They were armed with tasting sheets, readied palettes, and competitiveness as we sidled up to the bar/island to taste 8 flavors of Cupcake Martinis. Well, maybe they were just ready for a night out with the girls and a few cocktails. Either way, they all brought their A games and a desire to help with my Martini Market Research.
A few weeks earlier I had been struck with the idea of making grown-up cupcake-inspired treats, after making batch after batch of cupcakes to welcome my Second Grader and Kindergartner home from their respective first days of school. (As an aside, I have heard that the cupcake tradition has spread around town, and kids from other bus-stops, and even other schools, have asked their parents if they can be dropped off at our bus-stop on the last day of school - the other date that I break out the "Treat Greets." Actually, the cocktail part has since caught on too, and a patron at Brady's leaned in the other night and asked, "Are you The Cupcake Martini Lady?" Thanks, girls - that was cool!!)
I wasn't really sure WHAT I was going to do with the research data once I gathered it, but I knew it would be empirically fun no matter what. Plus, having a stocked liquor cabinet for weeks (or a week) after the event, was a nice reason in itself. So I began mixing and pouring the first flavor, the Chocolate Cupcake Martini once the first five women were gathered, and the tasting was on.
We were slaves to the order in which our ingredients came through the door (which felt like "Baileys, More Baileys, Something Else, Baileys, Baileys... [no complaints here!!), since I had asked each attendee to bring one bottle of liquor from a list provided on the Evite. The first couple were easy - the chocolate ones, so we started with those. I had made the "Secret Recipe-Base" ahead of time and just needed to add one or two ingredients to make each of the flavors. I used the Dutch Chocolate Vodka and Creme de Cocoa to make the Chocolate. Then as luck would have it, Peppermint Schnapps arrived next and Chamboard had come earlier, so we could all try the Chocolate Raspberry and Mint Chocolate as well.
The reviews for these flavors predicted the unpredictability of the rest of the night's reviews. It was odd how people could feel so decidedly different about seemingly basic tastes. Most people liked, or at least didn't hate, the Chocolate Cupcake flavor. It was perhaps the most mainstream of the flavors. Comments like "Tastes like kicked-up Hornstra Chocolate Milk" and "I loved it and I'm a beer girl" were mostly representative of peoples' feelings about this one. Some commented that it was "creamy"; "good, but probably not good for the waist-line" and "one of my favorites". Only one or two spoke differently, saying it was "too milky" or "needs more chocolate" (Sorry - I guess the sugared cocoa powder on the rim wasn't enough for this chocoholic!!). Anyway, this was a straightforward flavor, with basic reactions. Nothing crazy.
You would think the Chocolate Raspberry and Mint Chocolate would enjoy the same steadiness in their reviews. But that's where I was wrong. Actually, I thought the Raspberry one would be a little too unique, but only one taste-tester "Didn't like" it. Others said "Favorite", "Yum", "Amazing" and "I wanted to lick the fancy glass clean" (This was the only drink served in the mar-TEENY glasses, with rimmed chocolate syrup and chocolate chips at the bottom - maybe that was why its reviews were one of the best. We fancy ladies liked the fancy presentation. Probably not the reason, since we all, as moms are not influenced by how something looks, like we tell our children - right?? OK, so it was fancy on the inside too - and delicious.)
The Mint Chocolate Cupcake flavor, on the other hand, split the audience, and reminded lots of us of parking lot parties, Varsity Letterman jackets and paper bag moments. Apparently, Peppermint Schnapps was synonymous with suburban teenage mischief -- so I am told. Comments like "High School Flashback"; "Reminded me of college (Okay, maybe a late bloomer among the rest of us 15-year old booze-bags)" and "Schnappy Happy" were balanced off by "Delicious" and "Better than Raspberry" by some of our less alcoholically-reminiscent participants.
As more and more women arrived, bearing gifts like Godiva Liqueur, Hot Damn (an appropriately assigned beverage, Gimp!) and Vodkas of all persuasions (not to mention more Baileys!), the organization loosened up a bit, the pours increased a bit, and the night was in full swing. A brief, yet serious time-out for a pesky pine-nut foul, sidelined one of the night's all-stars, and taught us a real lesson in teamwork -- not to mention the importance of involving nurses, pharmacists and moms in any team dynamic. Having a bartender is always a good strategy too, and I was thankful to have a couple of those to keep the game on track!
The pine-nut player went home, but not without contributing to the win for the rest of the team -- her ingredient made the victorious recipe possible (No, not Baileys). The Boston Cream Martini was loved by all, hailed as "Dessert-like (Hmm, wasn't the party named "Drink Your Dessert"?? - very good!)" and "X-worthy".
Strawberry Shortcake was liked by some, but calling upon my medicine cabinet to treat the allergic reaction must have soured others, because time and again, it was referred to as drug-like (-- and not in a good way). "St. Joseph's Chewables," said one. "Amoxycilin" said another. "Nyquil (really??)" from yet another. Oh, and the Nyquil commenter threw in a "Yuck." Some of you were a bit more diplomatic, saying strawberry was not your "favorite taste" or that you were "not wild about it". I appreciate the diplomacy, but honestly can take the real comments -- I mean come on, I write a weekly blog about myself -- my skin must be pretty thick, not to mention self-loved.
Then there was Blueberry Muffin. Another embarrassed-reference about college schnapps-drinking -- that wasn't rule-breaking, girls!! Not very rebellious - funny though that this commentator couldn't REMEMBER if she drank it then, but assumed with a name like Schnapps, it had to be collegiate. A few of you thought it tasted like cereal - a compliment I think. And you really brought me back with your reference to "Boo-berry". Maybe I should rename the Chocolate one "Count Chocula-tini" to stick with that theme. Again these drinks were tasted later in the night, and the funny comments reflected that. Good stuff.
Lemon Chiffon and Apple Spice were probably the least favorites - though a few of you listed Lemon in your top 3. Frankly, I think the fact that someone (and a couple barbacks) were placing fancy drinks dressed with fancy garnishes in front of everyone made most of you want to love them all, and I appreciate that. Or at least love the idea of loving them all. You all took your charge quite seriously, followed the rules, wrote your reactions and helped me on this very important task. Well done!
The tasting took less time than I expected - we had all moved on to beer and wine by 9:30. Or maybe the switch helped you focus and figure out your Secret Recipe Guesses. It was funny that some of you guessed eggs, tonic and gin (those were examples, listed in the directions for making your guesses! The night was getting fuzzy, I know...)
It was neck-and-neck, two of you guessing 3 out of the 6 ingredients. Then sudden death - another tie. Then a second sudden-death, and the bartender won out. Enjoy your pedicure, you earned it with a tough night of tasting, theorizing and tending!!
As 11 o'clock approached, most of the guests started leaving. This was too bad because my kids had finally stopped calling down the stairs from their beds ("Is so-and-so's Mom here?" And "So-and-so's?" "It's so unfair that you get to have a party on a school night!") and I was ready to retry the winning recipes just to make sure I got them right. A couple women stayed, we "cleaned", which is code word for "I get to stay later and have more drinks and I can explain it away to my husband as 'I helped clean'". Works for me, so the three of us rehashed the evening, laughed at the funny comments, hoped that pine-nut player was okay, and sat at a now-cleaned off island, drinking as the school-night became the school morning. All in the name of Market Research...
So how did our competition compare to H's day at Foxborough yesterday? Ours totally won out: he wasted a whole bottle of booze (not one of ours, don't worry!) on his marinade. That doesn't sound like appropriate market research. He also suffered through rain, traffic and not-so-friendly competition (Falcons fans don't sound so cool). The only obvious similarity was the school-night nature of the event. Which explains the snoring I hear emanating from the other room right now. Time for me to go have some Baileys!
The order in which the martinis were ranked by my expert panel:
1. Boston Cream
2. Chocolate
3. Chocolate Raspberry
4. Lemon Chiffon
5. Strawberry Shortcake
6. Mint Chocolate
7. Blueberry
8. Apple Spice
----Recipes to follow---
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