Pineapple Martini
A Pineapple Martini is 60ml of vodka, 15ml of lime juice squeezed fresh, 7.5ml of rich syrup and 45ml of pineapple juice, shaken and fine strained into a chilled martini glass, with a pineapple wedge on the rim. Close to 2.4 UK units, matching Difford’s Guide. Difford’s says its recipe is adapted from one Ben Reed created in 1997 at the Met Bar in London. It is a short, tart vodka and pineapple drink, shaken cold and served up.
Glassware: Martini Glass
Garnish: Pineapple wedge on the rim
Ingredients
Instructions
Chill a martini glass.
Squeeze the lime the day you serve it.
Add the vodka, pineapple juice, lime juice and rich syrup to a shaker with ice.
Shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Fine strain into the chilled glass.
Set the pineapple wedge on the rim.
Source: Difford's Guide (recipe 4220, measures, method and garnish as printed (60ml vodka, 45ml pineapple juice, 15ml lime juice, 7.5ml 2:1 cane sugar syrup, shaken, fine strained into a chilled martini glass, pineapple wedge on the rim); Difford’s says adapted from a recipe created in 1997 by Ben Reed at the Met Bar, London). Last checked 1 November 2026.
Expert Tip
Chill the juice as well as the glass. Warm juice gives you a thin drink after shaking. Shake hard and fine strain. Pineapple juice raises a small foam, and a good shake keeps it soft. Check how sweet the pineapple juice is first. A ripe one needs less syrup.
Behind the Pineapple Martini
Flavour Profile
A 1997 London bar drink
Per Difford’s Guide, the Pineapple Martini is adapted from a recipe created in 1997 by Ben Reed at the Met Bar in London. It calls the drink simple, fruity and tasty. It is a martini only by glass and form: there is no vermouth, and the vodka is shaken with fruit.
Difford’s also prints a fresh-fruit version. Six pineapple wedges are muddled in the shaker with 60ml of vodka, 10ml of lime juice and 7.5ml of sugar or pineapple syrup, then shaken and fine strained.
Vodka, pineapple and lime in balance
Vodka adds almost no flavour, so pineapple juice is the main taste. The lime juice supplies the acid and the 7.5ml of rich syrup rounds it. In our view the result is tart and bright, with the pineapple in front. Our complete guide to vodka explains why a neutral spirit suits a drink like this.
Fine straining keeps pulp out of the glass. The garnish is a pineapple wedge on the rim.
The Pineapple Martini beside three vodka drinks served up
Pineapple Martini
- Vodka
- 60ml
- Fruit
- 45ml pineapple juice
- Extra
- Lime, rich syrup
French Martini
- Vodka
- 45ml
- Fruit
- 15ml pineapple juice
- Extra
- 15ml raspberry liqueur
Pornstar Martini
- Vodka
- 50ml vanilla vodka
- Fruit
- 50ml passion fruit purée
- Extra
- Passion fruit liqueur, vanilla syrup
Vodka Martini
- Vodka
- 60ml
- Fruit
- None
- Extra
- 10ml dry vermouth
| Drink | Vodka | Fruit | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pineapple Martini | 60ml | 45ml pineapple juice | Lime, rich syrup |
| French Martini | 45ml | 15ml pineapple juice | 15ml raspberry liqueur |
| Pornstar Martini | 50ml vanilla vodka | 50ml passion fruit purée | Passion fruit liqueur, vanilla syrup |
| Vodka Martini | 60ml | None | 10ml dry vermouth |
The French Martini puts pineapple with raspberry liqueur, and the Pornstar Martini is another fruit drink served up.
Make it at home
The Spirit
VodkaVodka is spirit made from a farmed crop, usually grain or potatoes, distilled and refined so that the taste of that crop is deliberately reduced. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008 its minimum is 37.5% ABV and it may not be given a predominant flavour, which separates it from flavoured vodka and from gin; our recipes count it at 40%. In a mixed drink it adds strength and body while the other ingredients carry the taste.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Pineapple Martini?
Who created the Pineapple Martini?
What is the strength of a Pineapple Martini?
Can I use fresh pineapple?
Is it like a French Martini?
Can I use rum or gin?
Rum gives you a Pineapple Daiquiri, so see our page for that. Gin works, though the juniper competes with the fruit. In our view the clean vodka is the point of this recipe.
What glass do I use?
Can I make it ahead?
Sources.
Correct as of 1 November 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Pineapple Martini” (recipe 4220: vodka, pineapple juice, lime, 2:1 syrup, shaken, fine strained, martini glass; 2.4 units; adapted from Ben Reed, Met Bar, 1997; the fresh pineapple variation).
- NHS, “Calculating alcohol units” (the 14-units-a-week guidance and the units calculation).
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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. Difford’s Guide says it emerged in New York in the late 1980s and reached the menu of Keith McNally’s Pravda in 1996, and it is a Martini in name and glass only.
Pornstar Martini
A Pornstar Martini is 50ml vanilla vodka, 20ml passion fruit liqueur, 50ml passion fruit purée and 10ml vanilla syrup, shaken, double strained and served in a chilled martini glass with half a passion fruit floating on top. A 50ml shot of chilled Champagne is served alongside. About 2.2 UK units in the glass and 2.8 with the Champagne. Douglas Ankrah created it in 2002 at Townhouse, his bar in Knightsbridge, by Difford’s Guide’s account, which says he first called it the Maverick Martini after a Cape Town nightclub; his 2004 book, as Difford’s quotes it, headed the recipe Maverick Martini or Porn Star Martini. In November 2018 the Morning Advertiser reported CGA figures that put it first among UK cocktails by share of serves in managed outlets. Passion fruit does the work. The purée gives sharpness and body, the liqueur sweetness and perfume, and the vanilla rounds both. The Champagne is a separate drink, sipped alongside or after.
Vodka Martini
A Vodka Martini is 60ml of vodka and 10ml of dry vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and poured into a frozen Martini glass and finished with a lemon twist or green olives. It is our gin Martini made on vodka, at the same six to one, and about 2.6 UK units. Without juniper, the vermouth is the only aromatic left, so a little of it goes a long way. Cold and texture do more of the work, which is why the vodka and the glass both belong in the freezer. James Bond made it famous, though not quite as people remember. Difford’s Guide says the drink Fleming wrote into Casino Royale is the Vesper, and the Los Angeles Review of Books says the first martini Bond drinks is in Diamonds Are Forever, in 1956, though he does not state his preferred method until Dr. No, in 1958.
Vodka Sour
A Vodka Sour is 60ml of vodka, 25ml of fresh lemon juice and 20ml of simple syrup, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with a lemon wheel and a cherry. About 2.4 UK units. With an egg white it needs a dry shake first, for 10 to 15 seconds, and goes into a chilled coupe. Vodka adds alcohol and almost no taste, so the drink is all lemon and of sugar set against acid. That makes it the plainest sour to learn on: every mistake shows. It follows the sour pattern of spirit, citrus and sugar, which the Oxford Companion dates to the 1850s, made with vodka, which the Companion calls relatively flavourless, colourless and odourless.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 2 November 2026