Bartenders across the United States are going wild over a vodka cocktail called The Kangaroo, which is being hailed as the next big thing in Martinis.
It’s already been a big thing once before, back in the 1940s, when it was called a Kangaroo Kicker. And now it’s bouncing back.
As VinePair reports: “For a brief period, when vodka-driven drinks were all the rage, the Vodka Martini was better known as the Kangaroo Kicker.”
According to Punch: “The Kangaroo was likely created in the early 1940s by Oscar Haimo, at the time head bartender at the Pierre in New York City. He called it the “Kangaroo Kicker,” a rumoured tribute to the Australian soldiers fighting alongside the Allies. In Haimo’s 1943 book Cocktail Digest, the Kangaroo Kicker recipe is given as: “2 oz. vodka, 3/4 oz. French vermouth, shaken, served with a twist.”
In anticipation of an impending gin shortage in the US, Haimo was experimenting with vodka cocktails in his bar program.
Fast forward to 2025 and bars from Brooklyn’s Maison Premiere to Tennessee’s Fifty Fifty Wine + Martini Bar are featuring The Kangaroo Martini on their menus.
While there are many updates on the original, the most important elements are the use of an icy glass, super-premium vodka and vermouth, or Lillet in some cases, together with a dash of bitters and a twist.
Not revolutionary, so what’s the big deal?
“I don’t think it’s a transcendent drink unless you’re using transcendent product. Not all drinks are like that,” says William Elliott at Maison Premiere.
Although, he adds, “there is something to be said for just having a good name.”
Check out Punch’s Kangaroo recipe here.