The Irish Martini: An Irish Twist On An Old Favourite

A properly made Irish Martini really is one of the tastier Irish whiskey cocktails.

Especially if you take the 60 seconds needed to understand what ingredients you’ll need and how you go about putting it together!

In the guide below, we’ll present you with two straightforward recipes to help you mix up this classic Irish cocktail at home.

Some quick need-to-knows before making the Irish Martini

Although not quite as slick as James Bond’s Vesper Martini, the Irish Martini packs a tasty punch, when made correctly. Take 20 seconds to read the need-to-knows below first (it’ll make your life easier):

1. Use a good quality whiskey and vodka

OK, yes, you can use cheap stuff, but we’d recommend using one of these Irish whiskey brands and, if possible, an Irish vodka, like Dingle. Also, make sure to avoid peated whiskey and any flavoured vodkas.

2. Don’t have a shaker?! Don’t worry!

If you don’t have a cocktail shaker on hand, you can easily use a protein shaker. They’re cheaper and, while they don’t look as cool, they do a fine job at mixing.

3. There’s a good bit of alcohol in this one

The Irish Martini is made with vodka, Irish whiskey and dry vermouth, so it has a good kick to it. Know your limits and always drink responsibly.

Our Irish Martini ingredients

While some Irish drinks with vodka contain some wild and hard-to-come-by ingredients, that’s not the case with the Irish Martini. In fact, you should be able to nab all of the below in any good local store:

• 2 ounces of vodka
• 1/2 an ounce of whiskey
• 1/2 an ounce of dry vermouth
• 1 fresh lime
• Ice

How to make an Irish Martini

This vodka whiskey cocktail is nice and easy to assemble, with very little prep or fancy manoeuvres needed. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Chill your glass

Take your glass and pop in some ice. You then want to place your hand over the glass and swirl the ice around the glass until it’s chilled. Then empty the ice and any water that’s left in the glass.

Step 2: Assemble your drink (two variations)

There’s two ways to make an Irish Martini. The first variation uses very little whiskey while the second uses a 1/2 ounce. For the first variation, pour 1/2 an ounce of whiskey into a glass, swirl it around and then pour it out.

The goal here is to coat the glass and give a hint of whiskey in the flavour. For the second variation, add 2 ounces of Irish vodka (e.g. Dingle) to a shaker along with 1/2 an ounce of whiskey and 1/2 an ounce of dry vermouth.

Step 3: Strain, garnish and serve

Fill the shaker half full of ice and give it a good hard shake. Strain your tasty vodka whiskey cocktail into a martini glass and garnish with a twist of lemon. And that’s it!

Discover more mighty Irish cocktails

Looking to sip away on some other cocktails like the Irish Martini? Here’s some of our most popular drink guides to hop into:

• Best St Patrick’s Day Drinks: 17 Easy + Tasty St Patrick’s Day Cocktails
• 18 Traditional Irish Cocktails That Are Easy To Make (And Very Tasty)
• 14 Delicious Jameson Cocktails To Try This Weekend
• 15 Irish Whiskey Cocktails That’ll Tantalise Your Tastebuds
• 17 Of The Tastiest Irish Drinks (From Irish Beers To Irish Gins)

FAQs about this vodka whiskey cocktail

We’ve had a lot of questions over the years asking about everything from ‘What Irish drinks with vodka are nice and sweet?’ to ‘What vodka whiskey cocktail is the most impressive?’.

In the section below, we’ve popped in the most FAQs that we’ve received. If you have a question that we haven’t tackled, ask away in the comments section below.