The BOURBON ALEXANDER & Kindred Alexander Cocktails

The Checkered Genealogy of The Alexander Cocktail Family    Today's featured cocktail is the Bourbon Alexander, son of the Brandy Alexander and grandson of the Alexander, a cocktail created in 1915 for World Series Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, Grover Cleveland Alexander. The patriarch Alexander recipe is equal parts gin, chocolate liqueur and cream, the Brandy Alexander son replaces the gin with brandy (or cognac) while the grandson, Bourbon Alexander, replaces the gin with bourbon.     There is also a Coffee Alexander which substitutes coffee liqueur for the gin, sort of cousin in the Alexander lineage, as well as a Blue Alexander, a family outcast which dares to replace the chocolate liqueur with Blue Curacao. The Bourbon Alexander also has a fairly unpopular sibling, Alexander's Sister, whose only accomplishment has been to replace the chocolate liqueur with Green Creme de Menthe.    All of the Alexanders bear a striking family resemblance to the Milk Punches of old which consisted of milk, bourbon or brandy, sugar, and vanilla extract, a favored holiday beverage in the 1600's. Add egg to the Milk Punch and you have Eggnog Punch or Eggnog, the great aunt of the clan.
The Bourbon Alexander doesn't seem to have so revered a history as it's ancestors, but that does not mean it doesn't have a respected position in the Alexander family. In fact, I rather prefer the bourbon over the gin, brandy or coffee (I make no mention of Blue, whose unwed mother status forever casts him as the family pariah.) I have even been known to replace the chocolate liqueur myself with Kahlua, a better tasting, wiser marriage with better prospects for the Alexander fortunes. I suppose that would be an in-law cocktail?    Many friends of the Alexander cocktail line will use ice cream in place of the cream and, if you like that idea, go for it. I consider that an entirely different genealogy of libation, one of murky lineage who keeps questionable company. Unless I've made my own ice cream I prefer the half and half or heavy cream because they don't contain the stabilizers and/or artificial flavorings of mass produced ice creams, nor the unneeded sugars. It might be tasty, but it's divorced from the dynasty.
Now that you're all caught up on the Alexander family tree, you can relax and have a cocktail:
The BOURBON ALEXANDER    1 Oz. Bourbon 1 Oz. Dark Creme de Cacao 1 Oz. Heavy Cream (or Half & Half) Pinch of Sea Salt Dark Cocoa Powder Fresh Ground Nutmeg    Fill your cocktail shaker with ice, add the bourbon, dark Creme de Cacao, sea salt and half & half then shake until chilled. Pour into a cocktail coupe, dust with a pinch of both dark cocoa powder and nutmeg.
There you have it, a Bourbon Alexander, the modern day descendant of a 17th century Milk Punch, first born of the Brandy Alexander, grandchild of the Alexander and great nephew of the venerable Eggnog! Boozy nepotism at it's best!
Happy National Brandy (Bourbon, Coffee) Alexander Day!
Updated 10-2017 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Super Bowl Sunday Cocktails & Food

Super Bowl Sunday is all about the game and the food and drink. For most of America that means Beer, Bloodies, Margaritas, Wings, Chips and Dips, Pizza and Nachos with a few sweets thrown in for good measure. Pretty much classic game fair but taken to super size! If you're still putting your Super Bowl party together, here's some cocktail and food recipes that will kick your play into high gear:

BEER COCKTAILS Including my Super Bowl Sunday GoTo, BEER MARGARITAS
BLOODY MARYS
MARGARITAS
For any other cocktail you could think of, just hit up my search bar up in the top right hand column here!

NOW for the food!

NACHOS
Taste of the Island Nachos
Mamma Mia Pita Nachos
Taco Salad "Nachos"
Blueberry Nachos and/or Blueberry Salsa

ALL THINGS WINGS:
 Buffalo Wings
Honey Glazed Chicken Wings 
PIZZA APPETIZERS
Crunchy BBQ Chicken Pizza Bites   DIPS
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Chicken Cheese Dip
Chicken Enchilada Dip
My favorite Blue Cheese Dip
Fresh Pico de Gallo on Four Cheese Quesadillas
AND for the
SWEET TOOTH:
Grilled Peanut Butter & Chocolate Sandwiches

As for me, it's all about the nachos, pizza and wings, a few cocktails, the ads and halftime.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Updated 2-2021 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

BLUEBERRY PANCAKE MARTINI

Had to do it, after all it is National Blueberry Pancake Day AND I had some of my Homemade Blueberry Vodka and fresh, homemade blueberry syrup staring me down from the fridge.
The BLUEBERRY PANCAKE MARTINI
1-1/2 Oz. Blueberry Vodka 1-1/2 Oz. Lemon Juice 1 Tablespoon Blueberry Syrup 1 Teaspoon Maple Syrup Fresh Blueberries for Garnish
Chill your glass. Fill your cocktail shaker with ice then add the blueberry vodka, lemon juice and syrups. Shake until chilled and pour into your martini glass. Garnish with the fresh blueberries and enjoy.
BTW, there is a Blueberry Pancake liqueur out on the market made by Mama Walkers, though I've never seen it or tried it. I'll stick with my own recipe which you can find on the same post as my Blueberry Vodka.
National Blueberry Pancake Day is January 28th.

Updated 1-2019 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Peanut Butter Cup Martini Cocktails

  I painted a few cocktail glasses with chocolate rims for my Drunk Russians and had a few chocolate painted glasses left over. I didn't want to waste them (they are so cool looking!) so I decided to do another drink recipe featuring chocolate. After my guests and I had finished our Drunk Russians I spied the Castries and a bag of peanut butter cups in my fridge and knew what our next cocktail was going to be.   This is a very unusual recipe for a Peanut Butter Cup Cocktail because it uses the Castries Peanut Rum Creme liqueur. Most recipes for a peanut butter cup cocktail use the more readily available Frangelico (hazelnut) liqueur, but you just don't get that true peanut butter cup experience without the Castries.   Castries is made from St. Lucian rum, peanuts, cream, spices, and Madagascar vanilla. When you open the bottle that peanut essence rises up and hits you immediately, then as you taste it the spices, cream and vanilla mellow the peanut flavor out to an experience similar to a peanut mousse. It's nowhere near as cloying or sweet as expected and has a subtle depth of taste that starts with that peanut richness balanced nicely by the burn of the rum, the creaminess and a finish of mild spices. When you mix those flavor profiles with a chocolate liqueur you get a very rich, sophisticated cocktail take on a peanut butter cup.   The PEANUT BUTTER CUP MARTINI 2   INGREDIENTS: 2 Oz. Castries Peanut Rum Creme Liqueur 1 Oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur Mini Peanut Butter Cups Melted Dark Chocolate Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder   Special Tools: Pastry brush.   DIRECTIONS: Melt your dark chocolate in a double burner until smooth and creamy. Dip your pastry brush in the melted chocolate then paint the rim of your cocktail glass in broad strokes all the way around. Paint from the top of the rim down so you get a concentration of chocolate at the very top of the rim. Immediately attach two or three of the mini peanut butter cups to the melted chocolate on the rim, holding the cup long enough so that it settles in place. If necessary you can heat the bottom of the peanut butter cups with a lighter for stronger adhesion. Place your cocktail glasses in the refrigerator to set up the chocolate. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice then add the Castries and Godiva liqueurs and shake until blended and chilled. Pour into your chilled glasses, dust with a pinch of the cocoa powder and serve.   Prefer Bourbon? Then try this BOURBON PEANUT BUTTER CUP COCKTAIL   Try my other Peanut and Peanut Butter Cocktails   Updated 8-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

Citrus Spiced HOT TODDY Recipe

There's nothing that will warm you up inside and out more than a Hot Toddy! Traditionally a Hot Toddy (or Hot Totty) is a hot, spiced mixed drink made of liquor, lemon juice and water with a sweetener such as sugar or honey. 
Since I usually drink Hot Toddies when I have an old fashioned cold, my personal recipe replaces the hot water with a hot tea infused with orange and some particular spices (for their healing properties), some lemon (to clear my throat) and a shot of Jack (to ease my cold bones and help me relax). This is my adult version of the hot tea and lemon my mom used to give me for sore throats:
CITRUS SPICED HOT TODDY
1 Oz. Jack Daniels 8 Oz. Good Earth's Orange Spice Tea, Hot Juice of Half a Lemon Honey, to Taste Lemon Wheel Cinnamon Stick
While you're steeping your tea, add your honey and lemon juice to your cup and nuke it for about 10 seconds. I find this aids in helping dissolve your honey. Add your cinnamon stick to the cup then pour the Jack Daniels over the cinnamon, lemon and honey. Gently stir while pouring in your hot tea. Garnish with the lemon wheel and enjoy all tucked in and cozy under a furry throw with a good book!
January 11th is National Hot Toddy Day.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

APRICOT COCKTAILS

Full of beta-carotene and fiber, apricots are one of nature's fruit gems and they're loaded with vitаmins A and C. The name Apricot is derivred from the Latin word praecoquis (early-riper) aka precious, and precious they are because these tart, sweet fruits are one of the first fruits to ripen in Spring!

A FEW APRICOT FACTS
A member of the rose family, the apricot (Prunus Armenaica) originated in China and made it's way around the world from there to Armenia and the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean. Spanish explorers took apricots to the New World and planted them throughout the California missions. Today California still produces over 90% of Apricots grown in the U.S.
APRICOT COCKTAILS
Apricot Martini Apricot Lavender Bourbon Sour Mango Apricot Martini 1492 Apricot Cocktail
Serve these up with some of my Lemon Apricot Scones!
National Apricot Day is January 9th
Updated 1-2019 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

The DRUNK RUSSIAN Cocktails

When it comes to cocktail combinations using vodka and coffee liqueur we Americans turn very Russian. Black Russian and White Russian, that is. We even mix it up with Blind Russians, Dirty Black Russians, California Russians, Irish Russians and Brown Russians.
The basic Black Russian recipe from the I.B.A. (International Bartenders Association) is 5 parts vodka to 2 parts coffee liqueur served in a low ball (Old Fashioned) glass over ice. The White Russian (favorite libation of The Dude in The Big Lebowski) adds 3 parts cream as a float. The Blind Russian replaces the cream with Irish Cream, the Dirty replaces the cream with cola, the California version adds triple sec, the Irish adds Guinness stout and the Brown switches to a long (tall) glass and adds ginger ale! Bozhe moi!
Oddly enough, nobody ever talks about those Drunk Russians. I get it, drunk Russians are scary - and probably politically incorrect - but I'm not afraid to go there. After all, I'm part Czechoslovakian. We were involuntarily part of Russia for a while, we have a grudge. So.....

The

DRUNK BLACK RUSSIAN

INGREDIENTS 2 Oz. Chocolate Vodka 1 Oz. Coffee Liqueur  1 Oz. Chilled Espresso 1 Dash Vanilla Bitters Melted Dark Chocolate
Special tools: Pastry brush
DIRECTIONS Melt half a cup of good dark chocolate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds, until smooth. Take a pastry brush and paint the chocolate on the rim of your glass in broad strokes. Set the glass in the freezer to chill. Half a cup will "paint" 3 - 5 glass rims. Add ice to your cocktail shaker, pour in the chocolate vodka, followed by the coffee liqueur and the espresso, add the dash of vanilla bitters and shake until chilled. Strain into your chilled, chocolate painted glass and serve.
TIP: Take any extra melted chocolate and brush some thick, wide strokes onto a piece of parchment paper. Hit these twice for more thickness and strength. Chill in the refrigerator until set then gently peel off from the thick end to garnish a plate or a nice piece of cheesecake to go with your Drunk Black Russian.
Prefer something with a bit of cream?
The DRUNK WHITE RUSSIAN Just add 1 Oz. of Half & Half to The Drunk Black Russian.

Za vashe zdorovie! (Russian) Na zdraví! (Czech)
Updated 2-2019 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

A Bloody Lot of BLOODY MARYS!

   Well, whaddya know, January 1st - New Year's Day - is also National Bloody Mary Day. Convenient since more Bloodies are probably consumed today than any other day of the year. Maybe because it's also National Hangover Day.  

What makes up a Bloody Mary? 

The I.B.A. (International Bartenders Association) recipe calls for 3 parts vodka, 6 parts tomato juice and 1 part lemon juice served over ice. Traditionally the standard garnish is a celery stalk and a slice of lime with typical flavor additions of Worcestershire Sauce, celery salt, Tabasco Sauce, salt and pepper. Raw eggs have been known to be involved as well.   That's how it all started, BUT in today's world of Bloodies the tradition has been toyed with, big time. You're going to need to sit down for this. There are:   Canadian Bloodies also known as Bloody Caesars (Clamato for the tomato juice) Japanese Bloodies aka Bloody Geishas (sake instead of vodka) Bloody Marias (tequila instead of vodka) Beer Bloodies (Micheladas and Red Eyes) Bloody Bulls (a Bullshot* with half the bouillon replaced with tomato juice) Bloody Eights (V-8 instead of tomato juice) Bloody Fairies (absinthe instead of vodka) Red Snappers (gin instead of vodka) Brown Marys aka Bloody Scotsman (whisky instead of vodka) AND, me hearties, there is even a rum Bloody known as a Bloody Pirate! There is also a virgin (non-alcoholic) version called the Bloodless Mary, a Frozen Mary (blended with ice) and countless proprietary recipes!   Whew! Are you still with me?  Then hang tight and let's take a look see at how far our favorite hangover remedy has strayed from there . . .  

  Who invented the Bloody Mary?  Who really knows? Claims range from Fernand Petiot (who is said to have created it in 1921 while working at The New York Bar in Paris, later known as Harry's New York Bar) to The Hemingway Bar at The Ritz in Paris to either bartender Henry Zbikiewicz or comedian George Jessel at The 21 Club in New York. Petiot himself said Jessel, but with this caveat, "I initiated the Bloody Mary of today. Jessel said he created it, but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over." As for why it's called a Bloody Mary, let's just say because of Queen Mary (the First) or Mary Pickford or Vladimir Smirnov and leave it at that.   Dazed and confused yet?  You need a Bloody, don't you? Well, Ladies and Germs, after that little history lesson, here are the multitude of recipe riffs I have played on our Bloody lady:  

BLT MARTINI

BLOOD & GUTS MARTINI BLOODY MARTINI CAPRESE MARTINI CHEESY DOODLETINI DIRTY BLOODY MARY DRACULA'S BLOODY MARTINI FIRE & BLOODY MARY GARDEN IN A GLASS GATES OF HELL GAZPACHO MARTINI GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST  HEIRLOOM TOMATO MARTINI HOT MAMA MARTINI KITCHEN SINK MARTINI LOADED RED EYE (Beer Bloody Mary) PICKLED BLOODY MARY SAMCRO BLOODY BOILERMAKER (My Sons of Anarchy version of a Biker Bloody Maria) And, yes, even an EDIBLE BLOODY MARY.   You've been very good with your history homework. Go have a Bloody.  

  HAPPY BLOODY MARY DAY, HAPPY HANGOVER DAY and HAPPY NEW YEAR! *Bull Shot: A cocktail made with vodka and beef bouillon.   Updated 1-2019 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

Thank You and Happy 2015!

MY THANKS TO YOU for a great 2014! What's in the Works for 2015:
I would like to take a moment to wish each and every one of you a Happy 2015 and to thank you all for being a part of my happy hour family these past few years. I also want to take this opportunity to reacquaint you with The Martini Diva brand and share with you some of my plans for The Martini Diva in the near future.
You may have noticed more promotional posts recently for my online shops and stores. Because of recent changes to policies on Facebook and other social media sites, I am restructuring how I reach out to my happy hour audience and share my online enterprises. 
On Facebook, my page, The Martini Diva's Happy Hour, will be where I feature anything to do with my Martini Diva brand which includes my free cocktail and food recipes, my cocktail products and shops, and my other cocktail related services. My personal page under Terri Martini will be more about being The Martini Diva "at home". (Though I'm sure they will cross over at times, after all, being The Martini Diva is a large part of my life!) Please continue to Like and Share my posts as much as possible to ensure you see all my contributions on both pages, otherwise (thanks to the above mentioned FB changes) I might disappear from your timeline!
I will continue to feature all my cocktail recipes and happy hour tips as well as sharing interesting tidbits and booze news on my Twitter account, which is going strong at well over 8,000 organic followers ( Thanks, Tweeps!).
I started an Instagram, Tmbler and my Pinterest boards are full of cocktails, food, art and other fun shares.
As a small business person with a limited promotional budget I do take advantage of social media to promote my businesses and services. My online shops, sites and services and my line of cocktail books on Amazon are a large part of the income streams which allow me to continue to create my latest cocktail recipes to share with you, at no cost, for your personal enjoyment. Hopefully my paid products and services are something that will benefit you as well.
My Cocktail Art, Gifts, Recipe Cards, Bar Accessories, Home & Kitchen Decor, Stationery and Products at The MartiniDivaBoutique.Com all feature my own original designs, art & recipes and most are entirely customizable and personalizable through the "Customize It" feature. This will continue, as is, with new designs and products being added whenever possible.
If you haven't stopped by yet, I invite you to browse my Martini Diva Boutique and please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you need assistance on a purchase! Keep an eye on my top sale bar for my current specials and discounts. (BTW, My POD interface offers a great yearly shipping program deal for $9.95 standard shipping for the whole year called Zazzle Black too!
A new service I will be launching at the first of the year is a Signature Cocktail Design Service at TheMartiniDiva.Com, which will provide clients with custom cocktail creations along with matching promotional materials for parties, corporate events, media releases and product launches. Clients have reached out to me asking for this service and it seems a good fit with my brand mission! If interested or if you have need of this service, feel free to contact me through a message or on the website for more information.
There are a few more cocktail related enterprises that I am currently working on and I will share those with you as they firm up and get ready to launch, so keep an eye out for announcements!
I'm also currently working on a fairly comprehensive cocktail book that I hope to publish on Amazon within the next year, and I'm designing looks for a new line of contemporary cocktail picks to bring style to your cocktail hour! Of course my original cocktail and food art is an ongoing endeavor and I currently have about 25 new designs that I am slowly adding to products at The Martini Diva Boutique.
So, you can see I have my plate full, as usual, and that's the way I like it. I'm excited about the new directions The Martini Diva is taking and I look forward to sharing them all with you as they manifest.
Once again, thank you for being loyal Martini Divettes and Dudes and sharing my journey with me. It has been and continues to be an honor and a pleasure to share it with you.
Happy New Year and may 2015 bless you with health, happiness, prosperity and peace.
Cheers, M'Dears! Terri aka The Martini Diva


Tweet

Follow me on Twitter as PopArtDiva
Follow me on Twitter as TheMartiniDiva
Friend me on Facebook
LIKE "TheMartiniDiva's Happy Hour" Facebook Page
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY