She was afraid to come out with the Vodka
She was as nervous as she could be
She was afraid to come out with the Vodka
She was afraid that somebody would see

Two three four tell the people what she bore

It was an Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Martini
That she served for the first time today
An Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Martini
So with the Vodka, she wanted to stay

This song has been dancing around my head for more than a week–the moment I realized this week’s letter-inspiration was Y, yellow was the first thought and this song arrived right on it’s heels.

I thought about filking the entire song but even I’m not that obsessed!

At any rate, it was the inspiration for this week’s cocktail and the polka dots made me think back to an early Character Cocktail: the Miracle Mocktail. It was based on the idea of Bubble–aka Boba–Tea, right down to the tapioca pearls. Perfect polka dots! And what is the yummiest yellow spirit around? Limoncello, of course.

Since I still had a bounty of tapioca pearls in the cabinet, this time I decided to tint them with molasses instead of black food coloring (blech!). While very tasty, they are definitely more brown than black, but I don’t see that as a true problem, all things considered. Black tapioca pearls are available online and from specialty shops, if you’d rather not bother tinting them yourself, and instructions for preparing them (via Bubble Tea Supply) are pretty simple.

The biggest quandary I had was deciding whether to give it such a long name or not!

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Martini

1 oz Vodka
1 oz Limoncello
3/4 oz Green Tea
1/2 oz Peach Schnapps
garnish: 1 Tbsp prepared tapioca pearls

Spoon the tapioca pearls into the bottom of a cocktail glass. Combine vodka, limoncello, green tea and schnapps over ice and shake like a bikini top on a water slide and strain into the waiting pearls. Watch them dance around a bit, then sip.

The green tea is a further nod to the Bubble Tea inspiration, but the peach schnapps were just for taste. The peach and lemon are such a good mix; this drink is divine. And there’s no need to sweeten the tea or to use my beloved vanilla vodka–that would just be sugar-overload!

Alphabetical series always have a few trouble spots and X is a biggie. I suppose I could have gone for something musical with a xylophone-inspired cocktail, but I opted to go with the other tried-and-true x-answer: x-ray.

There’s seldom, if ever, a good reason to go in for an x-ray–it’s almost always for a broken this or a not-working that–but we’re not talking fractures, today. Nope, we’re taking a slightly different sort of look inside, this time into your mind.

Two X-people immediately spring to mind (not ex-people, as in no longer around, necessarily, but x-people as in their names are the only x’s I can ever remember): Xavier Roberts and Charles Xavier. And while a friend and I did stumble upon possibly the most inappropriate memorabilia in the gift shop of the former (I mean, really, whose idea was the Cabbage Patch Museum’s shot glasses, hmmm?), I think we’ll go with Professor X, of comic book fame, for this week’s inspiration.

Thanks to the glut of comic book movies that have made their way to the big screen in recent years you don’t have to get anywhere near a comics shop to know that Professor X is the telepathic head of the mutants who try and stay just this side of the law and hope for equality and acceptance with the rest of mankind. And the Professor isn’t just your average side-show (or reality-show) mind-reader; no, his powers pack quite the wallop.

Just like this week’s Alphatini.

X-Ray Specs

1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Raspberry Liqueur
garnish: lemon slice

Combine the gin, vermouth, lemon juice and raspberry liqueur in a glass over ice and shake with all the power of your mind–or arms, for us non-mutants–until cold as steel. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a center-cut slice of lemon.

A few notes: the London Dry Gin is a nod, of course, to the wonderful Jean Luc Picard Patrick Stewart who plays Professor X in the first few X-Men movies. The lemon wheel, with it’s spokes, is a blatant homage to his wheelchair. The rest of the drink is overall dry with a bit of sweet. Because even if you are fighting both misguided mutant supremacists and the scared masses of humanity, I’d like to think you find at least a little time for fun so you don’t burn out.

Just don’t have to many of them, or I can’t vouch for the state of your mind the next morning.

(And for those who might be curious, a single X-Ray Spec comes in at a mere 165 calories.)

Watermelon Crawl Martini

Or, well, at least the foods of summer.

Especially watermelon.

It was all I could think of when I saw that this week’s Alphatini was to be w-inspired and, despite the unseasonableness of the craving it just would not be stopped!

Now, true, our summers aren’t exactly the most pleasant and, despite my cold-natured body I do prefer being able to start a fire or put on a sweater rather than sweltering (or running up the utility bill with constant a/c runnage). So I’ll happily settle for this light and fruity cocktail version of summer in a glass.

Watermelon Crawl

1 1/2 oz Watermelon Pucker
1 oz Vanilla Vodka
3/4 oz Apple Juice
garnish: salt and black sugar

Combine liqueur, vodka and juice over ice and shake it like a watermelon queen who just won her first crown. Strain into a cocktail glass that’s been rimmed with a mixture of sea salt and black-tinted sugar.

But wait, didn’t you once say…

This Will Never Do...

Yes, yes I did. But as it’s not at all unusual, at least where I’m from, to put salt on slices of watermelon. So this time I’m making an exception and salting a martini rim. The black sugar (really a very dark green, as you’ll see if you get it wet) adds the look of watermelon seeds to the rim, which is a nice touch.

And if you’re not sure you’ll like the sweet and salty combo but want to keep the look of a rimmed cocktail, feel free to only rim one half of the glass.

The only other question I had as I designed and tested this cocktail, is whether the vanilla vodka would be too much. Well, watermelon pucker is pretty doggone strong and it stood up just fine to the vanilla vodka. But what was surprising is that I really liked the unflavored vodka version just as well. With regular vodka the watermelon is a bit brighter, while the vanilla blends everything together a bit more.

Either way you go, I don’t think you can go wrong with the Watermelon Crawl–unless you have too many, then it might just live up to its name!

Black Velvet Cocktail

I’m sure you’ve heard the edict that proclaims white shoes after Labor Day a fashion sin so large you’ll shame 4 generations back if you break it? Frankly, I think white shoes at any time of the year only forgivable if you’re a bride or a toddler in a pageant dress, but that’s just me and the fact that I’m traumatized by the 80s and all those blindingly white stiletto heels (with or without socks). *shudder*

What does this have to do with cocktails? I’m getting there!

Another, lesser-known “rule” is that velvet is fabrica-non-grata after Valentine’s Day. While I’ve yet to read when velvet-season officially opens, I’d hazard a guess that it coincides with the beginning of Christmas (by which I mean the day after Thanksgiving, not mid-October–orange velvet isn’t a good look on, well, anyone).

As we’re barely a month away from Valentine’s and we’ve come to the V of the Alphatini route (like a fork in the road, only a lot less solid), I figured velvet was as good an inspiration as any for this week’s cocktail.

Black Velvet

1 oz Vodka
1 oz Molasses
3/4 oz Coffee Liqueur
1/2 oz Chocolate Liqueur

Combine all ingredients over ice and gyrate until ready to swoon. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Alternately, pour into a lowball glass half-full of crushed ice for Crushed Velvet.

Now, were this not a martini series I probably would have used some of the commercially-available moonshine in this, or at least some dark rum, but I’m sticking by my rules on this one. Besides, I think the molasses adds an interesting touch that even rum wouldn’t give you. The color was incredibly important for this drink and I’m happy it was achieved through means other than massive amounts of food coloring.

Now maybe I can exorcise the song of the same that’s been running through my head all week!

Cheers!

My main objective in this week’s Alphatini was a more-or-less savory cocktail; we’ve had a lot of sweet going on and it’s nice to mix things up a bit.

Pun unintended.

But we’re on the letter U and, well, I was at a bit of a loss since I’d already used my upside-down-cake inspiration.

As it so happens, though, I’ve been hard at work on What to Feed Your Raiding Party and this past weekend inspiration struck as I was inking the cover to a Lord of the Rings-style comics chapter I was reminded of the hobbits and Frodo Baggins in particular.

In the scene at the Prancing Pony he gives an alias, a Mr Underhill. And Bag End and all the rest of Hobbiton is so green and lively that is proved the perfect inspiration for a savory cocktail with a botanical base.

Mr Underhill’s Best

1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Galliano
1/2 oz Apple Juice
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
garnish: 3 olives

In a mixing glass half full of ice, combine the liquid ingredients and stir and time or two, plus a few more for good measure. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with some speared olives.

I’d planned to garnish it with a sprig of Rosemary from the little bush I’d bought just after Thanksgiving but, alas, my green thumb has proven non-existent once again and the poor thing didn’t make it a week past New Years. Last time I tried to keep one I over-watered it, this time I think it suffered the curse of my overcompensation (i.e. under-watering).

Now, as to the ingredients, originally I’d planned this to be an all-alcohol cocktail–hence the stirring. But on first taste the various spirits needed something than a little melt-water to make them nice and merry, so I looked to my mixer shelf to see what could work without being too sweet. Apple juice was the safest bet and I’m quite happy with the way it softens the harder edges of the individual liquors without being too bossy. You do tend to get a nice, light apple aftertaste, which is a nice finish–I think–to an otherwise bracing, savory cocktail.

It’s also a rather wee cocktail, coming in at under 3 ounces, so perfect for those trying to imbibe with moderation after, perhaps, excessive celebration the previous months.

And +10 imaginary points if you caught the Hugo Weaving crossover nod in the title of this post.

Because you can always dream, right?

This week’s alphatini called for something fit to a tee–and I began thinking Tangerine.

Namely, the tangerine liqueur we picked up in Roatan on our last cruise (which has been far too far in the past). A Dreamsicle martini would be the easy route, but since I was thinking tropical, I figured the tangerine could use a few friends to make nice with in the glass.

Tangerine Dream

1.5 oz Heavy Cream
1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Tangerine Liqueur
1/2 oz Pineapple Rum
1/4 oz Banana Liqueur
garnish: citrus peel

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and make like your in a mini Conga-line for a moment or three. Strain into a chilled martini glass, garnish with a twist of whatever citrus you can get your mits on, and dream of your next vacation.

Yes, you can substitute a high-quality citrus liqueur like Cointreau if you don’t have any tangerine liqueur handy.

It may well be 2 years before my next cruise getaway (the honeymoon counter is ticking, folks), but until then I can sip this and remember the leisurely days from my last trip.

Cheers!

When I was in high school I went through quite the musicals kick and one of my favorites was Bye, Bye Birdie (parodying the hoopla surrounding Elvis Presley joining the Army).

At one point Ann Margaret is slinking around the bar, acting older than she is, trying to make “Birdie” jealous, singing about how she’s “Got a Lot of Living To Do.” One of the things on the bucket list?

Drink Champagne, as if it were water,
Pink Champagne, and after a few…
Daddy dear, you won’t know your daughter!
She’s got a lot of living to do!

This is what comes to mind every time I think about pink champagne.

Australian label [yellow tail] has come out with white and rosé Bubbles just in time for New Years and it might just be worth checking out. This is a brand known for being affordable and reliable and the rosé is in a nice range of not being super sweet or super dry–it’s nice and light and a sweet pink color.

Another plus is it’s favor is the Zork closure: not a screw-top and not a traditional champagne cork that is almost impossible to get back into the bottle, the Zork closure easily pops back on the bottle with a press of the built-in button, making it easy to save the leftovers for brunch the next day.

And, of course, the good folks at [yellow tail] sent over a cocktail recipe in to make the most of their pink bubbles:

EXOTIC TEMPTATION

2 oz [ yellow tail ] bubbles sparkling rosé
1 oz peach flavored vodka
1 oz cranberry juice
1 oz lychee fruit flavoring

In a cocktail shaker with ice add all ingredients except [ yellow tail ] bubbles sparkling rosé. Strain into a chilled champagne flute or martini glass. Slowly fill with the [ yellow tail ] bubbles sparkling rosé. Garnish with a strawberry.

Image and recipe courtesy of  W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Ltd.

This goes double for Champagne and other sparkling wines.

Maybe you chilled more wine than you needed and maybe you now need that space for non-festive groceries for the new year. Why not go beyond the brunch standards of mimosas and bellinis, and try a couple of these champagne cocktails courtesy of Sams Club.

The CÎROC® Royal Grape

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients

•          1 oz. CÎROC® Vodka
•          1 oz. white grape juice
•          1 splash(es) champagne
•          1 piece(s) grape

Directions

1.        Shake ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled glass.

2.       Top with a splash of champagne and garnish with a frozen grape.

Smirnoff No. 21® Vodka & Champagne Sparkle

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

•          1.5 cups SMIRNOFF NO. 21® Vodka
•          2 bottles Moët & Chandon Champagne
•          1.25 cups pomegranate juice
•          1 cup simple syrup
•          thinly sliced lemon

Directions

1.        Combine ingredients in a punch bowl with ice.

2.       Add simple syrup to taste.

3.       Mix in lemon slices.

GinZizzz

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients

•          3/4 ounce gin
•          1/2 ounce Simply Orange®
•          1/4 ounce Cointreau®
•          Ice cubes
•          2 to 3 ounces cold Champagne
•          1 splash orange water or rose water, optional
•          1 long strip orange peel for garnish

Directions:

1.        Pour gin, orange juice and Cointreau into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake to chill.

2.       Pour mixture into a Champagnes flute and top with Champagne. Add orange flower water or rose water, if desired.

3.       Garnish with orange peel, if desired.

Their suggestions?

Experts note that not all sparkling wines pass as a substitute Champagne, and champagne reviews discuss factors such as bubbles, sweetness, and taste. Topping Cheapism’s list of best champagne buys are Roederer Estate NV Brut, Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut NV, and Freixenet Cordon Negro Extra Dry — all priced at less than $20.

And if you try any of them to ring in the New Year, please let me know.

Todd and I prefer our sparkling wines on the sweeter side, so those Brut recommendations just don’t do much for us. We rang in 2011 with a couple of inexpensive Italian sparkling wines on the sweeter side: one white and one red.

Wait, red sparkling wine? Oh yes, my friends, it’s out there and it’s fabulous!

The red is Costarosa Sangue di Giuda Oltrepo Pavese and is, as best I can tell as the label is 100% in Italian, a blended red wine with just enough bubbles to keep things interesting. It was recommended by the guy in the liquor store when I said I wanted anything but Brut. Good call.

The white is Ca’D'Gal Lumine Moscato d’Asti. Moscato is very popular these days as more are discovering this sweet wine in both still and sparkling styles. I think Moscato is doing quite a lot to dispel the negative opinions many people have of champagne. And we just a bottle of Cupcake M0scato d’Asti with Thanksgiving dinner that was pretty fabulous, too.

And sweet champagne is nothing new–in Europe it’s always been available but not a lot made it to the United States as our palates were, somehow, not interested in sweet wines.

Thank goodness times have changed!

We haven’t decided, yet, what we’ll be sipping when ’11 turns to ’12, what about you?

But if you ask me, after circumnavigating the globe in one night I’d want something a little stronger to take the edge off.

Which is why we’re devoting the ‘S’ alphatini to the jolly dude in the red suit.

Santa’s Nightcap

2 oz Vanilla Vodka
2 oz Cranberry Juice
1/2 oz  Buttershots
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Goldschlager
garnish of icing, coconut flakes and a mini-marshmallow

To prepare your cocktail glass: paint the outer lip of your cocktail glass with icing or a thick sugar syrup and press on coconut flakes (it helps if they’re chopped a little finer than they come in the package). Let rest upside down so the sugar can dry while you mix the drink.

Combine vodka, juice, liqueurs and grenadine in a shaker over ice and ho-ho-ho your way to an icy finish. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass and float a mini-marshmallow on top. Kick off your boots and let the night melt away.

This cocktail is like a spicy cranberry cookie in a glass, made the perfect shade of red by the grenadine, but most of the fun–I admit–is in the presentation. The drink is good on it’s own but with the garnish it looks like an inverted Santa hat and, well, it’s just more fun that way!

Cheers to the Holidays!