A peach martini is a cold, vodka-based alcoholic beverage with peach or peach-flavored components. It is sweet in flavor, and served in a martini glass. Though it shares a name with the classic martini, it does not have similar ingredients, and is generally called a martini merely because of the glass in which it is served. When served, a peach martini can be a liquid beverage, or it can be a frozen drink with texture like a thin frozen smoothie.
Though most peach martinis are made with peach-flavored alcohol like peach vodka or peach schnapps, some peach martinis have components of real peach in them. Even when they do not contain peach fruit, many peach martini glasses receive a garnish of fresh peach for presentation. Peach contained in a drink is usually pureed peach or peach nectar. When other fruit or peach-flavored components are in a drink, the peach martini may contain other vodka flavors, like vanilla or citrus, instead of peach vodka.
Some types of peach martinis are made in shakers or stirred like classic martinis, while others are made in the blender. Shaking a martini adds extra ice to the mixture, which weakens the drink, but is thought to open up the flavors, creating a different taste experience for the drinker. When a peach martini is made in a blender, a peach martini is often called a frozen peach martini. Frozen peach martinis are essentially daiquiris with vodka instead of rum as an alcohol component.
A peach martini is not technically a martini, but is often called a martini mainly because it is served in a martini glass. The original martini is an alcoholic beverage made with gin and vermouth. It is usually garnished with an olive. Martinis are sometimes garnished with squeezed lemon slices. Other flavored martinis that are not technically martinis include the appletini, the butterscotch martini, and the chocolate martini.
The standout design of the classic martini glass has helped popularize the consumption of martinis. Martinis are served in stemmed glassware with a angular cup design unique to this type of liquor glass. Unlike a wine glass, which is curved into a shape that somewhat resembles a bubble, the martini glass is closer in shape to a cone on a stem, with the wide part of the cone facing upwards to hold the martini.