Left Bank Martini
A Left Bank Martini is 60ml London Dry gin, 15ml elderflower liqueur, 15ml unoaked dry white wine and 7.5ml dry vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a lime twist. It is a gin Martini with elderflower and white wine in it: dry, floral and cold, at about 3.0 UK units. Simon Difford created it in 2006 at the Cabinet Room in London, for the launch of St-Germain elderflower liqueur. The name points at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Paris quarter on the left bank of the Seine that the liqueur is named after. His first version used Sauvignon Blanc, with more elderflower and more vermouth; he cut both in 2013, and the current recipe takes an unoaked Chardonnay such as Chablis. The wine is what sets it apart. It brings acidity and a little fruit without the herbs of a full vermouth measure, so the elderflower reads as blossom rather than sugar.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Lime twist
Ingredients
60ml
A London Dry at 40% ABV or more. At 60ml it is most of the drink, and its juniper keeps the elderflower from turning the glass into a liqueur.
15ml
St-Germain, the liqueur the drink was created to launch, or another at around 20% ABV. Measure it: 15ml scents the drink without sweetening it.
15ml
Unoaked, cold and freshly opened. The current recipe names Chablis, a Chardonnay made without new oak; Sauvignon Blanc, used in the 2006 original, gives a sharper, greener drink.
7.5ml
A French-style dry vermouth such as Noilly Prat or Dolin, kept in the fridge and used within about four weeks. At 7.5ml it adds herbs and a dry edge under the wine.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer or with ice water.
Add the gin, elderflower liqueur, white wine and dry vermouth to a mixing glass.
Fill the mixing glass with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Discard the ice from the coupe and strain the drink into it.
Express a lime twist over the surface and drop it in.
Source: Difford's Guide (The creator’s current specification, as revised in 2013; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the elderflower. At 15ml it scents the drink; free-poured, it soon reaches 25ml or more, the sweetness takes over and the gin goes quiet. St-Germain sits at about 20% ABV and carries a lot of sugar. Open the wine for the drink, or use a bottle opened in the last day or two and kept in the fridge. Oak puts vanilla against the blossom, and a tired white tastes flat in a drink this clear. Stir it, as you would a gin Martini: 20 to 30 seconds on cubed ice, until the mixing glass is frosted. A shaken Left Bank comes out cloudy and thin.
Behind the Left Bank Martini
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Simon Difford created the Left Bank in 2006 at the Cabinet Room in London, for the launch of St-Germain, a French elderflower liqueur. The name refers to Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the district on the left bank of the Seine that the liqueur is named after.
The first version used Sauvignon Blanc and carried more elderflower and more vermouth. In 2013 he cut the elderflower from three-quarters of a shot to half, and the vermouth from half a shot to a quarter, and the current recipe takes Chablis.
The Structure
A gin Martini is gin and dry vermouth, stirred cold. The Left Bank keeps that frame and splits the modifier three ways.
Left Bank Martini: what each ingredient does
London Dry gin
- Measure
- 60ml
- ABV
- 40%
- Its job
- The body and the juniper
Elderflower liqueur
- Measure
- 15ml
- ABV
- About 20%
- Its job
- Blossom, and most of the sweetness
Unoaked dry white wine
- Measure
- 15ml
- ABV
- About 12%
- Its job
- Acidity and fruit, with no herbs
Dry vermouth
- Measure
- 7.5ml
- ABV
- About 18%
- Its job
- A herbal, faintly bitter edge
| Ingredient | Measure | ABV | Its job |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Dry gin | 60ml | 40% | The body and the juniper |
| Elderflower liqueur | 15ml | About 20% | Blossom, and most of the sweetness |
| Unoaked dry white wine | 15ml | About 12% | Acidity and fruit, with no herbs |
| Dry vermouth | 7.5ml | About 18% | A herbal, faintly bitter edge |
Elderflower is delicate, and a full Martini measure of vermouth would bury it under wormwood and roots. The wine does part of the vermouth’s job, adding acidity and wine character, while the small measure of vermouth keeps a dry, herbal line under the blossom.
That makes about 3.0 UK units in a drink of around 120ml once stirred: close to a gin Martini in strength, softer in taste.
The Elderflower Measure
St-Germain is sweet, and elderflower perfumes whatever it touches. At 15ml it scents the drink. Poured by eye it climbs fast, and the gin and wine go quiet behind it.
The 2006 measure was three-quarters of a shot; the 2013 revision brought it down to half. Use a jigger, and if your liqueur is sweeter than St-Germain, use a little less.
Why It Is Stirred
Everything in the glass is spirit, liqueur or wine. With no citrus or juice to bind, the Martini rule applies, and the drink is stirred.
Stirring chills and dilutes without adding air, which keeps the drink clear and gives it weight. Shaken, it turns cloudy, and the wine tastes watery rather than crisp.
How to Serve It
Very cold, in a chilled coupe, with a lime twist expressed over the top and dropped in. Lime is sharper and greener than lemon, and it points at the elderflower.
It is an aperitif. At about 3.0 UK units it is as strong as a gin Martini, however light it tastes, so pour one before a meal rather than a round of them.
For elderflower in a bitter, stirred drink, the Comte de Sureau pairs the same liqueur with gin and Campari.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. GB law requires juniper to lead the taste and sets a 37.5% ABV floor; the usual bottle is 40%. The law grades it by how the flavour gets in, from plain gin through distilled gin to London gin, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Left Bank Martini?
Who created the Left Bank cocktail?
What wine should I use?
Should a Left Bank Martini be shaken or stirred?
Can I leave out the vermouth?
How strong is a Left Bank Martini?
What separates it from a classic Martini?
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Comte de Sureau
A Comte de Sureau is 45ml of London Dry gin, 25ml of elderflower liqueur and 7.5ml of Campari, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, with orange and lemon peel twisted over it. About 2.5 UK units. It is a Negroni rebalanced: elderflower liqueur takes the sweet vermouth’s place and the Campari drops to a quarter of a Negroni’s 30ml. At equal parts, the Campari would bury the flower. The drink is credited to Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro at Le Lion in Hamburg, in 2007 or 2008, and many bars call it the Elderflower Negroni. Comte de Sureau means Count of Elderflower.
Elderflower Collins
An Elderflower Collins is 45ml of gin, 20ml of elderflower liqueur and 25ml of fresh lemon juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds, strained over fresh ice in a collins glass and topped with 90ml of soda, with a lemon wheel and a mint sprig. About 2.2 UK units. It is a Tom Collins with the sugar syrup replaced by elderflower liqueur, which sweetens and perfumes at once. No one is recorded as creating it. It spread after St-Germain launched in 2007 and put elderflower liqueur on back bars, and the Collins was an obvious frame to try it in. Measure the liqueur. At 20ml the drink is floral and still tastes of gin; at 30ml the elderflower takes over and no extra lemon brings it back.
French Martini
A French Martini is 45ml of vodka, 15ml of raspberry liqueur and 15ml of fresh pineapple juice, shaken very hard with ice for 12 to 15 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, where the pineapple settles into a pale foam. No garnish. About 2.0 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s. The longer shake is deliberate. Most shaken drinks want 10 to 12 seconds; this one wants a little more, because fresh pineapple juice foams when it is shaken hard and the foam is the finish. Carton juice gives far less. There is no citrus. Pineapple brings its own acidity, and the raspberry liqueur, usually Chambord, does all the sweetening. The drink is usually credited to one of Keith McNally’s New York bars in the late 1980s, and it is a Martini in name and glass only.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026