The MARTINI DIVA

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day - Whoopie! Chocolate & Cake & Martinis!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

January 27th is

National Chocolate Cake Day

Cake, Chocolate AND Martinis - How great is that??

I created this Chocolate Cake Martini for my birthday but I can guarantee I won't only be drinking it once a year and neither will you once you try it!

The Chocolate Cake Martini Recipe, the free recipe card AND the recipe for making your own Chocolate Cake Vodka is over at The Chocolate Cake Recipe Page.

Well, what are you waiting for? Get to clicking for all that chocolate goodness!

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Happy National Irish Coffee Day - Enjoy it Martini Diva Style!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

January 25th is

NATIONAL IRISH COFFEE DAY

“Only Irish Coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat” ~ Alex Levin

Aye, too true! And would ya be celebratin' National Irish Coffee Day in any other way than to have an Irish Coffee Martini?? Of course not!

So hop on over to The Irish Coffee Martini page for the recipe for my chilled version of Irish Coffee - The Irish Coffee Martini, the free recipe card and some fun facts about St. Patrick, Irish Coffee and a little tilt o' my shamrock to the wonderful San Francisco institution that invented this cocktail!

Enjoy your Caife Gaelach and have a lovely National Irish Coffee Day from The Martini Diva!

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Happy National Peanut Butter Day - Peanut Butter Martini

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

January 24th is

NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER DAY

If you can't control your peanut butter, you can't expect to control your life. ~ Bill Watterson

Keep your peanut butter habit from sticking to the roof of your mouth with my Peanut Butter Martini, find out some interesting trivia and health benefits of peanut butter and get the recipe for this martini and it's free recipe card on the Peanut Butter Martini page at The Martini Diva website.

Happy National Peanut Butter Day from The Martini Diva!

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Happy National Pie Day - Sip Your Pie!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Pop Art Pies is Available on
Art, Stationary, Home Decor, Apparel and Gifts
at The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery.

January 23rd is

NATIONAL PIE DAY!

And you know exactly what I'm going to suggest - Drink Your Pie!
Try one of my delicious Pie Martinis:

Banana Cream Pie Martini

Blueberry Pie Martini

Boston Cream Pie Martini

Caramel Apple Pie Martini

Cherry Pie Martini
Key Lime Pie Martini

Lemon Chiffon Pie Martini

Lemon Meringue Pie Martini

Peach Pie Martini

Pecan Pie Martini

Pumpkin Pie Martini

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”
~ David Mamet, Boston Marriage

Happy National Pie Day from The Martini Diva!

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Happy National Blonde Brownie Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:53:00 +0000

January 22nd is

NATIONAL BLONDE BROWNIE DAY

Put Your Blonde Brownie in a Martini Glass!

If you don't know what a blonde brownie is or have never had one click over to my Blonde Brownie Martini page and get the recipe for the martini, the free recipe card AND a great recipe for making the brownies!

Have a great National Blonde Brownie Day....and take the high road, don't tell any blonde jokes!

Cheers! The Martini Diva (<-- not a blonde)

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Happy National Coffee Break Day - Put Booze in it!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Today is

NATIONAL COFFEE BREAK DAY!

I suggest you put some booze in it with one of my great
COFFEE MARTINIS:

Cafe Au Lait Martin
Cowboy Martini
Drunk On Espresso Martini
Imperial Coffee Martini
Irish Coffee Martini
Merry Mocha Martini
Mississippi Mud Pie Martini
Not So White Russian Martini
Queimada Martini

Enjoy!

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My CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE MARTINI - Happy Birthday to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Yup, it's my birthday - again. No, I'm not telling you my age. Suffice it to say that I am still young enough to enjoy a martini, a birthday bash and the other good things in life - but I am wise enough to know who to enjoy them with and to cherish the people and the occasions!

To celebrate this birthday I created my Chocolate (Birthday) Cake Martini with the new Chocolate Cake Vodka I made and you can get the recipes on the Chocolate (Birthday) Cake Martini Page! You can also download the full sized, print quality recipe card there as well.....

and you might like the tips on how I created my fun Birthday Candle Chocolate Garnish as well!

And, yes, I drank it out of my Birthday Martini Glass!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

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Happy National Peach Melba Day

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Today we have TWO really good excuses for a martini! First, today is National Peach Melba Day! So, of course I have created a Peach Melba Martini for the occasion - and it is freaking YUMMY, if I do say so myself! The classic Peach Melba dessert has a very interesting history and you can read more on that AND get the full sized, print quality recipe card on my PEACH MELBA MARTINI Page.

The second good reason to have a cocktail or two today is that it's Friday the 13th! So, I suggest you drink up and tell those superstitions to go trip over a black cat so you can enjoy my licorice flavored Friday the 13th Martini!

Enjoy your martini(s) and let's all just be a little careful today - just in case!

Happy National Peach Melba Day

Friday the 13th

from

The Martini Diva

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Happy National Bittersweet Chocolate Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Today is

NATIONAL BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE DAY

and what better way to celebrate than by making your own chocolate booze?!?

There's nothing better than chocolate and booze except chocolate IN booze so, without further ado,

here are several easy ways to make your own chocolate vodka, chocolate liqueur and chocolate candy bar liqueur from The Martini Diva!

Enjoy!

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Happy National Apricot Day

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Another Great Excuse for a Martini:

TODAY IS

NATIONAL APRICOT DAY!

Celebrate with this Apricot Martini!

Some Trivia and Health Benefits of Apricots Here.

Happy National Apricot Day from The Martini Diva!

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Happy National Whipped Cream Day - The Whipped Cream Martini

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

January 5th is

NATIONAL WHIPPED CREAM DAY

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipe Card for the

Whipped Cream Martini by The Martini Diva Here

Celebrate National Whipped Cream Day with this Whipped Cream Martini - a cocktail that features the new Whipped Cream Vodka flavor.

I had an opportunity to sample both Pinnacle's Whipped Cream Vodka and Smirnoff's Whipped Cream Vodka and both will work in this cocktail. As I mentioned in my review of Pinnacle's Whipped Cream, this is a surprisingly good flavored vodka - more liqueur than a flavored spirit, and it tastes like actual whipped cream - which made my job pretty darn easy when creating this martini! I did add a tiny splash of Bailey's Irish Cream for a slightly deeper flavor profile. Read more about the martini and whipped cream here.

This is a very sweet martini, but then, if you're looking for a Whipped Cream Martini, you're probably liking that!

Happy National Whipped Cream Day

from The Martini Diva

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CELEBRATE NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY with Chocolate Candy Martinis

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:37:00 +0000

HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY

from The Martini Diva!

It's almost too good to be true - a day that celebrates Chocolate Candy? Yes, every December 28th is National Chocolate Candy Day. All Chocoholics may now rejoice!

Of course, the best way to celebrate chocolate candy, in my opinion, is with a Chocolate Candy Martini - or a few - and here are my top chocolate candy inspired martinis:

Candy Bar Martini

Snickertini Martini
Tootsie Roll Martini
White Chocolate Martini

Peanut Butter Cup Martini

Milky Way Martini

After Eight Chocolate Mint Martini

Almond Joy! - Joy of Almonds Martini

Let the Endorphin Rush Begin!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS from THE MARTINI DIVA

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I want to THANK YOU ALL for supporting my small business stores and making this the best holiday ever for The Martini Diva Boutique and The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery as well as my other online stores.

A big THANK YOU as well for all of you who purchased my books, The Merry Martini Mixology Book and The Martini Diva's Halloween Martinis & Munchies Book. Your orders have encouraged me to get on with the rest of my planned books and next up will be my VALENTINE MARTINIS & MUNCHIES BOOK coming in January, followed soon by two others that will be recipes for any and all occasions!

I will be taking a little bit of a break after the first of the year to rest up from all the holiday tweeting, friending, blogging, creating and martini testing that starts way before Halloween and ends only after New Year's Eve. I'll still be enjoying all my Twitter tweeps and Facebook peeps and will still be blogging and cocktailing - just not at such a frantic pace!!

My New Year's Promise to you is many, many more Marvelous Martinis and Happy Hour HiJinks in 2012!

Thank you all so much for your friendship and the fun.

MY CHRISTMAS WISH FOR YOU

May your Christmas Eve sparkle

with merry twinkling lights.

May you enjoy the Christmas spirit

and holiday delights.

May you sing your Christmas Carols

in voices sweet and bright.

May the joy of sharing Christmas

put the jolly in your night.

May you wake up Christmas Morning

with your stocking full of cheer.

May your house be filled with music

that is pleasant to the ear.

May you spend your day with loved ones

and those you hold most dear.

And may you keep the Christmas spirit

throughout the whole New Year.

(Please feel free to share but PLEASE leave in my credit line. Thank you.)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND A VERY HAPPY, PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

from TERRI aka POP ART DIVA aka THE MARTINI DIVA

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KIWI MARTINI for NATIONAL KIWI FRUIT DAY

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Download the Full Size, 5x3 Recipe Card for the Kiwi Martini HERE

Get the Kiwi Martini Recipe Card on a MAILABLE POSTCARD here

HAPPY NATIONAL KIWI FRUIT DAY

from The Martini Diva

Not to be confused with New Zealand's National Waitangi (Kiwi) Day, this is a special day just for the Kiwi fruit! Yes, that fuzzy and odd looking little morsel of juiciness has it's own special holiday and I have just the right cocktail to celebrate it - the Kiwi Martini!

Kiwis, aside from being the slang term for a New Zealander, are also considered a super fruit and how they got named Kiwi Fruit is rather interesting: Read More.

When you're knackered at the end of a long day, refresh yourself with my Kiwi Martini - it's a choice sip to celebrate the national fruit of New Zealand!

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FRUITCAKE MARTINI for NATIONAL REGIFTING DAY

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:15:00 +0000

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipe Card in Print Quality Here

This Thursday, December 20th is

NATIONAL REGIFTING DAY

and what is the MOST re-gifted holiday item?? Fruitcake!

According to Wikipedia and National Regifting Day, the Thursday before Christmas is a common day for office parties, thus the biggest "regifting" day of the year. Personally, I think re-gifting starts way before that and goes on all year . . . but then maybe that's just me and my own personal habits . . .

Whatever the date or day, I believe the world's most re-gifted item is the Christmas fruitcake, I even wrote a little poem about this for my Merry Martini Mixology Book last year!

I'm not against fruit or cake - in fact, I have a whole bunch of Fruit Martinis as well as Cake Martinis, but somehow when you dry up the fruit and stick it inside a dense, brick like cake neither the fruit or the cake are well served!

That being said I turned that frown upside down and turned those fruitcake flavors into a pretty tasty holiday FRUITCAKE COCKTAIL - so enjoy it on whatever day you designate as Regifting Day and enjoy my little ode to fruitcake:

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Happy NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Martini Excuses Galore for

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY

from The Martini Diva!

That's right, today is National Chocolate Covered ANYTHING Day so I present you with not one, not two but THREE yummy chocolate covered martinis:

The Chocolate Covered Banana Martini

The Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini

The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Martini

And, if that isn't enough, how some great
Chocolate Recipes
from TheMartiniDiva.Com's Tiny Foods Page

Need MORE Chocolate Covered Stuff?

CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON

from Mr. Pork himself, Michael Symon, Iron Chef via Food Network

CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS

Ingredients:
1 large bag of chocolate chips, bag of salted pretzels
Equipment:
Double boiler, parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheets
Instructions:
Melt one package of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double-boiler on a medium heat. Be sure to keep water and moisture out of the melting chocolate so it doesn't seize up. Stir until all the chips are completed melted then just start dipping your pretzels! You can dip all the way or just part of the way. (Personally I like to keep a little part un-dipped as it makes the dipping procedure much easier.) Shake off the excess (here you can dip in some fun things like sprinkles or nuts if you want), then place on your lined cookie sheet to cool in the fridge.

STILL can't get enough Chocolate?

How about these:

Set of 2 Choco-Tini Martini Glasses

Lolita Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini Glass

Lolita Chocolate Zebra Martini Glass

Chocolate Flavored Martini (Cocktail) Sugar

And don't forget about some
CHOCOLATE GIFTS & GEAR:

HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY

from The Martini Diva!

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Happy First Day of Christmas - Martini Diva Style!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Recipe from The Martini Diva.Com - Download the Full Sized Print Version Here

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a

PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR MARTINI!

Traditionally in England, the twelve days of Christmas are celebrated starting on Christmas Day or possibly even Boxing Day (aka St. Stephen's Day), the day after Christmas. Also know as Christmastide or Twelvetide, this Christmas celebration ends on January 5th and is then followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th.

Since this is a perfect cocktail for the famous "Twelve Days of Christmas Song" and for the holiday season I have decided that the twelfth day before Christmas is an excellent First Day of Christmas here in Martini Diva Land!

Made with fresh seasonal pear puree and garnished with a pear slice that looks remarkably like a partridge perched on your martini glass, this is a truly impressive cocktail to serve to your holiday guests or enjoy at happy hour.

Happy FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

from The Martini Diva!

You can find all my other Christmas Martinis here and they are also available in book form:
The Merry Martini Mixology Book

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Happy NATIONAL HOT COCOA DAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Yet Another Martini Excuse:

Today is

NATIONAL HOT COCOA DAY!

a perfect day to warm your tummy with my

Peppermint Patty Martini!

from The Martini Diva

Also known as Hot Chocolate or Cafe au Chocolat, Hot Cocoa is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar. In my house it was made with hot cocoa where my mother would warm up sugar, cocoa powder, a little water and a pinch of salt to create a chocolate liqueur then slowly add the milk. Sometimes we got marshmallows, sometimes not. This is the way I still make my Hot Cocoa, unless I'm lazy and use instant.

My Peppermint Patty Martini is a cold or hot alcoholic version of Hot Cocoa! You simply add a little splash of Peppermint Schnapps to your cocoa and drop in a mini candy cane! (If you're doing it hot I suggest you use a mug instead of a delicate martini glass.) The Peppermint Patty cocktail has been around for ages and is very popular during the holidays because, well, it's warm and it has booze in it!

Happy National Hot Cocoa Day and enjoy your adult version of Hot Cocoa!

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Pinnacle Vodka Review: Cake, Whipped, Gummy, Atomic Hots

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Pinnacle Vodka was kind enough to send me a few samples of their large line up of flavored vodkas this week. It was like an early Christmas opening up the box and finding four lovely blue bottles of their flavored libations. They sent me the Cake, the Atomic Hots, The Gummy and the Whipped (cream) vodkas, fulfilling a nice little chunk of my Christmas Wish List in one box.

I am not an expert on liquor but I do have quite a few years experience of creating and drinking martinis, and I have some culinary training, so when it comes to making a tasty cocktail, I have some fairly credible experience. Give me a decent vodka, rum, tequila, whiskey, gin or any other standard liquor and a well stocked fridge, spice rack and garden and I can (and have) come up with hundreds of unique and exciting martinis for just about any palate or occasion!

Up until lately I have not been tempted into adding many of these newer branded flavored vodkas to my bar. First, I do a lot of my own infusions and, second, I simply thought names like whipped, cake, purple and the like were just new marketing terms for simple one-flavor vodka infusions. I was wrong.

I have to say I'm very pleasantly surprised by the samples Pinnacle sent me, they all had fairly complex flavor profiles, some definitely distinct aromas wafting up from the bottles (good nose), the equivalent of a decent vodka afterburn and the first sip of each was like similar to a cordial or sipping liqueur. These newer vodka infusions/flavors do remind me more of liqueurs than true vodka infusions as they are sweet and slightly sticky, unlike pure vodka or most simple flavor infusions. I won't get into the technical specifics here, I leave that to the chemical booze geeks, though I will tell you the alcohol volume on these vodkas is 35% as opposed to 40% for plain vodkas.

The first thing that struck me with these particular flavors was the fact that you don't have to get overly complicated to create a tasty drink as the vodkas themselves have a fairly complex flavor profile on their own. The Whipped and the Cake in particular should make a variety of really nice martinis with the addition of one or two simple mixers and an interesting garnish. This makes these vodkas a wonderful addition to the neophyte bartender or home based cocktail enthusiast because it simplifies the act of making a cocktail and alleviates the danger of a failed flavor pairing.

My personal take on each of the four:

CAKE

At Room Temperature

The nose is right there, it smells like yellow cake batter in the bowl. The flavor less so on the first hit, it has a little bitterness at first, but the then that cake flavor rests on your tongue after the vodka slides down with a very mild burn. You can sip this one just as it is and I will do that on the nights when I don't even have the energy to shake a cocktail.

Chilled

Pretty much the same as room temp but it seemed a bit sweeter with a little more bite. The burn is the same, but the aftertaste was actually a bit stronger chilled and then I got a nice little warm blast from the burn.

Mixibility Possibilities
I can work with this. Obviously for sweet martinis, but this will go nicely with fruits and berries, creams and some lovely spices. I might even toss a splash or two into a dessert sauce and maybe even in a savory sauce! This is a nice one for food pairings, especially desserts and fruit based appetizers. The Pinnacle CAKE Vodka can definitely take up room in my bar any day.

WHIPPED

At Room Temperature

This was my favorite of all of the four. The nose on this was a rich, buttery, almost caramel like aroma that made my mouth water - always a good thing as the nose is the first part of any cocktail experience. If I ever run out of my Madagascar Vanilla Extract I will be using the Pinnacle Whipped as a substitute! (What? You didn't know most flavor extracts contained alcohol???) I think this is a tad bit sweeter than the cake, nicely warms your mouth with a rich buttery element, has a bit of a burn going down and less of an aftertaste than the cake. You can definitely sip this one right out of the bottle at room temp and be pretty darn content without having to go to any work unless you want to pour it into a shot glass. Not only that, try pairing this with a shot of espresso like I did - Whee Doggies! I don't know how Pinnacle did it but they got that "cream" experience in a non-creamy liquor so you can save some calories by not adding dairy!

Chilled
The nose was a little more subdued chilled than cold and the buttery element also, though the caramel profile came through nice and clear. As as sipper I would prefer this one room temp. The interesting thing was a bit of a chocolate back taste on this just before I swallowed but I think that might have come from the creamy quality which remains in the chilled Whipped vodka.
Mixibility Possibilities
I think the possibilities with the Whipped are almost endless. Already I have a couple of martini recipes using it with coffee and I can see this added a great deal of depth to most cocktail recipes calling for vanilla vodka. It will go with all fruits, creams, most spices as well as blend nicely with other liqueurs. I'm already thinking how nice it will work with my Candied Pecan Liqueur, my homemade Pumpkin Liqueur and my Vanilla Bean Liqueur to name a few. It will rock the Casbah with whiskey (think a Whipped Irish Coffee) and will play nicely with rum as well as other flavored vodkas. I'm going to try it out in several of my recipes that call for plain vanilla vodka like my Key Lime Pie Martini and others. I'm definitely going to serve this as a cordial with flan or crème brûlée, in fact anything with caramel would work with this. Overall I think this is the most versatile of the four samples I received and I won't let my bar stand empty of it from this point on.

GUMMY

At Room Temperature

Yup, this smells and tastes pretty close to the original red Swedish Fish candies. To me there was a definite fruit flavor but I can't really say raspberry though this is what came to mind in the nose. It's said the Swedish Fish are flavored with Lingonberries though there's no confirmation of that. It's been so long since I've actually had a Lingonberry I can't tell you if that is in the Gummy or not. Not my cup of tea as a sipper, but it was a mild burn going down. This was the flavor that lingered on my palate the longest of the four, there was no bitter aftertaste but I had to cleanse my palate to get the taste out.

Chilled
Interesting, both the nose AND the flavor were stronger chilled. In fact, chilling improves the Gummy for me tremendously. Still leaves a very strong aftertaste on the tongue but the burn was still mild.
Mixibility Possibilities
I'm a little flummoxed about the Gummy one for mixers unless you go with plain sodas, citrus fruits or maybe raspberries or other berries. I won't be blending it with creams or herbs, though some spices like nutmeg and cardamom could be interesting. This will be a fun challenge for my mixology skills! My first thought when I smelled this was to pair it with licorice (I have no idea why unless I just related it to Twizzlers, lol) which I'm definitely going to try just out of curiosity. I'm just not sure exactly what food pairings I could do with this one. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

ATOMIC HOT
At Room Temperature
First, I have to be honest and say I'm not overly fond of Cinnamon flavored booze on it's own. I like cinnamon itself as a spice and I use cinnamon liqueurs like a spice - a little bit to pop up other flavor profiles. I have been known to take a small flask of Hot Damn to outdoor events in the winter because it's warming but that's about the extent of it as a sipper for me. That being said I'm replacing the Hot Damn with Pinnacle's Atomic Hots immediately as my go-to toe, tummy and finger warmer this winter. It's just plain better tasting, not as syrupy and not as candy like. It's probably not fair to compare a flavored vodka to a schnapps but, let's face it, in a small flask the higher alcohol volume wins the day and Atomic Hots is 35% while Hot Damn is only 15%, there's just more tingle to warm my jingles! Yes, Goldschlager has a higher alcohol content (43.5%) than Atomic Hot but frankly, despite all the glitter from the gold flakes, it doesn't have half the flavor.
Chilled
Pretty much the same as room temp but with a little more bite and a tad bit more alcohol taste. I like it better warm and that's how I'd serve it as a sipper. Works better that way as a toe, finger & tummy warmer too.
Mixability Possibilities
I think the Atomic Hot is going to have a fairly decent range of mixability. Obviously, it's going to blend nicely with apple vodkas and puckers but I can see it warming up a nice glass of whiskey and rum as well and a little splash in hot cocoa or apple cider. A small splash of it could work nicely to replace powdered cinnamon as well. I'll be adding it this week to my Fall Apple Jack Martini as replacing the Goldschlagger in my Millionaire Martini. The Atomic Hot reminds me very much of those cinnamon oil soaked toothpicks from my youth and, yes, the atomic fireball jawbreakers of broken tooth fame. This would pair well with apple pies and cobblers, peach too, in fact, anything you use cinnamon in so some rice pilafs would work well paired with this. Definitely worth taking up space in my bar, especially in the winter!

Review Wrap Up
All in all, I have to give Pinnacle 5 Martini Glasses for these four vodkas. They did an excellent job of capturing the flavors they were going for and they created some decent booze in the process. My thanks for the samples, I will be happily experimenting with all of these in the upcoming weeks and months so keep an eye out for my recipes.

In the meantime, see what Pinnacle itself suggests as recipes here on their recipes page.

And P.S. Pinnacle, thanks for my early Christmas present and (hint, hint) my birthday is next month and I'd love to try out and review your Chocolate Whipped, Cherry Whipped, Orange Whipped, Espresso ...oh, heck, any other of your flavors you'd like to share with me!!

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REPEAL (of Prohibition) DAY - A Grand Excuse for a Gin Martini!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipes Cards for Both these Gin Martinis Here

Martini Excuse #91
REPEAL OF PROHIBITION
December 5th 1933

Today we celebrate the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution aka the repeal of Prohibition. This revoked the Eighteenth Amendment and ended a 13 year ban on the sale and distribution of alcohol in the United States between the years of 1919 to 1933.

The Eighteenth Amendment essentially took the business licenses away from every brewer, distiller, vintner, wholesaler and retailer of alcoholic beverages in the United States while the Volstead Act (otherwise known as the National Prohibition Act) gave the “Commissioner of Internal Revenue, his assistants, agents, and inspectors” the power to enforce the 18th Amendment.

Of all the alcohols that you can now legally drink, I am suggesting you go for a Classic Gin Martini today because gin and the martini are the true darlings of the era of illegal alcohol and speakeasies. Gin became synonymous with prohibition for one reason, it did not require the aging of whiskey which had been the more popular liquor in the U.S. prior to the ban on alcohol. Gin could be, and was, brewed in all manner of slap-dash distilleries - including bathtubs! - thus prohibition ushered in the era of bathtub gin and gin joints and the Gin Martini became the godfather of cocktails!

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Rick Blain (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca

National Repeal Day was instituted by Jeffry Morgenthaler in the mid-2000s, who said if there's any day to celebrate alcohol this is the one and I wholeheartedly agree! I don't know if he's done it yet, but I suggest he petition the White House to make this a national holiday!

Some Prohibition Trivia:

Prohibition was sometimes referred to as "the noble experiment"
The Eighteenth Amendment did not ban the use of possession of alcohol for personal use as long as the spirits did not leave the house or get distributed outside the home.
Alcohol was also still available via a physician's prescription.
Churches and the clergy were also provided a provision for the use of wine as a holy sacrament.
The term "Speakeasy" for the illegal saloons that operated during Prohibition, comes from the practice of advising drinkers "speak quietly" or "speak easy" about an unlicensed saloon in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police and neighbors.
The term "The Real McCoy" comes out of the Prohibition Era: Captain William S. McCoy, who facilitated most of the rum running during prohibition via ships from the Caribbean to Florida, was said to never water down his imports thus making his rum "the real thing" aka "the real McCoy".

If there ever was a day to celebrate or try the authentic and original Martini, today is that day!

HAPPY REPEAL DAY

from TheMartiniDiva

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MAKE HOMEMADE COCKTAIL GIFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:09:00 +0000

If you're anything like me you have a gift list for Christmas that's a mile long and a bank account that's about half a mile short! To solve my holiday gift giving insolvency I make a lot of my gifts.

In the days before I became The Martini Diva I did what a lot of people do and made cookies, but being the "Normal Challenged Artist" that I am I had to do them a little differently. I made what I call my Pop Art Diva Cookies and gave those out to a large part of my list. People loved them but they are a ton of work and I just don't have the time to make them anymore.

When I started doing vodka and liqueur infusions and publishing articles on them I realized I had the perfect, easy replacement for the now famous "Pop Art Diva Cookies", home made liqueurs and infusions. I also make a lot of my own cocktail rimmers and salts and these are ideal are gifts by themselves or in tandem with a homemade liqueur!

As several of the liquor infusions take some time to distill you want to get on them soon. If you start your infusions right now they will all be ready just in time for your holiday gifting or for your own holiday parties!

You will want to get some pretty, decorative bottlesfor your creations, some ribbons and some customizable holiday labels for them, read my articles, gather your ingredients and tools and then you're ready to start brewing away for the holidays!

Here are my recipes for several popular liqueurs, flavored salts & sugars and my special Candied Nutz recipe as well. All of these make wonderful, tasty and original Christmas and holiday gifts for friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Make a few extra for hostess gifts and spares for the person(s) you forgot to put on your original gift list!!

How to Make CRANBERRY LIQUEUR
How to Make CANDIED PECAN LIQUEUR

How to Make Homemade Bailey's Style IRISH CREAM LIQUEUR
How to Make VANILLA BEAN LIQUEUR
How to Make PUMPKIN LIQUEUR
How to Make LEMONCELLO / LIMONCELLO
How to Make BACON VODKA (for the guys & pork lovers)

For Rimming Cocktails HOW TO MAKE FLAVORED SALTS & SUGARS
(You can scent the salts instead of flavor them and make bath salts too!)
My Easy & Delicious CANDIED NUTZ

Pair any of these gifts up with some of my fun & colorful gifts from The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery or The Martini Diva Boutique for a really special, one-of-a-kind holiday gift to remember!

HAPPY HOLIDAY MOONSHINING!

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PURPLE HAZED MARTINI for Jimi Hendrix's Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

In Honor of

JIMI HENDRIX'S BIRTHDAY

the

PURPLE HAZED MARTINI

from The Martini Diva

Dedicated to the man who was one of the (if not THE) guitar greats of our times, James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix), born into the world of rock and roll this day in 1942.

I am one of the lucky ones who had the opportunity to hear Jimi and The Jimi Hendrix Experience play live several times, the first time at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, the last time at the original Woodstock in 1969. To hear that performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock was a mind bending experience:

Image from http://www.beeldengeluidwiki.nl/index.php/Gallery:_Hoepla

In Memory of the Music:

JIMI HENDRIX

November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970

from The Martini Diva.Com

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Happy National Espresso Day - Smirnoff's Whipped Cream Vodka

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipe Card in Print Quality HERE

Get the MAILABLE RECIPE POSTCARD Here

November 23rd is

NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY

To celebrate espresso I have come up with a new version of the White Russian, an old classic of Kahlua, vodka and cream - my Not So White Russian Martini!

I was inspired when I got my sample of Smirnoff's Whipped Cream Vodka today and gave it my usual taste test whirl. First, I opened the bottle and took a nice deep whiff - believe it or not, one of the first things involved with drinking (and eating) is your olfactory sense. Your nose plays a large part in the flavor profile of anything you ingest. What wafted up from this bottle first was a distinct smell of caramelized sugar. It put me more in mind of a baked custard than whipped cream.

My next step is to taste the vodka straight - at room temperature and ice cold out of the freezer. In this case, the freezer was not the vodka's best friend, it was more pleasant warm, I think the cold disguised some of the warm caramel elements and brought forth more of the vodka qualities. The burn was more pleasant on the warm vodka as well, it was cozy and like cuddling up into a nice blanket on a rainy day.

I was pleasantly surprised by this "vodka". I fully expected an over done, imitation vanilla flavor with a bitter after taste and what I got was a pleasant, sweet sipping liqueur - and I do think that this new "vodka" is more of a liqueur than an infused vodka. It's extremely sweet, which is not the usual case with an infused vodka. I also noticed that the bottle lip was sticky which means sugar has been added. To me that means a liqueur as opposed to a base spirit (liquor).

But I won't quibble about the issue - heck, I'm the woman who will put just about anything in a martini glass and call it a martini! If Smirnoff and others want to call their whipped cream liqueurs "vodka" more power to them. All I care about is are they good and can I make a good martini from them!

As for my Not So White Russian Martini, well it's not so white and it's not so Russian because of the addition of espresso to the classic White Russian recipe - but it's still a great cocktail for National Espresso Day!

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The Official Turkey Martini

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Thanksgiving Martini #9 of 9:

MY INFAMOUS TURKEY MARTINI

from The Martini Diva

Yes, I did. Here's how it happened.

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipe Card in Print Quality Here

Get the Pumpkin Pie Martini on a MAILABLE POSTCARD Here

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF

THE MARTINI DIVA EXPERIENCE.

HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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GINGERBREAD MARTINI - Thanksgiving Martini #8

noreply@blogger.com (Pop Art Diva) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Thanksgiving Martini #8 of 9:

THE GINGERBREAD MARTINI

For NATIONAL GINGERBREAD DAY

from The Martini Diva

There's some debate about whether National Gingerbread Day is June 5th or November 21st. Since gingerbread is pretty much a holiday food, I'm going with November 21st on this one, but I'll gladly celebrate it twice a year since I love gingerbread!

Heck, I'd pretend it was all year long just to drink my Gingerbread Martinis - and I have another version that has cream in it called The Gingerbread Man Martini.

I also have a recipe for making your own Gingerbread Liqueur on the recipe page so click on over and start infusing your very own holiday booze!

Happy National Gingerbread Day #2

from The Martini Diva

Download the Full Sized, 5x3 Recipe Card in Print Quality Here

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