Strawberry Martini

By
Hannah Chamberlain
Hannah Chamberlain, portrait
Hannah Chamberlain
Hannah Chamberlain (of SpiritedLA) is a home bartender with years of experience developing cocktail recipes, writing about drink history, and exploring some of the top alcohol destinations in the world.
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Published on 07/31/23
Two strawberry martinis on a marble surface, garnished with a fresh strawberry

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Time to Make and Cool the Syrup: 2 hrs
Total: 2 hrs 5 mins
Serving: 1 cocktail
Yield: 3 1/2 to 4 ounces

Many of us can’t leave well enough alone when it comes to cocktails. Where we could simply enjoy drinking a delicious daiquiri, a strange inner voice coaxes us to mess with it and make it weird. Why not try adding peppers? Seaweed? Bacon?

What is a Strawberry Martini?

This strawberry martini is solidly not one of those odd experimental concoctions: it’s simple, sweet, straightforward, and delicious. The beautiful summer taste of perfectly ripe and juicy strawberries shines alone in this pretty pink drink, and who are we to try to improve on that? 

And in the spirit of not overcomplicating things, this strawberry martini recipe is as easy to make as it is to enjoy. The ingredients should be readily available and the techniques are a cinch to master.

What Ingredients Do You Need to Make a Strawberry Martini?

This three-ingredient recipe pairs gin (or vodka) with an easy-to-make strawberry syrup that is balanced out with fresh lemon juice. When you go about choosing your gin, opt for something light and pretty that features floral or citrus botanicals rather than something that leans savory or spicy: Hendrick’s, the Botanist, and Tanqueray 10 are all great choices.

How To Use the Extra Strawberry Syrup

And the leftover homemade strawberry syrup is nice to have around for other cocktails like strawberry margaritas, tom collinses, or French 75s, and it can even be used as a delicious topping for pancakes, waffles, and ice cream.

Making a Large Batch Version

Since everyone loves strawberries, this strawberry martini is a perfect cocktail to make in large batch form for spring and summer entertaining. Serve it for poolside sips, lawn sport parties, baby showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, or just as a refreshing pre-dinner drink. See precise instructions for making a large batch strawberry martini below the recipe.

Tips for Making a Strawberry Martini

  • Use the best berries—The more ripe and flavorful your berries are, the better the flavor of the syrup will be.
  • Make a large batch—To make this large batch, simply multiply the ingredients to the preferred serving size and stir in a pitcher with ice until the mixture is well-chilled and combined. 
  • Change up the proportions to taste—Feel free to tweak proportions to taste: if you prefer something more or less sweet, don’t be afraid to experiment with more or less syrup.

Ingredients

For the Syrup:

  • 1 cup water

  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

  • 1 cup washed chopped fresh strawberries

For the Cocktail:

  • 2 ounces gin or vodka

  • 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice

  • 1 ounce strawberry syrup

  • 1 fresh strawberry to garnish

Steps to Make It

Make the Syrup

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make strawberry simple syrup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Add water and sugar to a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.

    A pan of sugar and water, being stirred with a wooden spoon

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Add the strawberries and turn down the heat to medium low. Stir occasionally and break up the strawberries as you go until the strawberries have broken down, the syrup is a bright red, and the flavor is strong, approximately 15 minutes.

    A pot of chopped strawberries cooking down in water-sugar mixture

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Remove the saucepan from heat, and allow the syrup to fully cool.

    A pot of strawberry syrup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Strain out the solids through a fine mesh sieve, and store the syrup in an airtight glass container such as a mason jar.

    A strainer of chopped, cooked strawberries next to a mason jar of clear strawberry syrup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Make the Cocktail

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make a strawberry martini

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Add gin, lemon juice, and strawberry syrup to a cocktail shaker.

    A glass of gin, lemon juice, and strawberry syrup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Fill the shaker 3/4 full of ice and shake the cocktail until it becomes ice cold and the ingredients are well combined, approximately 15 seconds.

    A shaken cocktail glass of strawberry syrup, gin, and lemon juice

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Use a hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer to double strain the cocktail into a chilled coupe.

    A hand pouring a strawberry martini through two strainers into a martini glass from a cocktail shaker

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Slice into your strawberry at the tip and insert it onto the rim of the glass as a garnish.

    A strawberry martini garnished with a whole strawberry

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

How To Store Leftover Strawberry Syrup

The strawberry syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Feeling Adventurous? Try This:

  • Add flavor with a liqueur—Feel free to add 1/2 an ounce of elderflower, ginger, banana, or rose liqueur for extra flavor and nuance.
  • Make it extra pink—If you’d like the cocktail to take on a pinker (rather than an orangier reddish) hue, opt for a butterfly pea blossom infused gin such as Empress 1908 or The Illusionist.
  • Substitute lime juice—Lime can be used in place of lemon.
  • Change up the base spirit—Rum, cognac, and bourbon can all be used as the base spirit in place of gin or vodka.
  • Try another fruit—This recipe can be made with raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries instead of strawberries.

How To Make Strawberry Martinis for a Crowd

To make a large batch of strawberry martinis for a party:

  1. Multiply each ingredient by the number of servings you want to batch.
  2. Use the resulting numbers to help you figure out how many bottles of each ingredient you'll need to buy. Remember that drinks are usually sold in 750mL bottles. 750mL is approximately 25 1/4 ounces.
  3. Once you have your ingredients, measure them out according to the math you did in step 1.
  4. Mix the ingredients together in a pitcher, and refrigerate to chill well.
  5. To serve, add ice to the pitcher and stir well. Pour 4 ounces of the batched cocktail into each chilled glass. Garnish, and serve.

Read more about batching cocktails here.

How Strong is a Strawberry Martini?

The strawberry martini comes in at 17 percent ABV (34 proof). While about twice as strong as a low-proof cocktail like the Aperol Spritz, this is a significantly lower proof drink than the classic martini, which clocks in at 31 percent ABV.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
215 Calories
0g Fat
22g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 215
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 22g 8%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 20g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 22mg 112%
Calcium 5mg 0%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 60mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)