google and see what I mean. Pumpkin Spiced Martini is a thing, it’s world-famous, there are dozens of recipes and … …it contains no Martini. The nearest it gets to Martini is the shape of the glass. Here is my version of the Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Martini.
Using the power of Mr Google I have learnt something though, and we need to start with vermouth. Vermouth comes in two colours, red and white. All dry vermouth is white, however, you can get sweet white vermouth. The name comes from the German word “Wermut” which means Wormwood and is/was one of the herbs used to flavour fortified wine. In medieval times herbs were often used as an addition to wine to turn it into medicine or to disguise the worst of the wines.
Martini & Rosso is the name of one of the producers of vermouth. Dubonnet is very similar to vermouth and whilst Campari is also a fortified wine made with herbs it tends to be sweeter.
With all that out of the way, this recipe from Waitrose has no Martini or vermouth and I will now have to look harder for a Martini containing recipe tomorrow.
Ingredients:
- 50ml Vodka
- 25ml Tia Maria
- 30ml Pumpkin spice syrup
- Espresso or strong brewed coffee to fill
- Pared strip orange zest to decorate
Method:
- Put all of the ingredients into your Milk Frother and then top up with the coffee to the max mark.
- Replace the lid and then press the start button and wait until finished.
- Meanwhile, heat up the glass using hot water from a kettle.
- When your milk frother has finished, empty the water out of the glass and fill with your Hot Cocktail.
- Enjoy your Pumpkin Spiced espresso Martini.
Mark’s Top Tip: I used Tia Maria because we had it in the cupboard, the Wiatrose recipe called for Kahlua. Just to be a bit beligerent and becuase there is no Martini in it, I served this in an Irish coffee glass with squirty cream and a sprinkling of dark chocolate.