RWB Firecracker Martini

Ready or not the 4th of July is right around the corner.  Is your bar ready for the holiday?

So apparently the 4th of July (1 day after my birthday if you were wondering) is a week away.  

That's right, it's on Thursday!

Mind blown............I know.

I absolutely love the 4th of July.

To me it represents family, food, cocktails and fireworks.  It's a holiday that my immediate family really enjoys celebrating together.

We celebrate this holiday with our friends who have become our family every single year and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Yes there is a good amount of alcohol consumed on this day........of course.  As there is with most holidays.

Speaking of alcohol, here is a new cocktail recipe that has a light and refreshing taste.  

The RWB Firecracker Martini does not have an overpowering alcohol taste at all.  

Instead it's light and refreshing and perfect for a nice warm day in the backyard.

There are only 3 simple ingredients to make this cocktail.

First is the Smirnoff Red, White & Berry vodka.

Next is the lemonade.

Finally you add the blue curacao.

Shake and strain into your sparkly red sprinkle rimmed martini glass.

And you are ready to enjoy a nice blue Patriotic cocktail for the 4th of July!

Here are the 3 simple ingredients to create you very own RWB Firecracker Martini.

However you are celebrating the 4th of July, remember to have a safe but fun celebration.

May all of your cocktails be red, white, blue or all three.  May they all be delicious as well!

RWB Firecracker Martini

ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces Smirnoff Red, White & Blue vodka
• 4.5 ounces lemonade
• 1 ounce blue curacao

instructions:

How to cook RWB Firecracker Martini

1. Rim a martini glass with red sparkle sprinkles.
2. In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.
3. Shake and strain into the rimmed martini glass.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Cheers to you all and to our Independence!

Rosé Cherry Blossom

Have you ever tried an Angry Orchard Rosé before?  How about mixing it into a cocktail?

Well I just did both and although the Rosé itself is good, this cocktail is delicious!

I was sent a sample of Angry Orchard Rosé to try.  All opinions are my own.  I was not paid for this post.


Apparently Valentine's Day is in 2 days.

I don't know that because we're excited and are counting down until the 14th.

No I know that because our 3 of 4 turns 10 (double digits....aahhhh) on the 13th.

She was born on Friday the 13th and we thought that was pretty darn cool.

I had never tried Angry Orchard's Rosé Cider before.  I will say that pink drinks usually make me think twice before I take a sip.

I guess I associate them with sweet drinks.....which too much sweet scares me.

On it's own this is pretty good.  I'm not sure that I've ever tried anything "Rosé" before, so I gladly report that my first Rosé experience was a success!

Now, let's talk about this cocktail.

It's an easy one to make.

You add all of your ingredients together minus the Angry Orchard Rosé Cider.

Simple enough, right?

Next you just top it off with the Angry Orchard Rosé Cider.

This would be a fun cocktail to enjoy on Valentine's Day!  Or even the newest term I just learned:

Galentine's Day!  How fun is that!  

I had a friend over last night and I made her one of these and she enjoyed it!

Rosé Cherry Blossom

ingredients:

• 5 ounces Angry Orchard Rosé Cider

• 1 ounce brandy

• 3/4 ounce lemon juice

• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

• 1 tsp cherry preserves

instructions:

1. In a shaker with ice, add brandy, lemon juice, simple syrup and cherry preserves.
2. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
3. Top off with Angry Orchard Rosé Cider.

Created using The Recipes Generator

That's it.  Simple enough and the color is a fun reddish pinkish color too!

Enjoy!!  

Christmas Wish

I was sent a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka Holiday Ornament Bottle to sample.  I was not paid for my opinion.  All views and opinions are my own.

It's been a while since I've used pomegranate juice in a cocktail.

Un-Excusable!!

Time to break that cycle and give you a fun pomegranate cocktail!

Smirnoff sent me this cute little ornament bottle of vodka!  What a fun festive shape!

OK, so I had recently bought some pomegranate juice at the store knowing that I needed to make some sort of holiday cocktail with it.

What have I not mixed with pomegranate juice before?

Godiva white chocolate liqueur of course!

I thought this would be a fun yet different mixture to try.

So in went the vodka from the cute little ornament bottle.

Next was the pomegranate juice.

Lastly I added the white chocolate liqueur.

It's that simple!

It creates a creamy looking cocktail that's fun to drink!

Christmas Wish

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 3 ounces pomegranate juice
• 1/2 ounce Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

instructions:

1. In a shaker with ice, add all of the ingredients above.
2. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Simple right?  

Don't forget that cute Smirnoff bottle!  It would be a fun thing to bring to a holiday party, or to serve from at yours!

I hope you all are having a great week so far!  I know the countdown to winter break IS ON in our house!

Peppermint Cranberry Moscow Mule

I was sent a bottle of Smirnoff Peppermint Twist Vodka to sample.  I was not paid for my opinion.  All views and opinions are my own.

'Tis the season for peppermint flavored sweets and cocktails!

I was sent this bottle of peppermint vodka to try along with a couple recipes.

The first thing I noticed was a slight aroma of peppermint.

Was I going crazy?  Was the candy cane looking bottle making me think I was smelling peppermint?

Nope, it's actually a Scratch & Sniff bottle!  Well that's fun!

The cocktail I decided to try from the list I was given is a Peppermint Cranberry Moscow Mule.  

Why?

Cause I was suuuuper curious how peppermint, cranberry and ginger would go together.

I braved it and added the vodka.

Then the cranberry juice.

Shook it up.

Strained it into my cup and added the ginger beer.

The end result?

Surprisingly good! 

I tasted each of the ingredients, but none of them overpowered the other.

The peppermint flavor (which I was most worried about) was nice, not over done.  It gave a nice hint of peppermint.

I am looking forward to creating some more holiday cocktails with this flavored vodka!

Peppermint Cranberry Moscow Mule

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces Smirnoff Peppermint Vodka
• 2 ounces cranberry juice
• 6 ounces ginger beer

instructions:

1. In a shaker with ice add vodka and cranberry juice.
2. Shake.
3. Strain into copper mug filled with ice.
4. Pour in ginger beer.
5. Stir.

Created using The Recipes Generator

I hope you get a chance to try a new holiday cocktail this year!

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow

Originally posted in November of 2013.  Reposted for National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

Who doesn't love a chocolate covered marshmallow?  This cocktail is light and tastes delicious!

We made it!  

Oh I honestly wasn't sure if we would, but it is finally Friday!  

Apparently the terrible 2's do not end exactly when the 2-year old turns three.....  


Never the less, it is Friday and today the Make A Wish Foundation has turned San Francisco into Gotham City for a 5-year old boy who has leukemia.  

Today he is going around town saving a woman from the cable car tracks, saving Lou Seal (our SF Giants mascot), fighting The Riddler and The Penguin!  

How fun!  

Things like this warm my heart.

After my last two cocktails which were flops, I decided to have a go at it on my own.  
I thought chocolate would be a good start.....oh maybe a chocolate rimmed martini glass? (haven't done a rimmed cocktail glass in a while).  I looked through my vodkas and noticed that I haven't used the marshmallow one in a while either, so there you have it.  

I decided to create a Chocolate Covered Marshmallow.

This cocktail is pretty good.  

It is light and easy to drink......good thing?  

Bad thing?  

Ah, who cares, it's Friday!  


I am really enjoying my cocktail though.  

Tomorrow our newly turned three year old will be celebrating her birthday with family, which is almost too much for her to handle in the excitement category.  


Then on Monday our girls will be getting (as long as the shipping doesn't take longer then that) their very own bunk bed, more excitement alert!  

I sure hope that I can last until then!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a Chocolate Covered Marshmallow:

• 1 1/2 ounces marshmallow vodka
• 1 1/2 ounces chocolate liqueur
• 1/2 ounce cream
• 1/2 ounce milk
• chocolate shavings

Rim a martini glass with chocolate shavings.  In a shaker, add ice, marshmallow vodka, chocolate liqueur, cream and milk.  Shake and strain into chocolate shaving rimmed martini glass.  Sprinkle more chocolate shavings on top.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Try a new cocktail!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Firecracker Spritzer

Here we are.

Somehow.....someway.....it's July.

Have I got a fun layered 4th of July cocktail for you!

I call it, Firecracker Spritzer.

I knew I wanted to create a layered cocktail for you all for the 4th.....partly because I THINK THEY'RE SUUUPER FUN TO MAKE.  Partly because I enjoy making holiday cocktails.....and honestly partly because I haven't made a new cocktail in a while.

The Firecracker Spritzer is a very easy to make cocktail.  I promise.

The layering isn't that hard, mostly because grenadine is pretty much heavy enough to sink to the bottom of any cocktail.

Isn't it a pretty cocktail?!?!

I loooove the layered effect.

First things first.  Grenadine.

Next ice.

Followed by lemon-lime soda.

Lastly the blue layer.

See, I told you it wasn't hard!

Look how pretty it looks!!

Author: Jennifer Penas

Firecracker Spritzer

ingredients:

• 1 ounce citrus vodka
• 1/2 ounce blue curacao
• 1 1/2 ounces lemon-lime soda
• 1/2 ounce grenadine

instructions:

1. In a glass pour in the grenadine.
2. Fill the glass with ice.
3. Pour in the lemon-lime soda.
4. In a shaker, add ice, citrus vodka and blue curacao.
5. Shake and slowly strain into the glass.

Created using The Recipes Generator

There you have it!  A Firecracker Spritzer.  Such rich fun colors and layers.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady