Making A Classic Dirty Martini
The Drink Recipes Every Vodka Drinker Needs
The Spruce
Vodka may be the most mixable and useful liquor in the bar. The spirit’s clear, clean taste pairs well with any flavor, from sweet to savory and dry to spicy. Featured in thousands of cocktail recipes that vary in character, ingredients, and style, there is a vodka cocktail for every drinker and occasion.
Within that extensive list of vodka drinks, some standouts are considered essential. These are the most popular of those recipes and the drinks that everyone should taste at least once.
Lets Make Festive Cocktails
We were looking for another festive holiday cocktail to add to our arsenal this year as were approaching #alltheholidayparties, so we tapped our resident expert: my brother, David, who is a bartender by trade. We asked him what types of drinks have been popular this holiday season, and ROSEMARY kept coming up.
And because weve already got a few warm and toasty holiday cocktails , we knew we wanted something refreshing. So, ta-da! Introducing our new fave holiday cocktail: the rosemary vodka collins. We think it will quickly become one of your faves as well
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Best Cosmo: Stirrings Simple Cosmopolitan
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In case you havent heard, the Cosmopolitan is coming back into fashion after a long hiatus. But the key to making this blend of vodka, cranberry, lime, and triple sec is using high-quality ingredients. If you dont have everything on hand, this mixer from Stirrings is your best bet to craft a satisfying drink. The ingredients include cane sugar, cranberry juice, and key lime juice, resulting in a well-balanced blend of sweet and sour. This is a great mixer to keep stocked in your home bar.
Why Vodka Works So Well In Pasta Sauce
As it turns out, the reasons against adding vodka to sauce actually provide clues as to why it can be a big benefit. This article from Fine Cooking helps explain: alcohol is a great solvent for aromatic compounds. Its also volatile and evaporates easily, so as its particles drift into the air, they carry those aromas with them. As you chew, that translates into more flavors that reach the back of your mouth, creating a heightened sense of complexity. At high concentrations, alcohols sting can overwhelm these flavors, but in small volumes, that sensation is balanced and pleasant.
Additionally, alcohol has a magical emulsifying ability, bonding with both water and fat, encouraging the two to coexist smoothly. In recipes like penne alla vodka, it helps the sauce become a creamier, tomato-ier, more cohesive whole. You could use wine or other alcohols that would impart their own distinctive flavors, but in a rich sauce like that its not entirely necessary.
So Im sorry, vodka, for ever doubting your place. Carry on and keep doing your thing, the way you do in these recipes.
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Pumpkin Pie Infused Vodka
Its not technically candy, but we came across this pumpkin pie infused vodka recipe and could not resist. You wont just be using canned pumpkin. No, youll be using an actual whole pumpkin pie, whether homemade or store bought. Infuse, strain, and enjoy a delicious drink perfect for autumn. Were already dreaming of serving these on Thanksgiving.
Get the recipe, plus tons of awesome pumpkin pictures, at 1 Fine Cookie.
How Many Classic Dirty Vodka Martinis Should I Drink
According to The Spruce Eats,The vodka martini follows suit with the gin martini, Manhattan, and other liquor-vermouth combo cocktails: Theyre not light drinks. With an 80-proof vodka and the average vermouth in this recipes ratio, it mixes up to about 28 percent ABV . To put that into perspective, two martinis are stronger than a straight shot of vodka. Sip slowly and know your personal limit.
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Ask Adam: Should You Put Good Vodka In The Freezer
Growing up, my parents had friends from Ukraine who used to throw the craziest parties. Living in a small college town, it was rare that the professors, including my parents and their friends, hit the bar scene where they might run into their students. Instead, they had raging house parties, and whenever this couple was the one to throw the party, I would hear stories from my parents about cold vodka shots followed by a dill pickle as a chaser. Thats how I first learned that vodka was supposed to be stored in the freezer, so that it could be ready at a moments notice for an ice-cold shot. It was important to always have a jar of dill pickles around, too.
For most vodka, storing it in the freezer is the way to go because it has been distilled to the point of being pretty much odorless and flavorless, so keeping it and serving it at a freezing temperature isnt going to impact it all that much. In fact, it will probably make the shot much easier to handle.
But if youre dealing with a premium vodka that does have some nuance to it, pulling it straight out of the freezer and pouring it into a shot glass means youre going to miss a lot of that nuance. It will sadly be muted by the freezing temperature. So, if you have a really nice vodka, store it on your bar cart instead and then stir with ice and strain to serve. And you can still follow it with a pickle.
drop!
Stick With A Single Flavor/color Per Infusion
Throughout this list youll find many multi-flavor candies. While you can toss them all into a jar and pour vodka on top, what youll get is an oddly flavored, brown-looking mess. If youre using Jolly Ranchers, for instance, use just the watermelon or, if youre feeling adventurous, combine all the flavors that are colored red. But mixing and matching usually produces dreary looking results.
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Why Its Perfect For Vodka
The water helps mask the vodkas strength without diluting flavor, while the fizz adds just a little extra to the cocktail. Pour vodka into a glass, put ice cubes, and top it with your choice of seltzer, soda, or sparkling water. To add more kick to your Vodka Soda, add a heavy squeeze of lime. If you want to take it to the next level, watch this video.
Infuse Your Vodka With Fresh Or Dried Botanicals
One of the best ways to upgrade your vodka soda is to simply infuse your vodka with a fruit, herb, or other botanical.
Some of my favorites are hibiscus, strawberry, chamomile, coconut the list goes on! Fruits or herbs can take hours or days to infuse, but teas like hibiscus can take just minutes, meaning you dont have to do a whole lot of planning ahead either.
Ive included instructions below for creating a Strawberry Hibiscus vodka infusion, but if you leave out the strawberries, you can have infused hibiscus vodka in about 10-15 minutes!
Strawberry Hibiscus Vodka Soda
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The Skinny On Lemon Drop Martinis
Lemon drop martinis really bring me back to college. Who else ordered lemon drop shots at the bar because they tasted like lemon candy? This girl did! Those lemon drop martinis are made from a sugary lemon juice mix that would for sure give you gut rot.
Im here to introduce you to these lemon drop martinis that are made with only three ingredients! But first, lets chat about some of the most common questions about lemon drop martinis.
Muddle Fresh Fruit Or Herbs
The next way to add flavor to your vodka soda is to simply muddle some fresh fruit or herbs.
This is the quickest way to ramp up the flavor of your drink, and bonus: a few slices of cucumber or a couple of berries isnt going to ruin your diet either.
I like to think of this kind of vodka soda as a way to incorporate your daily serving of fruits or veggies into happy hour.
One of my favorite ways to use muddled fruit in a vodka soda is to muddle some cucumber with a squeeze of lime juice and then garnish with fresh mint.
Its cool, refreshing, and the perfect light cocktail to have when you want a drink but dont want to feel weighed down. Tip: be gentle if you muddle mint, it can release an off-putting flavor if muddled too vigorously.
Cucumber Mint Vodka Soda
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Dry Vermouth For A Dirty Martini
This is a bianco vermouth, which is a dry vermouth with just a hint of sweetness added not so much that it becomes a sweet vermouth, but not bone dry, either. This hint of sweetness brings balance to the olive brine in a dirty martini while its citrus notes and aromatics work well with the profile of the Drumshanbo gunpowder gin for a beautifully balanced and aromatic dirty martini. Alternatively, you can use Noilly Prat extra-dry vermouth, which has an aromatic profile that works well in a dirty martini for people who prefer an extremely dry martini.
Choose And Prep Fruit
This is the fun part! You get to concoct your own flavor profile. There are any number of combinations you can make using fresh fruit . The sky is the limit! You can also use a single fruit Below, we have shared some of our favorite fresh fruit vodka infusions.
Once you decide which ingredients you will be using, wash the produce and remove stems and seeds. Remove pits from stone fruit. Peelings can be left on or peeled offits up to you. Slice or chop larger produce items like pineapple, papaya, and apples to increase their surface area. This will create a stronger flavor and help speed up the infusion process. If you are using berries, bruise/gently squeeze them to help release their flavors. If you are using citrus, you may choose to use only the peel. Wed recommend removing as much of the pith as possible, as it can turn your infusion bitter.
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Pineapple Guava And Mango
Vodka is not your usual tropical cocktail drink, but when it works, it works. The flavorless drink goes really well with fruits, and pineapple is no different. Although you might be more comfortable and familiar with pineapple and rum, it is perfect for vodka too. The juice is a strong concoction that will blend out the strong flavor of the vodka if you dont want to taste the liquor and focus on the buzz.
With guava, the best way to drink vodka would be to infuse it with the juice. But dont forget the chili and salt rim icing, which is the best part of the drink. The spicy and salty touch will enhance the taste of guava and drown out any burning notes in the vodka.
Lastly, we have little to say about mango. Pour pretty much anything in mango, and you have a divine drink. Enhance your vodka cooler style.
Olive Garnish For A Dirty Martini
The classic garnish for dirty martinis are either unstuffed Spanish olives or blue cheese stuffed olives, although you may see other garnishes such as a lemon twist. Blue cheese stuffed olives add a spicy, sharp bite to the end of the martini as well as hitting your nose with blue cheese aromatics as you sip. Dirty Sue makes some of the best blue cheese stuffed olives around. If youre not a blue cheese fan, you can try Dirty Sues feta stuffed olives, a pimento stuffed Spanish olive, or simply add your favorite pitted Spanish olive.
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For This Project Youll Need:
- One 1.75 liter bottle of vodka
- One 1 pound bag of Skittles.
- Five 8.5 ounce flasks or bottles
- And some supplies you probably already have: five empty plastic water bottles, a funnel , some bowls for separating the Skittles into flavors, a measuring cup, cheesecloth, and coffee filters.
- Youll also probably want to cover your workspace with newspaper or freezer paper the Skittles Vodka infusion can get messy.
If youre making a different sized batch, heres the formula you need to know: I used 70 Skittles to 7 ounces of vodka, which yields about 7-8 ounces of infused vodka. If you want to make 1.5 times that, or 3 times that, just multiply your amounts.
Our Take On The Delicious Espresso Martini Cocktail Includes A Hint Of Coffee Liqueur To Round Out The Rich And Bitter Notes Of Espresso
Ingredients · 2 ounces vodka · 1/2 ounce coffee liqueur · 1 ounce espresso, freshly brewed · 1/2 ounce . · shake in a cocktail shaker. Learn how to make an espresso martini, a bold cocktail that combines coffee liqueur, ice and coffee beans served into a martini glass. Total wine & more provides the lowest prices on ingredients for wine, liquor, . Make a shot of espresso using an espresso maker or in an aeropress. Shop this recipe to make the best espresso martini cocktail at home! Our take on the delicious espresso martini cocktail includes a hint of coffee liqueur to round out the rich and bitter notes of espresso. 50 ml vodka 30 ml kahlúa 10 ml sugar syrup 1 strong espresso. Chemist espresso martini · make whipped cream in a cream whipper or cocktail shaker, store in fridge · add 151 rum to double walled cappuccino . Ingredients · 3/4 ounce coffee liqueur, preferably galliano ristretto · 1 1/2 ounces vodka, preferably aylesbury duck · 1 ounce fresh espresso. Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, . It is not a true martini as it contains . Classic espresso martini · 2oz vodka · 1oz espresso ·.5oz coffee liqueur · 1/4oz simple syrup · 3 whole .
Our take on the delicious espresso martini cocktail includes a hint of coffee liqueur to round out the rich and bitter notes of espresso espresso martini. Total wine & more provides the lowest prices on ingredients for wine, liquor, .
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Best Club Soda: Fever Tree Club Soda
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This one was a difficult one for me, but if I had to choose I would go with Fever-Tree, says Gill. They have so many great options for mixers that have great flavors, from different types of tonics to club sodas. Cant go wrong with them.
The club soda is simple and refreshing, made using spring water and bicarbonate of soda that yields a satisfyingly bubbly experience. Add some vodka to this and a slice of lime for a simple, refreshing drink.
What Is The Shelf Life Of Vodka
Unopened vodka lasts for an indefinite time but there is still some time limit in which you can enjoy the best quality and flavor of your vodka but again it is all a matter of your taste preference, how you like your vodka to be.
No doubt that the unopened bottle of vodka lasts for ages but an opened bottle of vodka retains its best flavor for about 10-20 years or even more depending upon the storage conditions it is kept in.
It is worth mentioning that the figures mentioned above are the estimated shelf life of vodka.
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What Is The Dirty In A Dirty Martini
Dirty martinis have a kick of olive brine in the mix. Olive juice adds acidity and salt for a more powerful flavor that drink sippers world-wide savor. It also changes the color of a clean, clear martini, making it dirtier. Traditional martinis come with an olive garnish, but many bartender add two or more to a dirty martini.
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How To Make A Perfect Dirty Martini
A perfectly chilled dirty martini may be one of the sexiest drinks one can order, and understanding its history makes this cocktail even more alluring.
Dirty martinis are a classic cocktail favorite.
getty
The current cocktail we know as the dirty martini is likely to have evolved from the Martinez cocktail, which was mentioned by Jerry Thomas in his 1887 Bar-Tenders Guide.
This drink called for Old Tom gin , sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and cocktail bitters, said Anthony Caporale, director of spirits education at the Institute of Culinary Education.
This cocktail recipe will probably feel rather familiar to those who are fans of the Manhattan, though it has nothing in common with a dirty martini.
Over the next century, the drink moved east from Thomas California residence, and when it reached cities that had more regular English commerce, the Old Tom gin was replaced with London Dry and the sweet vermouth swapped with dry as well, said Caporale.
Of course, it was around then that James Bond enters the picture. He famously was known for shaking his martini rather than stirring and less famously preferring a mix of gin and vodka to gin alone. It was a slippery slope from there for most American consumers, who found both the gin and the vermouth to be less appealing than the glass in which they were served, said Caporale.
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