If you’re not quite ready to leave the holiday chocolates behind, why not toast the New Year with an indulgent chocolate martini?

Melissa Katrincic, owner of Durham Distillery, offers two versions of the cocktail, both made with her award-winning Damn Fine Chocolate Liqueur. Made with premium dark chocolate from Raleigh’s Videri Chocolate Factory, the liqueur is blended with vodka, cream, turbinado sugar, and Madagascar vanilla.

The first cocktail features Tiny Cat Vodka, distilled by Fainting Goat Spirits in downtown Greensboro. The grain-to-glass vodka is made from organic red winter wheat, grown in North Carolina. “Tiny Cat in a cocktail is best where the subtle sweetness of the wheat complements the cocktail’s balance. It’s the perfect choice for a chocolate martini,” says Katrincic.

By all means, use the Tiny Cat in the second, streamlined version or pick another local vodka like Bedlam (Durham), Boots (Wendell), or Social House (Kinston).

Tiny Cat Chocolate Martini 
Makes one cocktail

2 ounces Tiny Cat Vodka
1½ ounces Damn Fine Chocolate Liqueur
½ ounce simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
¼ teaspoon Ghirardelli sweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon liquid egg whites

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice for about a minute. Strain into chilled coupe glass.

Chocolate Martinis
From durhamdistillery.com
Makes two cocktails

4 ounces Damn Fine Chocolate Liqueur
4 ounces vodka, vanilla or unflavored
Garnish: Sweetened Cocoa Powder or Chocolate Shavings

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Shake liqueur and vodka together in cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into two chilled martini glasses. Garnish as desired. Enjoy!