Serve this gorgeous martini at your next celebration or make one just for you. You’ll discover that a blood orange martini is always welcome.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This martini is beautiful and easy to make.
How long it takes: just 5 minutes!
Equipment you’ll need: cocktail shaker, ice, martini glass
Servings: 1
With just the right balance of sweet, tart, and bitter, this blood orange martini is such a bright and happy cocktail. And isn’t it pretty?
Served perfectly chilled, with a stunning slice of dark red blood orange adorning the glass, you will feel celebrated every time you take a sip. Perfect any time of the year, refreshing in the summer and sunny in the winter, don’t wait — try one today!
Having a party? Serve martinis with crab rangoon dip and crisp homemade wonton chips. Nosh on tomato bruschetta or roasted grape crostini with ricotta and honey. Keep it really simple with olive oil roasted almonds or spiced pecans.
About this Blood Orange Martini
Am I the only one who thinks of James Bond when a martini is mentioned? Probably. I think you’ll love this variation of a classic martini. It’s not difficult to make, it’s fun and beautiful, and even beer drinkers are lured in (thinking of you, Dad!). I’m wishing I had one right now.
Here’s a quick look at how to make a blood orange martini! I’ll give a few extra tips along the way.
Ingredients
- Gin: A London dry gin is perfect. Choose your favorite brand.
- Blood Oranges: These lovely oranges add so beauty and flavor to the martini. A hand juicer is helpful. You’ll need several oranges: a few to juice (depending on how many martinis you decide to make), and one to slice for garnishing.
- Cointreau: This orange flavored liqueur is somewhat bitter and adds a lot of depth to the martini. You could also use Triple Sec or Grand Marnier.
- Lime: Just a squeeze of lime juice is added for a nice tartness.
- Ice and a Cocktail Shaker: Get ready to shake, shake, shake! Don’t you just love the sound of those ice cubes rattling around in the cocktail shaker? It’s almost happy hour!
How to make A Blood Orange Martini
It’s pretty simple, really. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
Shake vigorously for fifteen seconds.
Strain into a glass (a martini glass if you have it).
Garnish with an orange slice and serve immediately. Cheers!
If you’d like to try another blood orange drink recipe, I think you’ll love blood orange gin fizz with elderflower. It’s so much more exciting than the usual gin fizz.
We also love this easy Fish Tacos Recipe with Blood Orange Salsa. It’s so beautiful and totally delicious!
If you’re new to the idea of blood oranges, don’t be put off by the name. Blood oranges are very similar to regular navel oranges in flavor with just subtle differences. The main difference is their color. The outsides vary from orange to a deeper red color. The inside of the fruit is dark pink, even darker than pink or red grapefruit.
The color is pretty spectacular and adds so much excitement to this cocktail. The flavor is a bit less tangy than a navel orange, with notes of berry and floral. There are many varieties of blood oranges. One that I see frequently in the grocery store is a raspberry orange. Each variety has a unique flavor but any will do for this cocktail.
A blood orange may be closer in color to a red grapefruit but the taste is definitely more like an orange.
How to make these martinis your own
- Use regular oranges or red grapefruit. You may find you need to use a bit of simple syrup if your fruit isn’t quite as sweet.
- Replace the gin with vodka.
- Add a half ounce of Aperol if you like a more bitter drink, or a half ounce of Solerno, a blood orange liqueur.
While this martini is best served immediately, avoid a last minute squeeze (pun intended) with these helpful hints!
- Juice the oranges and limes, and store the juice in the refrigerator in a covered jar or measuring cup.
- Cut orange wedges for garnish and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Make sure you have plenty of fresh ice, and chill the gin and cointreau, if desired.
- Polish up your martini glasses and chill those too.
More cocktail recipes
It’s time to make merry! Shaken, stirred, or blended, these happy hour gems will make your day sparkle. Try:
- Paloma Recipe – Spicy or Traditional
- Vanilla Bourbon Fizz — with champagne, vanilla, and bourbon
- Raspberry Rosé Spritzer – an light and easy cocktail
- Cherry French 75 – sweet tart perfection, another classic recipe
- Jack Frost Mimosa – frosty and blue!
- White Russian Recipe – with ideas to make it your own
- Classic Gin and Tonic Recipe – with tips to make the best
- Orange Mojito – so refreshing and delicious!
- Sparkling Pink Lemonade (with cocktail option)
- Toasted Almond Cocktail by The Spruce Eats — this cocktail with amaretto, coffee liqueur, and cream sounds heavenly.
Blood Orange Martini
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ounce blood orange juice (from one orange)
- ½ ounce Cointreau (or other orange flavored liqueur)
- ¼ lime, juiced
- Blood orange slice, for garnish
Instructions
- Add gin, blood orange juice, Cointreau, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
- Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an orange slice and serve immediately.
Notes
- Make Ahead: Juice the oranges, and lime and store separately in fridge. Slice an orange for garnishes. Chill the martini glasses.
- If you like, replace the gin with vodka. Navel oranges or grapefruit could be substituted for the blood oranges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This sounds tasty and I look forward to trying it. But the name is misleading. A martini is gin and dry vermouth. Period. This recipe doesn’t even have vermouth, so it’s basically just a blood orange gin drink. It needs a new name. I vote for the “O-positive.” Because ‘o’ stands for orange, and it’s a blood reference in honor of the blood orange. Cheers!
That’s a fun and creative name! Thanks for the feedback. I don’t love that you gave me a 3 star review only because of the name, without trying the recipe, but that’s your prerogative.
My favorite cocktail yet! It beats any restaurant cocktail I’ve tried. A great mixture of flavor.
So glad you like it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! :)