Gingerbread Martini

It’s Day 4 of my 12 Days of Christmas Cocktails series. Today I’m getting in the holiday spirit with this very holiday-like Gingerbread Martini!

The gingerbread flavor for this cocktail comes from a delicious homemade syrup made with brown sugar, molasses and warm fall spices. It’s just as easy to make this syrup as a typical simple syrup so don’t be shy about giving it a try. It’s really tasty. You can even use this syrup in your coffee in the morning. And, although I haven’t tried it, I’m thinking it might be good as a pancake syrup too!

Club soda is added to lighten up the heaviness of this drink so I think it’s pretty important. I tried it first with some ginger beer, but the ginger was just too overpowering. Club soda works perfectly. Now, if you like your gingerbread with dollop of whipped cream, you might enjoy adding a splash of cream to your drink. I liked it with a splash of half & half, but that should be no surprise since I like so many of these flavored martini drinks with half & half. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of it with the half & half…I added it to the Gingerbread Martini after taking the pictures and didn’t reshoot. It pretty much looks just like all the other creamy dark drinks you’ll find on this blog.

Gingerbread Martini

This makes one big drink so if you have small martini glasses, you may get two drinks out of this recipe. You'll have plenty of syrup for several drinks...or your coffee or pancakes!

Serves: 1-2 depending on size of martini glass

Ingredients

2 shots vodka
1 shot gingerbread syrup
2 shots club soda
Crushed gingersnap cookies to rim the glass
Opt: splash of half & half or cream, if desired

For the Gingerbread Syrup

1 C. dark brown sugar
1 C. water
1 Tbls. molassas
1½ tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves

Instructions

First make the Gingerbread Syrup:

In saucepan, combine sugar, water and spices. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, reduce heat and simmer a few minutes. Set aside and let cool. (Shake syrup prior to using)

Make the Martini

If desired, wet rim of martini glass with a slice of lemon or water and dip in cookie crumbs, set aside.
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine vodka, gingerbread syrup and club soda. Shake and strain into martini glass.