nonalcoholic rainbow cookie martini

Last January at my local Toastmasters club holiday party, we ate at this upscale but forgettable Italian restaurant and one of the cocktails on their menu was a rainbow cookie(my favorite type of cookie) martini that I wanted to try but didn't because every ingredient in that drink had an alcoholic ingredient, including two types of vodka! Listen, I'll gladly cook with vodka but drinking it, not so much. I thought I could make a nonalcoholic version of this drink myself and I did! 

I made the following substitutions for the alcohol in this drink: 

• Birthday cake soda in lieu of cake vodka
• Cocoa powder mixed in water + vanilla extract in lieu of Creme de Cacao
• Almond syrup in lieu of amaretto

This was my first time making a cocktail- I even bought martini glasses that came with mixology equipment such as a cocktail shaker/strainer and peg measurer. Rimming a martini glass was easier than I thought too. 

I tasted a lot of cake, chocolate, and almonds in the martini. The fruit preserves, not so much, as they were strained out of the drink after it had been shaken. But nonetheless this was a really decadent, tasty martini! 

This obviously has chocolate in it, so my dad didn't try it. 

HELPFUL LINKS: 

Birthday Cake Soda: www.jonessoda.com/collections/jones-beverages/products/limited-edition-birthday-cake-soda-12-pk

Almond Syrup: www.amazon.com/Liber-Co-Almond-Orgeat-Syrup/dp/B01MXUHZJS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1510167214&sr=8-1-spons&

Martini glasses: www.amazon.com/Libbey-10-Ounce-Preston-Martini-4-Piece/dp/B001K45UWI/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1510167237&sr=1-6&

You will need: 

For the mixology equipment: 

A martini glass(see HELPFUL LINKS)
Cocktail shaker and strainer(see HELPFUL LINKS)
Peg measurer(see HELPFUL LINKS)
A water glass
A large bowl

For the cocktail: 

2 oz. Birthday cake soda(see HELPFUL LINKS)
1 oz. Almond syrup(see HELPFUL LINKS)
1 oz. Apricot preserves
1 oz. Raspberry preserves
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. half and half
1/4 tsp. cocoa powder
2 oz. water
Chocolate syrup for rimming the martini glass
Rainbow cookie for garnish

1. Measure each of the first 4 ingredients with a peg measurer(the bigger end equals 2 oz, the smaller one equals 1 oz.) and pour inside the bottle of a cocktail shaker. 
2. Add the vanilla extract and half and half into the cocktail shaker. 
3. In a water glass, miix the cocoa powder in water until you get a brown water and pour it into the cocktail shaker. 
4. Put the lid, which is the cocktail strainer, on the bottle of a cocktail shaker and shake the bottle up. 
5. Pour a circle of chocolate syrup in the inside of a large bowl. Rim the martini glass in it by turning the glass upside down and dipping it into the syrup. 
6. Strain the mixture inside the bottle into the martini glass and the end result should be a brown-colored drink. Top the rim of the martini glass with a rainbow cookie. 

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