With the holidays just around the corner, the holiday parties are ramping up. If you are planning on throwing your own holiday party, whether for Christmas, or to celebrate the New Year, martini cocktails are a great addition to any cocktail menu. The beauty of the martini is that there are virtually endless ways to create this drink.

Five Delicious Martini Recipes

Below are five easy and delicious martini recipes sure to drum up great conversation at any holiday party you attend. Use one of the following recipes as your center theme, or serve all variations to create a martini tasting party for guests to enjoy! You may find a favorite among these recipes, making the martini a staple drink whenever you need to unwind. Enjoy!

The Basic Chocolate Martini

This variation of the chocolate martini is great on it’s own, or you can use this recipe as a basic chocolate martini recipe where you can add on additional flavors or ingredients to create your own unique cocktail.

The basic chocolate martini requires only three ingredients:

• vodka
• white creme de cacao
• powdered cocoa for rimming

To rim your martini with cocoa, dip the martini glass rim into water, then dip into a shallow dish of powedered cocoa. Place the martini glass in the freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes while you mix your martini.

Using a cocktail shaker, add 1-2 oz of vodka, and 1-2 oz of the white creme de cacao. You can include crushed ice to the mix. Shake the cocktail shaker vigorously to ensure that the vodka and creme de cacao mix thoroughly. Strain the mixture into your chilled martini glass rimmed with cocoa.

Now, to add a touch of the holidays, garnish the drink with a candy cane, or simply garnish with a hershey’s kiss or small chocolate bar. You can really create a beautiful display by adding shaved white and dark chocolate to the top of your drink.

The Eggnog Martini

For those who love Eggnog (a very popular drink during the holidays), then give the Eggnog martini a try! In fact, this drink could be a bit dangerous because it tastes way to good to be a cocktail drink, so go easy on these.

All you need are four simple ingredients:

• vodka
• Amaretto
• Eggnog (of course!)
• Cinnamon, ground graham crackers, OR grated nutmeg for rimming

To rim your martini glass, simply dip the rim in some water, and then dip the rim in a shallow dish of ground cinnamon (yum). You can also dip the rim in ground graham crackers or grated nutmeg instead – it just all depends on what you prefer.

Place the glass in the freezer to chill for at least ten minutes.

Next, combine 1-2 oz of the vodka with equal parts of the amaretto and eggnog in a cocktail shaker. Shake the ingredients well and then strain into your chilled martini glass. For a real treat, try using vanilla vodka. And if you really want to try something different, take a look at this eggnog martini recipe using rum as an addition to this recipe.

For garnish, again you can use a candy cane for the holiday effect, or simply drip in a cinnamon stick to garnish. This is sure to be a hit for those eggnog lovers out there.

Spiced Apple Cider Martini

Another common favorite beverage during the cold winter months is apple cider. So why not combine this into a martini cocktail? The spiced apple cider martini requires a few more ingredients as well as a blender, but it is completely worth the extra effort.

Ingredients needed include:

• 4 oz spicy cider
• 2-4 oz vodka
• 1-2 oz triple sec
• 1-2 oz brandy
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp super fine sugar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• crushed ice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, ensuring that the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Add the blended mixture into a cocktail shaker partly filled with the crushed ice. Shake the cocktail shaker until the outer layer of the shaker is frosted. Pour the mixture into a chilled martini glass and enjoy!

For garnish, you can add a twist of lemon, a slice of an apple, and/or a cinnamon stick. Quite the extravagant drink, but again, worth the effort.

The Candy Cane Martini

The candy cane martini is a wonderful tribute to the holiday season and celebrations. This recipe requires very little effort and looks great once it’s assembled.

What you will need:

• crushed (pulverized) candy canes
• vanilla vodka
• peppermint schnapps
• club soda

Rim your martini glass with the crushed candy canes by dipping the rim of your glass in water, and then dipping the rim into a shallow dish filled with the crushed candy canes. You can chill the glass in the freezer (not required) for a more chilled effect.

Combine one part of the vanilla vodka to a half part of the peppermint schnapps in the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into your martini glass and then top with an ounce of the club soda.

Add a candy cane for garnish, or simply enjoy the beauty of the drink with the candy cane rim! Even Santa will be proud of this delicious martini drink.

The Gingerbread Martini

Another great holiday-themed martini is the gingerbread martini. Grab some ginger beer for this recipe (easily found in most liquor stores) and get ready for an explosion of flavors.

The ingredients list includes:

• vanilla vodka
• hazelnut liqueur
• butterscotch schnapps
• ginger beer
• ice

Filling your cocktail shaker with part ice, add one part of the vanilla vodka, one part of the hazelnut liqueur and half a part of the schnapps, then shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass, filling it just a little over half way. Top your martini with the ginger beer.

You can include a gingerbread man cookie for garnish if you’d really like to impress your guests (you can pour a little bit of dark rum on the rim of your glass and then stick the cookie on the rum), or perhaps garnish with a few gumdrops on a stick.