Quick Summary: A clear, elegant tomato martini made with homemade tomato water and tomato salt. Includes 4 methods for extracting tomato water from fresh or dried tomatoes. plus a recipe for tomato salt to rim the glass. Make this your signature summer drink. Prep: 10 min | Serves: 1
Jump to: RECIPE | How to Make Tomato Water | How to Make Martini | Rimming Salt | More Tomato Cocktails | FAQ
Bartending in Portland got me through graduate school, and I’ve made more use of those skills than my urban planning degree. Back then, bartending was about speed and memory. Now it’s evolved into mixology, where creativity with fresh ingredients matters most.
Tomato water is one of my favorite discoveries. It’s the clear liquid you get when draining fresh tomato pulp or rehydrating dried tomatoes. Intense tomato flavor, crystal clear, perfect for cocktails.
I grow heirloom tomatoes at HeathGlen Organic Farm, and tomato water is a serendipitous byproduct of processing them.
Smoked tomatoes create a deep, more intense tomato water. Fresh tomatoes yield brighter flavor. Either makes an exceptional martini.
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How Do You Make Tomato Water?
Tomato water is the clear liquid you extract from tomato pulp. It has all the flavor intensity of a fresh tomato but none of the texture, which is what makes it perfect for cocktails. Four methods work well, and each produces a slightly different result.
- From fresh tomatoes: This gives you the brightest, cleanest flavor. Core and roughly chop overripe tomatoes (don’t worry about cosmetics here), add a pinch of salt, and let them sit in a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Let gravity do the work. Pressing or squeezing clouds the liquid, and the whole point is that crystal clarity.
- From frozen tomatoes: If you’ve frozen whole tomatoes from your garden, thaw them in a bowl. As they defrost, they release a surprising amount of liquid. Strain it and you have instant tomato water. This is the easiest method if you already freeze tomatoes at end of season.
- From dried or dehydrated tomatoes: Rehydrate sun-dried or dehydrated tomatoes in warm water for 30 minutes to an hour, then strain. The water picks up concentrated tomato flavor. I use my own dehydrated tomatoes from the farm, and this method produces tomato water that works beautifully for winter cocktails when fresh tomatoes are out of season. If you want to learn how to dehydrate your own tomatoes, this guide to making homemade tomato powder covers the full process.
- From smoked tomatoes: This is my favorite method for depth of flavor. We smoke heirloom tomatoes at the end of every season and freeze them. The tomato water from smoked tomatoes has a subtle smokiness that pairs perfectly with pepper vodka. If you smoke your own tomatoes or can find smoked tomatoes, try this version at least once.
Each method keeps refrigerated for 3 to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze in ice cube trays and thaw as needed.
How to Make a Tomato Martini
The full instructions and ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below. In short:
- Rim a martini glass with tomato salt (run a lime wedge around the rim, dip in tomato salt).
- Combine pepper vodka, tomato water, fresh lime juice, and a pinch of smoked paprika in a shaker with ice.
- Shake for 10 seconds and strain into the glass.
- Garnish with a cherry tomato, fresh mozzarella ball, or basil leaf.
Tomato Salt for Rimming Cocktails
Tomato salt makes a beautiful rim for bloody marys or tomato martinis. It’s simple: grind dried tomatoes with Maldon sea salt in a 50/50 ratio.
I use tomato salt on everything now, including eggs, chicken, roasted vegetables, cocktails. If you don’t want the salt, check out this post for a homemade tomato powder (no salt).
No dried tomatoes? Save some of the end-of-season plum tomatoes and follow these tips for dehydrating your own homegrown tomatoes for the Winter pantry.
More Tomato Cocktail Ideas Using Shrub Syrups
Some of the most creative cocktails today use fruit-infused simple syrups or shrub syrups. Shrub syrups combine fruit, sugar, and vinegar for sweet-tart complexity.
You can make your own homemade tomato shrub syrup for even more concentrated tomato flavor in cocktails.
Drink syrups are non-alcoholic, so they also work with sparkling water for mocktails. Since getting a soda maker, I’ve been experimenting with these syrups constantly.
FAQ
Absolut Peppar (pepper-infused) adds subtle heat that complements the tomato. Plain vodka works too.
It’s not commonly sold. Making your own from fresh or dried tomatoes is easy and tastes better.
Refrigerated, 3-5 days. Freeze for longer storage.
Yes. Skip the vodka and add sparkling water. The tomato water and lime juice still create a refreshing drink.
A bloody mary uses thick tomato juice with Worcestershire, hot sauce, and celery salt. A tomato martini uses clear tomato water, which gives you concentrated tomato flavor in an elegant, transparent cocktail. They’re completely different drinks despite both being tomato-based.
Yes. Tomato water works in any cocktail where you want tomato flavor without thickness. It’s excellent in a gin and tonic, a spritz with sparkling wine, or stirred into a simple vodka soda with lime. For more ideas, see these tomato shrub cocktail recipes including a bloody mary, a daiquiri, and more.
The cocktail itself is relatively low in carbs (about 5 grams per drink, mostly from the lime juice). Vodka and tomato water are essentially zero carb. That said, alcohol does stall fat loss on any low carb diet, so this is best kept to occasional enjoyment or cheat day.
Any ripe, flavorful tomato works. Heirloom varieties with intense flavor make the best tomato water. I prefer higher-acid tomatoes like Druzba because the acidity translates beautifully into cocktails. For a guide to choosing between heirloom varieties based on flavor, see this breakdown of heirloom tomato flavor profiles by color.
For more ways to cook with heirloom tomatoes beyond cocktails, browse this collection of heirloom tomato recipes from fresh salsas to preserved sauces.”
Tomato Martini
Ingredients
- tomato salt to rim the glass optional
- 2 ounces Absolut Peppar Vodka
- 2 ounces tomato water Strained from fresh or dried rehydrated tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
- pinch of smoked paprika
Instructions
- Mix together dried tomato powder and salt (50/50 ratio) and pour out onto a plate. Run a lime wedge around the rim of your glass and dip the rim into the tomato salt (this is optional).tomato salt to rim the glass
- Combine vodka, tomato water, lime juice and paprika in tumbler with ice.2 ounces Absolut Peppar Vodka, 2 ounces tomato water, 2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice, pinch of smoked paprika
- Shake ingredients for 1 seconds and strain into a martini glass.
- garnish with cherry tomato or fresh mozzarella balls and/or fresh basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Cheers, Dorothy
Like it but would rather have good bloody Mary.
Got you covered there….here’s our Bloody Mary recipe: https://farmtojar.com/smoked-tomato-shrub-syrup/ Let me know what you think.
Thank you Gloria, I’m so glad you like it! The tomato salt with fish sounds wonderful too. I may have to try that.
Cyndy, Jamie Oliver’s recipe was quite a bit different, using pickle juice and hot sauce. I’m sure his is excellent, but this is not that recipe.
Fabulous recipe, Dorothy! We loved it, and it was great that I happened to have a few of your sun-dried heirloom tomatoes on hand to do it right. The sun-dried tomato salt alone is wonderful, we want to try it on grilled marlin or swordfish.
Yum – can’t wait to try this! Given what I have on hand, I’ll try mine using Belvedere’s Bloody Mary vodka. And come summer, I’m going to try making fresh tomato water to use; I saw Jamie Oliver do this and it looked beautiful and sounded delicious. You’re so right – mixology can be lots of fun.