Tomatini
A Tomatini is three ripe cherry tomatoes muddled in a shaker with 60ml vodka, 10ml fresh lemon juice, 10ml simple syrup, 5ml white balsamic vinegar and two dashes of saline, shaken hard, fine strained into a chilled coupe and finished with black pepper and a cherry tomato on the rim. It is a savoury vodka sour, at about 2.4 UK units. Jimmy Barrat made it for La Petite Maison in Dubai. LPM’s own blog says he gave the restaurant the drink in 2010, its opening year; Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, dates the recipe to 2011. Difford’s also says it was the signature cocktail Barrat made for the 2012 World Class bartenders’ competition. The tomatoes decide it. They should be ripe, kept at room temperature and tasted first: if one is not worth eating on its own, it will not make a good drink.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Black pepper dust and Cherry tomato cut to sit on the rim
Ingredients
3, plus 1 for the rim
Ripe, in season and kept at room temperature. They are the flavour of the drink, so taste one first; a dull tomato makes a dull Tomatini.
60ml
Neutral, at our working figure of 40% ABV; LPM pours Ketel One, its own blog says. The vodka carries the strength and leaves the flavour to the tomato.
10ml
Squeezed the same day. Tomatoes bring acidity of their own, so 10ml is enough to sharpen them without turning the drink into a plain sour.
10ml
Sugar and water, 1:1 by weight. Ripe tomatoes are sweeter than most people expect, so a small measure balances the lemon and the vinegar.
5ml
Seasons the tomato as a dressing would, with soft grape acidity and none of the colour of dark balsamic. Measure it: much past 5ml the drink starts to taste of vinegar.
2 dashes
Salt dissolved in water; a 20% solution is usual. Two dashes make the tomato taste more of itself.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer or with ice water.
Muddle three cherry tomatoes in the base of a shaker until almost liquid.
Add the vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, white balsamic and saline.
Fill the shaker with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Fine strain into the chilled coupe.
Grind black pepper over the surface and sit a cut cherry tomato on the rim.
Expert Tip
Muddle the tomatoes until they are almost liquid, then fine strain. A light muddle leaves the drink thin and watery, and the strainer catches the skins and seeds. Keep the tomatoes out of the fridge. Cold dulls a tomato’s aroma, and a chilled one adds water and acid with little flavour. Taste one before you build. Grind the pepper over the finished drink, not into the shaker. Its aroma is the first thing you meet, and that is where the seasoning works hardest.
Behind the Tomatini
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Jimmy Barrat, a bartender from Nice, gave the Tomatini to La Petite Maison in Dubai, a restaurant serving the food of the Côte d’Azur, in 2010, its opening year, LPM’s own blog says. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, dates the recipe to 2011. By the restaurant’s account, Barrat wanted to recreate the taste of biting into a fresh tomato seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil.
He made it his signature drink in the 2012 World Class bartending competition, Difford’s Guide reports. LPM’s own blog calls it the restaurant’s signature cocktail and one of its mainstays.
Tomato as Fruit
Botanically a tomato is a fruit, and here it is treated like one: muddled, balanced with sugar and acid, and shaken as any fruit would be in a sour.
What sets it apart is glutamate, the compound behind savoury flavour, which ripe tomatoes carry in quantity. In a sour it shows up as depth under the fruit. Ripe fruit at room temperature gives the most of it; a cold or underripe tomato gives water and acid.
Tomatini: what each ingredient does
Cherry tomatoes
- Measure
- Three, muddled
- Its job
- Body, sweetness and savoury depth
Vodka
- Measure
- 60ml
- Its job
- Strength, without flavour
Fresh lemon juice
- Measure
- 10ml
- Its job
- Sharpens the tomato
Simple syrup
- Measure
- 10ml
- Its job
- Balances the acid
White balsamic
- Measure
- 5ml
- Its job
- Seasoning, as in a dressing
Saline
- Measure
- Two dashes
- Its job
- Makes the tomato taste more of itself
Black pepper
- Measure
- Ground on top
- Its job
- Aroma
| Ingredient | Measure | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| Cherry tomatoes | Three, muddled | Body, sweetness and savoury depth |
| Vodka | 60ml | Strength, without flavour |
| Fresh lemon juice | 10ml | Sharpens the tomato |
| Simple syrup | 10ml | Balances the acid |
| White balsamic | 5ml | Seasoning, as in a dressing |
| Saline | Two dashes | Makes the tomato taste more of itself |
| Black pepper | Ground on top | Aroma |
The Kitchen Seasonings
White balsamic, salt and black pepper are how a cook dresses a tomato, and the drink borrows all three.
The vinegar adds soft grape acidity without darkening the drink. A little salt in solution makes savoury and fruit flavours register more clearly, and two dashes are enough. The pepper goes on last, ground over the surface, so it is on the nose before the drink reaches your mouth.
Against the Bloody Mary
Both are vodka and tomato, and they suit different moments.
A Bloody Mary is long and spiced, built on tomato juice with Worcestershire sauce, lemon and heat, and served over ice. The Tomatini uses fresh fruit, is fine strained and served up, and tastes sweet and sour rather than hot. One belongs at brunch; the other before dinner.
How to Serve It
Cold, fine strained into a chilled coupe, with black pepper ground over the top and a cut cherry tomato on the rim. Serve it as soon as it is strained.
It sits best at the table, before food. Pour it for someone who likes a Bloody Mary and has never had tomato in a short drink.
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 Tomatini?
Who created the Tomatini?
How is it different from a Bloody Mary?
Why white balsamic?
Do the tomatoes need to be at room temperature?
How strong is a Tomatini?
Can I make a Tomatini without alcohol?
Sources.
Correct as of 18 October 2026.
- La Petite Maison Dubai, “A toast to the Tomatini and Tomati-No cocktail” (producer’s blog: Barrat gave the drink to LPM Dubai in 2010, its opening year; recreate a seasoned fresh tomato drizzled with olive oil; Ketel One; signature cocktail).
- Difford’s Guide, “Tomatini” (secondary source: adapted from a 2011 recipe by Jimmy Barrat at LPM Dubai; his signature cocktail for the 2012 World Class competition).
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 18 October 2026