The Red,White & Booze Martini for the 4th of July

The Red, White White & Booze Martini is a fun pineapple and coconut martini with just a hint of blueberry from the vodka. It's a white martini with a fun drizzle of grenadine that settles to the bottom for a fun red layer and blueberries for the blue garnish.

The shredded coconut rim adds an interesting crunch to each sip but feel free to leave it off if you're not a fan of dried coconut.
Follow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Follow me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Firecracker Martini - 4th of July Martinis #2

The second 4th of July Martini this year is the FIRECRACKER MARTINI - inspired by the Firecracker Popsicle treat! We're taking you back to those lazy days of summer with a combination of raspberry, cherry and citrus flavors of that cool summer treat.
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Updated  8-2016
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Martinis for the Fourth of July - Independence Day Martinis!

Here's a fun martini for your Fourth of July party - The July 4th Fireworks Martini.

This is a fun blueberry martini that is simply blueberry infused vodka with a bit of lemon juice and a splash of club soda - the real fun comes in the garnish of fresh blueberries and strawberries for that red, white and blue color theme!

Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Follow The Martini Diva on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

SKITTLES INFUSED VODKA RECIPE & SKITTLES MARTINI RECIPE!

Below is the recipe for making your Skittles Infused Vodka:

The biggest thing in the cocktail world right now is flavored booze. It's wonderful but can be expensive and there's no reason you can't make your own! (Check out my post on How to make Flavored Vodka.)

One of the original candy infused booze crazes is Skittles candy infused vodka and above is a separate recipe card with the instructions on how to make it. That's right, those tart little buttons of grape, cherry, lemon, lime and orange you love so much make for some fun vodka flavors! The colors of the finished vodka are beautiful - bright and rainbow colored little bottled gems that look wonderful on your bar!

Try your hand at making some of these fun, candy infused vodkas - the gift set idea is a great way to see if you like them first - just drop 8 or ten skittles in a clean glass jar with the vodka from one of the mini bottles and follow the rest of the recipe. But trust me, if you like Skittles and you like vodka, just go for the full sized bottles.

Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

MARTINIS FOR PETS - The Dog Bow Wow Martini and the Cat Purr-fect Meow-Tini!

As promised here is the Purr-fect Cat Meow-Tini - A martini for your pampered cats and kittens! No, there is no alcohol in it! But there is a little bit of zing from the catnip garnish!!
Now Kitty can enjoy Martini Hour with you in style!

And don't forget that I also have a martini for the Canine Cocktail Lover - The Bow Wow Martini, a martini for dogs!

You can download both recipes on full sized 5x3 recipes cards here:

---------------------

Stop by The Martini Diva™ Boutique for fun Martini Art, Tees & Gifts for All OccasionsFollow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Friend me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

June 19th is the Official National Martini Day - Celebrate w/ this Wild Martini!

Today is National Martini Day!

Make no mistake about it, June 19th is the Official National Martini Day.

I have created a very wild martini for today:
The National Martini Day Martini.

This wild martini is an explosion of lip puckering watermelon and peach  Pucker with some extra sour from fresh grapefruit juice with a - get this - watermelon flavored pop rocks rim! It's daring, it's totally fun and it's really tasty!

HAPPY NATIONAL MARTINI DAY
& CHEERS!
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
LIKE me on Facebook

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Gin Martinis - The Classics

There is always someone out there who says to me, "it's not a martini unless it's just gin and vermouth!". I agree, a modern martini is gin and vermouth with either a twist of lemon or an olive garnish. Let's not argue. If you walk into a bar and order a martini you should be given something that contains gin and vermouth. Anything else should be prefaced with a "somekind of" martini.

If you add Sweet Vermouth it is then called a "Perfect Martini". If you use vodka instead of gin it is properly called a "Vodka Martini" or a Kangaroo. If you put a cocktail onion in it instead of a twist or an olive it is a "Gibson". If you add olive juice to a gin martini it is a "Dirty Martini" if you add olive juice to a vodka martini it is a "Dirty Vodka Martini".

Anything else is what I term a "designer" martini - a cocktail that is served in a martini (cocktail) glass. I have stated often that I love martini glasses but I am not fond of these classics. The advent of the "designer" martini finally gave me a way to enjoy cocktail hour with the glass form of my choice. I have since developed my cocktail palate more and do enjoy a good martini these days, but only  if made with excellent gin and good vermouth, therein lies the difference for me.

To all your "purists" out there I say "Loosen Up, Get Off Your High Horse and Take the Cocktail Pick Out of Your Behind." Cocktails are all about fun - do we drink to get serious? No, we drink to enjoy ourselves and relax -- so maybe you should be ordering a "Martinez" instead of your "Martini" as the Martinez may very well be the very first version of the modern day Gin Martini.

CLASSIC GIN MARTINI

Want something a little different? Try my
SMOKY DIRTY MARTINI.

AND go read my article on the History of the Martini and further your cocktail knowledge a little more.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

The DIRTY MARTINI - a Classic Gin and Olive Martini

According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, the Dirty Martini can trace its beginnings back to the Waldorf-Astoria's bartender John O'Connor who served up dry martinis with muddled olives in 1901. The first written reference to a olive brine in a martini appears in G. F. Steele's 1934 My New Cocktail Book (2nd Edition) under Perfect Martini (a la Hyland)

So everyone can stop it with the silly rumors that Franklin D. Roosevelt created this drink! F.D.R was only 19 when O'Connor began muddling olives in gin.

For some reason classic martini drinkers will bend enough to admit the Dirty Martini into their exclusive martini club, maybe because the only change is the addition of a little olive brine which ends up in a martini whenever you plop in a few olives anyway. And speaking of brine, make sure your olives are packed in brine and not marinated in any oils or you'll end up with a muddy drink, not a Dirty Martini. You can also buy bottled olive brines (like Dirty Sue Olive Juice) or even try out The Bitter Truth Olive Bitters.

For all you purists out there who insist a martini is gin and vermouth here is the official  I.B.A. recipe. (For you Vodka drinkers just switch out the gin and shake your Dirty.)

The
DIRTY

MARTINI

INGREDIENTS
2 Oz. Gin
1/4 Oz. Dry Vermouth
1/4 Oz. Olive Brine

Garnish: Green Olives

Tools: Mixing Pitcher, Bar Spoon, Hawthorn Strainer

DIRECTIONS
Fill mixing pitcher with ice cubes.
Add the ingredients and stir until chilled.
Strain into a chilled martini glass, garnish and serve.

Extra Dirty: Add another 1/4 - 1/2 ounces of olive brine.

Extra Dry: Use just a drop of dry vermouth.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

I also have a version called the Dirty Rotten Bastard Martini which also uses some black olive juice in it and black olives as garnish as well as the standard green - and of course the Dirty Bastard Martini which uses only black olive juice and black olives.

GET THIS COCKTAIL RECIPE DESIGN ON TEES & CLOTHING, POSTERS, PARTY ACCESSORIES, STICKERS & CARDS:

AND ANOTHER FUN DIRTY MARTINI DESIGN available at The Martini Diva Boutique:

This image available on Clothing, Posters, Home Decor, Accessories and Gifts at MartiniDivaBoutique.Com

(Yup, I make a few shekels if you click on my Amazon links and actually buy something. Hey, a girls gotta make a living!)

Updated 10-2021
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

The Blue Moon Martini - A Blue Tequila Cocktail

 
Get this fun graphic on gifts & gear Here.

For you tequila lovers here's a fun blue colored tequila martini:
The Blue Moon Martini

If you can find the blue Maraschino cherries it really pulls the whole look together. I found mine at the grocery store in the booze aisle believe it or not - they were raspberry flavored. People really get excited over blue cherries for some reason, lol.

I am finally putting together the full website for The Martini Diva and it's a huge undertaking - with nearly 300 recipes (and growing) I have a big job going. It's going to be a really great martini website though - each recipe will have it's own page with the free recipe card for you to download, plus any information on that martini, I will also have several ways to search for martinis, martini tips and articles, jokes, quotes, drinking games and all sorts of fun.

But. . . .I discovered I had very few tequila martinis! Something I am going to have to address once the website is up and running. I prefer vodka myself so I have a ton of those as well as a good number of rum martinis but I have neglected the tequila martinis! I have to get more tequila and get to work!

Stop by The Martini Diva™ Boutique for fun Martini Art, Tees & Gifts for All Occasions   Follow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Friend me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Father's Day Martini - Cheers to Dads Everywhere!

FATHER'S DAY COCKTAILS

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!

Check out these fun Daddy Gifts:



-------------

Stop by The Martini Diva™ Boutique for fun Martini Art, Tees & Gifts for All Occasions Follow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Friend me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Root Beer Float Martini

I have created many Ice Cream Cocktails and one of my favorites is the Root Beer Float!

So, without further adieu, here is the
ROOT BEER FLOAT MARTINI
a step right back into the days of driving up to the A&W and having a car-hop bring you a frosty treat just bubbling away with creamy goodness.

Yes, I know there are root beer infused vodkas out there but this was my original recipe and, frankly, it tastes just like a real root beer float, just with a bit of a kick - and you're not stuck with a whole bottle of vodka you can only use in one or two recipes.

Updated 8-2018

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Berry and Chocolate Martini Sundae - Frozen Frappe Fun!

With all the fresh raspberries at the farmer's market I decided to do my Berry Chocolate Frappe Martini for dessert last night - except I did it with a bit of a twist!

Get the recipe for the original
BERRY CHOCOLATE FRAPPE MARTINI HERE
on a recipe card.

I replaced the half and half with 2-1/2 Cups of vanilla ice cream and added 1 cup of frozen raspberries then blended it all together, poured it into a stainless steel bowl, covered it with saran wrap and froze it. Then I poured the Creme de Cacao and the Berry Vodka into a small bowl, added 1 Cup of good chocolate syrup and blended this together, covered it too and refrigerated it. I left out the vanilla vodka and the half and half as the ice cream brings these flavor profiles into play.

I chilled my 2 martini glasses in the freezer as well and when my raspberry ice cream was set up, I scooped it into my chilled martini glasses, poured the chocolate berry sauce over the top, garnished them with a few fresh raspberries and some chocolate shavings and served up my martini with a spoon!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY Updated 10-2016

The Box Car Martini - Classic Cocktails are Back!

I got a hold of some pasteurized egg whites this week at the grocery store so it's time to enjoy a few of my favorite classic cocktails that require egg whites - one of them being a Box Car cocktail.

I enjoy some of the old classic cocktails from the era of prohibition every once in a while and The Box Car Martini is favorite. Every time I drink one I think of flappers, bathtub gin and how cocktails really got their big push in this era as a way to hide the terrible moonshine that passed for alcohol in those days!

Many of these classic cocktails that used egg in them went out of fashion because of the fear of Salmonella from raw eggs. Now you can buy pasteurized egg whites and even egg white powder to get that lovely frothy effect, so let's bring back some of these great classics - but let's serve them up in a martini glass, lol.

Check out this design on
Day's End Martini
on great products like posters, tees, cards, cups, hats and more
from The Martini Diva Boutique



----------------

Stop by The Martini Diva™ Boutique for fun Martini Art, Tees & Gifts for All OccasionsFollow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Friend me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

Blue Hawaii Martini - A Blue Pina Colada Martini!

If you love pina coladas then this Blue Hawaii Martini.

MORE PINA COLADA RECIPES HERE

Updated 7-2016

Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

There are no Bad Martinis!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

WHITE TRASH LEMON DROP MARTINI - Fer Yer Moonshine!

Do you have your old sofa on the porch outside? Is your last car still sitting in your driveway - up on cement blocks? Can you read the daily news on your curtains?

Then this might be the cocktail for you: The WHITE TRASH LEMON DROP MARTINI - a mouthful of moonshine mayhem in a mason jar on stilts! Yee-Haw!

Even the banjo playing kid on that porch in Deliverance could shake this martini up - it's simply vodka and lemonade concentrate garnished with a dash of hee-haw.

I'm dedicating this martini to my friend Debbie - it was entirely her idea! Suddenly last Saturday she found herself delightfully alone in her home, no man, no kids and no one bugging her. She had a day of "me time" bliss and wanted to celebrate with an hour of chillin' and a martini. Sadly, she had been eaten and drunk out of house and home by the above mentioned man and kids - her larder boasted only an almost empty bottle of plain vodka and a can of frozen lemonade. When I called her she was happily sipping what she called her "White Trash Lemon Drop" martini - I immediately pictured a mason jar drinking glass on a martini stem - I cracked up and promptly told her I was stealing the name!

I think I'm going to have to do a series of redneck - hillbilly martinis now. . . anyone know where I can get my hands on some moonshine or Everclear??

Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
LIKE me on Facebook
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY Updated 6-2016

Bubble Gum Martini 2 - The Remix!

The Bubble Gum Martini Revisited

Recently Three Olives Vodka came out with a new bubble gum flavored vodka, Bubble. A few years ago I posted a recipe for a Bubble Gum Martini as part of my retro candy inspired martini series. That was back in the days before bubble gum flavored vodka.

With the advent of this new, fun vodka I had to give the Bubble Gum Martini another whirl. This time I've used Three O's Bubble, half & half and a splash of Grenadine to give the martini that distinctive pink color. I have to admit this is a lot easier and the bubble gum taste is spot on, it's like I had a glassful of Bazooka.

Try Both my
BUBBLE GUM COCKTAILS HERE

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY
Updated 2-2017

The Apple Martini - Appletini

Updated December 2015

The Apple Martini Recipe

I have recently revisited this favorite of mine and you can now find the recipe here.

After the Cosmo, the Apple Martini, fondly referred to by many as an Appletini, is the most iconic of the "designer martinis". It's a staple in almost every bar or cocktail lounge these days and the variations on the recipe are as numerous as the people who drink it!

I think the reason this drink became so popular was that it was sweet and tasted like a sour apple candy we loved as kids (Jolly Ranchers come to mind). Another contributing factor to the rise of this "mac daddy" of all designer martinis was a wish to return to glamor, elegance and "haute couture" after several decades of "get down, get funky" - and the martini glass is the cocktail equivalent of Prada or a pair of Maholo Blahniks!

The recipe above is my personal favorite. My Apple Martini recipe calls for plain (not flavored) vodka, sour apple pucker, apple juice - in equal portions - then fresh apple slices and a Maraschino cherry for garnishes. Simple, tasty, refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable!


I love to serve the Apple Martini with slices of smoked gouda and bacon flavored crackers. If I want to get fancy I'll make my Apple and Onion Bruschetta or even these Bacon Cheese Tarts.

The Apple Martini is so iconic there was once even an "Apple Martini Formal" event that started occurring in 2004, though it appears to have ended in 2007.

Not a vodka fan? You can also use rum in place of the vodka in which case you will be drinking a "Rumpletini"

Remember - An Apple Martini a day keeps the doctor away!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY