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August 2005

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cocktails

Twilight Cocktails Specialty Martinis

Ladylike Cocktails For Special Occasions

We’ve been hearing interesting if useless statistics these days, like “There are more people alive right now than the total that have lived since the beginning of mankind.” We think something similar must be said about martinis: “There are more varieties of martinis right now than varieties of cocktails since the beginning of mankind.”

The good news is, martini mania has precipitated a quite a few delightful new martini flavors. We recently tried two powdered mixes under the Twilight Cocktail label by Wildly Delicious:

• White Ice Tea Martini: an elegant combination of delicate white tea and tropical fruit, with fresh peaches and strawberries in the pitcher
• Pink Grapefruit Martini: pale pink from ruby red grapefruit, garnished with slices of blood orange and/or grapefruit in the pitcher

Both were charming ladylike martinis. Although men drank them too, we see them more at garden parties, tea parties, showers, brunches, Mother’s Day, and times when you get together with your gal pals and want to serve something special. They’re lighter, spring-and-summery, and give the illusion of being better for you than other martinis, via healthy white tea and citrus.

They’re simpler to make: just empty the contents of the package into a pitcher, add three cups of water and one cup of vodka and stir to blend. Then add in the fruit garnish. One box makes 12 four-once servings.

If you mix the martinis in advance and chill the pitcher, you don’t need to add ice cubes to dilute the flavors. Or if you want your drinks especially cold, use one of THE NIBBLE’s favorite tricks and turn another batch of martinis into ice cubes that won’t dilute the drinks as they melt because they are the drinks (use half the amount of vodka so they’ll freeze).