Fresh Peach Martini

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This fresh peach martini is the perfect cocktail for enjoying summer's juiciest fruit! Prepared with real peach purée and peach schnapps for double the flavor, this summer martini is the perfect choice when you need a refreshing drink that celebrates the season's best fruit. It's elegant enough for a sophisticated dinner party, but it's also super simple and quick to whip up for an appearance at a casual backyard barbecue.

A peach martini on a copper coaster with flowers and peaches to the right on light-colored netting.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Variations
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

That fresh flavor: Peach lovers will adore every sip. Juicy, ripe peaches make for the most flavorful fruit purée that gives this martini a special touch. Some recipes use peach nectar, but you can't beat the flavor of real peaches.

Makes a lovely presentation: With that vibrant color and fresh peach slice as a garnish, this is one cocktail that turns heads and elicits those oohs and aahs from your guests. When you need a memorable cocktail that’s sure to impress, make this drink.

Scale up for a crowd: While you can certainly prepare one or two cocktails at a time for a small gathering, you can easily stir together these ingredients to make a pitcher. Entertaining doesn’t get easier.

Related: For more favorite summer cocktails, you’ll also love my Aperol sour, Dirty Shirley and cherry vodka sour!

Ingredients

Peach purée: When fresh peaches are in season, I absolutely recommend using those. That said, you may want to whip up this drink outside of the season. In that case, thawed frozen peaches work just fine. Frozen fruit goes into the freezer at peak ripeness, so you’ll still get a tasty cocktail.

Peach schnapps: Not only does this give our martini an extra kick, but it intensifies the peach flavor. I’ve tried this recipe with and without the peach schnapps and just love the additional fruity flavor for an even more delicious drink. Some recipes use triple sec, which is an orange liqueur, but I have no doubt you'll agree a peachy boost is welcome here.

Vodka: Use a mid-range to top-shelf vodka. A cheap vodka is too harsh and will take away from that smooth peachy flavor. For some inspiration, check out this list of best vodka brands.

Lemon juice: We want freshly squeezed lemon juice, not bottled juice. Fresh lemon juice is much brighter and more flavorful. Since we only use a handful of ingredients, quality is even more important.

Simple syrup: I prefer to make my own simple syrup, though you can buy it. Homemade simple syrup is much more economical, and it only includes two ingredients you surely already have on hand — sugar and water.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: We grab our cocktail shaker and pour in the peach purée, peach schnapps, vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup with a handful of ice (photo 1).

Pouring the peach purée from a shot glass into a crystal cocktail shaker.

Step 2: Now we put the cocktail shaker top on the glass, seal it well and give it a good shake (photo 2). About 15-30 seconds of vigorous shaking works well.

Shaking the drink in a crystal cocktail shaker with two hands across a brown wooden surface.

Step 3: After shaking, we’re ready to strain into our chilled martini glass like so (photo 3).

Straining the drink into a martini glass on a brown wooden surface.

Step 4: For the perfect finishing touch, we garnish our martini with a fresh peach slice (photo 4). How simple yet pretty is that?

A hand putting the fresh peach slice on the glass to garnish.

And just like that, we have the perfect peach martini ready for sipping! Get ready to fall in love with this dreamy, peachy cocktail recipe.

Bonus: If you adore this drink, make sure you also try my peach daiquiri!

Recipe FAQs

When are peaches ripe?

A ripe peach shares a few characteristics. Look for peaches that show off a wonderful fragrance with a lovely reddish-yellow hue with no green. When you gently press into the peach, it should have some give, similar to an avocado.

How do you peel peaches?

When you only need a peach or two, simply remove the skin with a sharp vegetable peeler. A small paring knife even works, though this method removes a bit of fruit as well.

However, if you need to peel a lot of peaches, blanching is a better option. Gently place the peaches in boiling water for a quick 45 seconds and then move the peaches to an ice bath for about a minute. Make a small cut into the peach and you easily remove the skin with your fingers.

How do you prepare fresh peach purée?

You’ll love how easy this is — add peeled peaches without the seed to a blender with a splash of water and process until smooth. If you don’t have a blender, a food processor works just as well.

If you’re ready to make your martini now, it’s ready to use. You can also store it in an airtight container for three to four days, but first make sure you mix it with some fresh lemon juice. Otherwise, the peach purée will start to oxidize and turn a dark orange-brown color. While it’s still safe to consume, it doesn’t make for a pretty drink. Freezing is also an option.

Can you make a pitcher of peach martinis?

To make peach martinis ahead of time, simply stir together the ingredients in a pitcher and refrigerate up to a day. After that, the lemon starts to lose its brightness. When you’re ready to serve, stir the pitcher well, pour 6 ½ ounces per drink into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake as you would.

You still want to shake the drink because it aerates the cocktail and gives it the proper dilution. The pitcher still makes entertaining easy, though, because everything is premeasured, and shaking takes less than a minute.

How do you make homemade simple syrup?

To make your own simple syrup, bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil on the stove over medium-high heat, stirring every so often to dissolve the sugar. Allow the mixture to cool and store in an airtight, sterile container in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Looking down on two peach martinis on a wooden surface with decorative flowers and peaches to the left.

Variations

Use a flavored simple syrup. I’ve made this peach martini recipe with my ginger simple syrup, and it added a nice spice twist. Peaches and honey are also delightful together, so a honey syrup would work nicely. You could even use a flavored honey syrup like the ones in my lavender bee’s knees and chai bee’s knees.

Substitute peach for another fruit purée. This recipe easily works as a base for other fresh fruit martinis. For instance, use raspberry purée and replace the peach schnapps with Chambord, a raspberry liqueur.

Use a peach-infused vodka. While I think this martini is perfectly peachy as is, you can give it even more flavor with a peach vodka.

Swap vodka for your favorite spirit. Not a fan of vodka martinis? No problem. White rum, gin, bourbon or even tequila make for a fun twist.

Give it a bubbly finish. Who doesn’t love a sparkling martini? After straining, simply add a splash of club soda or ginger beer or ginger ale for a touch of spice.

Expert Tips

Serve in a chilled cocktail glass: Since we serve this drink straight up without ice, I like to use a chilled glass to keep it extra refreshing. To chill your glass, simply place it in the freezer 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

If you forget, you can fill the glass with ice water when you begin mixing. Before straining, stir the water and ice for 30 seconds and then dump the contents — you’re left with a chilled glass.

Roll your lemon: Firmly roll the lemon on the countertop several times before juicing. This helps get the juices flowing, so you get the most out of your lemon.

Plan for one peach per drink: While this is dependent on the exact size, one peach should yield about 2 ounces of peach purée.

Pick up peaches ahead of time if possible: As mentioned in my peach Moscow mule recipe, my local grocery store loves carrying rock-hard peaches. Sometimes I can get lucky and find ripe peaches, but they usually require time to ripen. If you can’t find any ripe peaches and need to make this martini right away, thaw frozen peaches and use that for the purée.

Perfect Pairing

This perfect peach cocktail calls for some equally peachy food pairings. For a savory dish, my grilled peach pizza is perfect. This pizza uses pesto as the base, and you’ll love how that herby sauce pairs with the fresh peach purée.

If you have a sweet tooth, my peach clafoutis makes for a natural match. You’ll also love my honey-lavender ice cream, served with a fresh peach compote.

For the ultimate summer sipper, do yourself a favor and try this fresh peach martini. It’s the perfect way to celebrate peach season in all its glory.

Cheers!

A straight-on view of a peach martini on a copper coaster with flowers and peaches on the side.

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