Arnaud martini

The Arnaud Martini was created by Booth’s gin for West End actress Yvonne Arnaud. Booth’s began making gin in Clerkenwell in 1740, but it’s now part of Diageo and is made in the USA.

Brands often put together cocktail books to inspire drinkers to buy their gin and make cocktails at home and Booth’s launched their grand-sounding ‘ An Anthology of Cocktails, together with selected observations by a distinguished gathering and diverse thoughts for great occasions‘ in 1955. It features different drinks created for celebrities of the day. The cocktail for Yvonne Arnaud is illustrated below, but it’s called a ‘Parisian’. However, ‘Arnaud’ has stuck and it’s by this name the cocktail is commonly known.

The Arnaud martini mixes equal parts gin, french vermouth and crème de cassis. Crème de cassis is a sweet blackcurrant liqueur, probably best known as an ingredient in a Kir Royale cocktail, where it is added to champagne.

As you’d expect with the inclusion of a liqueur, the Arnaud martini is on the sweet end of the martini spectrum with the blackcurrant flavour quite dominant. In future, I’ll either dial back the crème de cassis or use an overproof or Navy Strength gin.