How to make a Grape Martini (Recipe by Ethan Leslie Leong from Maison Ikkoku)

May 17, 2020Sep 30, 2021 by Adele Chan

Last night I ordered a bunch of ingredients from Amazon Prime.

Here’s what they cost:

I dropped a WhatsApp message to Ethan Leslie Leong and asked him what I could make with these items. He suggested 4 cocktails: Vespa, Dirty Martini, Lychee Martini and Grape Martini. I asked for the grape recipe and here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
— 5 to 8 Grapes (preferably seedless)
— 2 Soup Spoons of Gin
— 2 Soup Spoons of Vodka
— 2 Soup Spoons of Fresh Lemon Juice
— 2 Soup Spoons of Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Dissolve the sugar
2. Muddle the grapes
3. Pour everything together into a shaker
4. Shake with ice
5. Strain out into a martini glass

Here’s my attempt at making it:

Above: Step 1 — dissolve 2 soup spoons of sugar (I’m using my Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream spoon).
I tried dissolving it in a bath of hot water, but soon realised that didn’t work (duh) and so added hot water directly to the sugar to dissolve it.

Above: Step 2 — Pick 5 to 8 grapes (i went with 8).
These are lovely grapes.

Above: Muddle the grapes.
I don’t have tools for muddling, so i used the Bosch MaxoMixx Hand Blender ($349, AVAILABLE AT BOSCH-HOME.COM.SG).

Above: Step 3 — Add 2 soup spoons of gin.
I’m using Kyro Gin here. I like the bottle.

Above: Step 4 — Add 2 soup spoons of Vodka.
I recommend Belvedere; it’s pricey but so smooth to drink.

Above: Step 5 — Add 2 soup spoons of Lemon juice.
freshly squeezed, of course.

Above: Step 6 — Shake with ice.
I don’t have a shaker so I poured everything into my water bottle to shake. Whatever works.

Above: Step 7 — Strain.
As you can see, I also don’t have a cocktail strainer, so again, whatever works!

Above: Enjoy!

The Grape Martini recipe above is legit! It is very tasty and after I write this, I’m going to make a whole new batch and store it for later consumption. Some things I would change:

If you notice, there’s ice in my finished drink, which shouldn’t be the case. I added it to dilute the drink because it was too sweet. I believe I didn’t shake the drink long enough. Next round, I will shake a lot longer.
I will add less sugar because these grapes I bought are naturally very sweet already.

The next cocktail recipe I will try is the very classic Dirty Martini. Coming up.

Note: If you want someone else to make a cocktail for you, you can order directly from ethan here: ETHANLESLIELEONG.COM/DELIVER. Just tell him what you like and he will make it to order.

🍸