Friday, December 11, 2015

Choco-Mint Cocktails!

How about a little Friday cocktail to get the weekend rolling?

This time around, my friends at Smirnoff sent me a festive striped bottle of peppermint vodka to slurp up. Er, I mean to have fun with in the kitchen. It's a little sweet, but not syrupy-sweet, which I liked.

Oh, and the bottle is scratch-n-sniff. Heh. I love the scent of peppermint, so that totally amused me.

The first thing I thought of was an adult hot chocolate with mint, but for some reason I kept thinking that it would be even more fun as cold cocktail. Not icy, but ... well, adult chocolate milk.

Yes, sometimes I'm just a big kid. And adding vodka to the glass gave me an excuse to have a glass of chocolate milk while I was watching television. Oh, and this stuff goes GREAT with cookies. You know, in case you want to leave some for Santa.

The perfect garnish for this is a candy cane, if you happen to have some on hand. No matter what chocolate syrup I use, there's always some chocolate that settles to the bottom of the glass, and a candy cane is perfect for stirring.

Unfortunately, the candy canes I had were a little too tall for the reindeer glass. But ... I had to have the reindeer glass for the photos!

You could, if you wanted to, add ice cubes to this, or let it freeze then blend it up to make a slushie cocktail. Or, warm it for that hot chocolate cocktail.

The vanilla extract is optional here, but I like the warm undertone the vanilla gives to the drink, while the peppermint has a more cooling effect.

Choco-Mint Cocktail

Isn't that reindeer mug cute?
1 ounce chocolate syrup (or to taste)
4-8 ounces cold milk (depending on how thirsty you are!)
1 1/2 ounces Smirnoff Peppermint Twist vodka
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Candy cane, for garnish (optional)

Combine the chocolate syrup and milk in a glass, adding the chocolate to taste. Seriously, make it like you're making chocolate milk - and the milk amount - yeah, add enough to fill the glass you choose, with enough room for the vodka. I'm so precise, right?

Stir to combine chocolate with syrup ... add more chocolate if you like. Mmmm. Add the Smirnoff Peppermint Twist vodka and the vanilla extract and give it another little stir.

Garnish with a candy cane, if desired.

Yum.

Thanks to my friends at Smirnoff (and related companies) for supplying me with cocktail ingredients all year long! Cheers!
Yum