Everything Nice Maple Martini

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The Holiday weekend arrives just in time for the GRAND FINALE of our Holiday Cocktail Series! This sweet finish to our cocktail lineup could be the latest addition to your Holiday brunch or annual festive dessert… A luscious take on an espresso martini combines our love for everything maple in The Everything Nice Maple Martini.

If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen how we were able to integrate our maple peach, cranberry and blueberry fruit sauces into 3 unique cocktail creations, each with a signature seasonal element. The fruit-forward journey thus far has led up to the final cocktail made with our most treasured ingredient of all— maple syrup!

Aarika envisioned a decadent cocktail that can double as a dessert. A re-invent of an espresso martini was the perfect starting point. (If you don’t know Aarika, check out this post on Instagram to read all about her incredible talents 👏). Traditionally, an espresso martini is made with vodka, Kahlua, espresso and simple syrup. The cocktail is shaken with ice and then strained into a chilled glass and topped with 3 coffee beans.

🍸 Espresso Martini Fact: Did you know that the 3-coffee-bean garnish in an espresso martini symbolizes: health, wealth and happiness?

The Everything Nice Maple Martini follows a similar structure to the classic recipe with a few mandatory maple adjustments. For the spirit base, we went with our favourite Ontario-made vodka from Vodkow Dairy Distillery. 🚨 SUPERFAN ALERT: WE LOVE VODKOW! Several times a year, someone on our team starts gushing about their latest experience with Vodkow— just ask Richard & Amanda 😉. We especially love their Maple Cream Liquor (more on that shortly). Vodkow Vodka is made by transforming milk sugar into a superior lactose and gluten-free spirit. The masterminds at the Dairy Distillery use the ingenious process of distilling milk sugars into a smooth, high-quality, sweet alcohol with little to zero burn.

The goal for this cocktail is to have the taste of maple at the forefront of each sip from start to finish. Aarika decided to lessen the powerful coffee flavour by omitting the Kahlua and replacing it with Vodkow Maple Cream Liquor. This exceptional liquor combines two of the best products from Almonte, Ontario: Fulton’s Dark Maple Syrup and Vodkow Vodka. We’ve worked with Fulton’s Maple for many years in the maple syrup biz (have you tried their body lotion and lip balm?). When we discovered that the Dairy Distillery partners with Fulton’s to make their cream liquor, we were over the moon 🌙

Vodkow Maple Cream Liquor adds just the right amount of creamy richness to bring this martini to dessert-worthy status with an added dose of maple.

Speaking of partners, the incredible business network in Almonte, Ontario has collaborated to offer a collection of cream liquors that showcase the best-made products of the area. The “Almonte Friendship Series” is a 4-pack that contains Maple Cream Liquor made with Fulton’s Maple Syrup; Coffee Cream Liquor with Equator Coffee; Vodkow Classic Cream Liquor and Chocolate Cream Liquor that features Hummingbird Chocolate. We can’t rave enough about Hummingbird Maple Chocolate, but we’ll save the chocolate content for another day… This unique creamy liquor collection is available for a limited time leading up to the Holiday season. You can order directly from the Dairy Distillery website or if you’re lucky, you can stumble across this gem of a 4-pack at select LCBO’s across the province.

Okay, so I guess you can tell we love Vodkow, now back to the martini…

Have you seen the TikTok trend of adding maple butter to a shot of espresso? We incorporated this clever idea into our latest recipe. Maple Butter adds an extra layer of creaminess and helps to cool down the espresso before it gets added to the cocktail shaker. If you haven’t tried maple butter, ask our helpful retail staff for a sample next time you’re in one of our stores – it’s one of the most underrated maple products that deserves all the attention. Maple Butter (sometimes called Maple Cream) is pure, golden maple syrup that’s been boiled, cooled down quickly and then churned into the most decadent, creamy consistency.

It doesn’t actually contain any dairy, making it lactose free, just like the Vodkow Vodka and Maple Cream Liquor 👍

The final martini is presented in layers. In mixology, bartenders make use of different densities between liquids to create a layering effect. Since maple syrup has a high sugar content, it’ll stay settled in the bottom once the rest of the cocktail is added. Start with a generous drizzle of maple syrup into the base of the glass. In your shaker, give the other ingredients a good shake with ice to create that classic frothy texture of shaken espresso. As you pour, a luscious surface layer of foam emerges as the cocktail settles into the glass.

The recommended garnish on the Everything Nice Maple Martini is three mini pancakes skewered onto a cocktail pick. Bonus points if your garnish is made with Everything Nice Pancake Mix – one of the biggest inspirations behind this cocktail. Before pouring the drink, be sure to rim the martini glass with a generous layer of maple sugar and cinnamon to fully appreciate the “sugar and spice” flavours that make our Everything Nice Pancake Mix so special.

Remember that generous drizzle of maple syrup that we talked about? Once you’ve reached the end of the cocktail, you’ll be left with a little pool of maple syrup that you can use to dip your mini pancakes into. This sweet treat is inspired by our Deluxe Tasting Board experience where we invite our guests to enjoy mini pancakes and dip into the 4 flavours of maple syrup. If you can’t make it out for a Tasting Board, whip up one of these martinis for a fun-loving, luxurious substitute.