Usually, we wet the rim with lime juice since that is already there. Most bars have a thing that holds lime juice, sugar, and salt.
If you want to get a bit crazy, use bailey's instead of half and half, but you have to mix it and shake it like crazy before the bailey's and the lime juice create chunks. This will actually happen with the half and half as well. (If you have ever heard of a cement mixer, it is vodka, lime juice, and bailey's---served seperately, and when you drink them together, they create a blob of nasty in your mouth)
Anyway, back to the key lime martini----as with any cocktail, you can substitute. Basically, a margarita (tequila) with rum is a daquori, and with vodka, it is a kamakasi. It is liqor, triple sec, lime juice. The basic recipe is 1/3 each. After that you can add and subtract to your taste. Add some coconut milk and pineapple juice to the daquori and you have a pina coloda. So, yes, you could do vanilla rum, lime juice, and some kind of cream (bailey's, half and half, cream etc) and get a great key lime martini.
The only challenge you may have is that vodka is supposed to have no flavor. A high quality vodka will have very little flavor to it. Even the high quality vodkas that are flavored will only have the flavor of the addition. Your flavored Grey Goose, Ketle One, Belvedere should taste like the flavor.
When mixing cocktails with flavored vodkas, I suggest using the Absolut line. I find it absurd using a quality vodka (especially a flavored one) in a mixed drink. Absolut makes a great product at a reasonable price, and their flavored products have a more pronounced flavor compared to the higher end vodkas.
Anyway, there are also some really good rums on the market now. Again, if you are going to mix with juice, don't get crazy on the quality. Bacardi has a line of flavored rums and if you want a bit more flavor, go with Cruzan. Keep in mind that Rum is fermented sugar cane so it will be a bit sweeter than vodka so you may want to tweak the recipe a bit.
Just some things to keep in mind:
-obviously moderation, unless you are not driving
-get yourself a mixing tin, strainer, and some nice glasses.
-pour your recipe over ice in your tin, shake it like crazy, and then strain it into your pretty glass.
-rim your glass with whatever. Key lime pie martini, cheesecake martini-graham crackers, chocolate martini-crumbled cookies, strawberry daquori-flavored sugar. The possibilties are really endless and just remember, if you are going to take the time to make a drink, make it that much better.
-once you have your recipe, you can interchange anything....just a hint, for thanksgiving----vanilla vodka, pumpkin schnapps, bailey's, half n half, crusted glass makes a great pumpkin pie martini.
My favorite this time of year:
1/2 oz espresso
1 oz godiva cholate loqour
1 oz espresso vodka
1/2 oz kahula
1/2 oz bailey's
rim your martini glass with any kind of vanilla cookie dust (I think you can buy this stuff already crushed,) then swirl your glass with chocolate syrup. shake your drink, and pour. SOOOOO good. Even better in a tub of bubbles after everyone in the house is asleep. Even more better if there is a ......never mind got carried away there. Enjoy your drinks.
. I'm normally a rum drinker and I've experimented with a lot of diff types of rum/rum drinks. My friends call me The Pirate especially after one LONG night here at home when I exclaimed "but why is the rum gone?" :hammer: My favorite type of rum is Bacardi Anejo which is never carried in bars (so when we go to bars, it's beer for me since they rarely have the flavored rums OR I have that best friend bartender order something for me since she knows better than anyone what I do like and what I will/can't drink). Anejo makes the best cubas because it's so smooth (since we're talking drink secrets here). I also keep vanilla rum on hand because it's a no brainer for mixers. Vanilla rum w/ half sprite/half coke = a cream soda. Vanilla rum w/ orange soda = creamsicle. Vanilla rum w/ any sort of Jones soda = just plain rocks! LMAO The vanilla rum we buy the most is the Cruzan like you mentioned. That is some good stuff. I've tried one or 2 others, but they're not as good. I haven't seen the pumpkin schnapps before. That pumpkin martini sounds dang good. I'm going to have to add that one to the list. Do you have the measurements for it?