the ~ official ~ caprese martini
Can you believe it? After a year, the ~ official ~ caprese martini recipe is here! Or, at the very minimum, my version of the caprese martini. Unlike other recipes, I like to make a tomato cheong (aka tomato syrup) because it brings out the flavor of the tomato nicely. It’s a bit more work, but worth the payoff because you’re not relying on tomato infused spirits or just dumping tomato juice into the shaker and calling it a day.
No hate to the Bloody Mary enjoyers of the world, but I can’t deal with that.
Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes (or any type of tomato really but cherry tomatoes are best imo since they have a little bit of sweetness to them)
Sugar
Gin or vodka of your choice
Ice
Directions:
Make the tomato cheong. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and put them in a container (I use a leftover soup container from the Chinese place) and cover completely in sugar. If you want to be accurate, you can weigh the tomatoes and sugar so it's 1:1, but I'm lazy by nature so I don't ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cap the container and let it sit on your counter overnight. The next day, strain the syrup and toss the leftover tomatoes (or snack on them like I do because I'm a monster.) That's your tomato cheong!
Add ice, one shot of tomato cheong, and one shot of gin or vodka. If you want my opinion, gin tastes better but to each their own. If you’re making drinks for a bunch of people, you can increase the ratio from 1:1 to whatever you need. Just make sure to keep the alcohol to cheong ratio the same (2:2, 3:3, etc.)
Shake, shake, shake!!!
Optional step: make a salt and pepper rim on your glass by dipping your glass in lemon juice then salt and pepper.
Strain your martini into the glass of your choice.
Optional step: stick a tomato, basil leaf, and mozzarella ball on a little toothpick or cocktail pick and place on top
Enjoy!
With New Year’s right around the corner, now is the best time to try making the caprese martini! Plus, you can this alcohol-free by swapping the gin/vodka with a nonalcoholic spirit such as Kin or Ghia. The caprese martini is a suuuper simple drink that you can enjoy all year round. Take that tomato haters.
Happy holidays, caprese martini family! 🍅 🍸
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