18 Nov Girlfriend Drinks: The Lavender Martini Cocktail Recipe

Posted at 07:00h in Blog, Cocktail Recipes, Cocktail Recipes: R&J Original by steph

Girlfriend Drinks: The Lavender Martini

This drink will always and forever have a special place in my heart. Not only was it one of the signature cocktails we served at our wedding (which is hard to forget because we still have the giant gold and black sign hanging in our house), but this, my friends, was the first drink Brian ever made me. (Swoon).

Right after we decided that maybe we weren’t “just friends” (for the record we really were just friends for 4 years, and then probably not but in denial for another year), Brian said “I want to make you your all-time favorite drink.” This is when I explained to him that I didn’t have one and went on a long rant about how overwhelming it was to order out at cocktail lounges. Brian, who is the king of wise questions, then asked, “well, what would you want your favorite cocktail to be like?” I rattled off that I would want it to be light and slightly sweet but still taste definitively like alcohol (because otherwise what’s the point) and something fresh and kind of floral.

This probably should have been Brian’s cue to run and run quickly, away from the ideals that I hold with equal parts indecision and commitment for things small (like cocktails) and big (like life plans). Seriously, what would you have done if you heard that was the drink that someone wanted?

Well Brian researched and then scoured the entire city for dried lavender, made his own lavender syrup and then crafted me a lavender martini after a very long crazy day at work.

It was exactly what I had conceived of in my mind and didn’t know existed! (This only further confirmed that I shouldn’t let go of the crazy notions that constantly float around in my brain).

While this drink makes me think of Brian, it’s one of my favorites to drink with the ladies. Again, it’s light and sweet and floral and still tastes like a martini. And I like to think that it also has some therapeutic aromatic essential oil type of things going on from the lavender.

And now a brief nod to Amazon. Where poor Brian spent more than half a day trekking across town to figure out who carried lavender, now you can just order it. Seriously. Amazing.

Do ahead: Make Lavender Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1.5 cups water
small handful of lavender

Instructions

Bring water and sugar to a boil
Toss lavender into boiling water. Let boil for 1-2 minutes
Bring off heat
Strain into heat proof container (you want to strain fairly early on as it gets increasingly syrupy overctime).

The Lavender Martini

Ingredients

2 oz. vodka (we used Russian Standard Gold, but Svedka is our usual)
.5 oz white vermouth (we used Noilly Prat this time, but Dolin or Boissiere are our regulars)
.5 oz lavender syrup