As tax season comes to an end today, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief because they each filed on time, right? Well, those who met the April 15 deadline can celebrate, and those who didn't can decompress with easy-to-mix cocktails.
 
No special skills or equipment are needed, said Andrea Cole, manager and bartender at Ciao Bella and River City Grill restaurants. Just glasses, a few ingredients, some simple instructions, and voila! Perfectly mixed drinks for sipping and unwinding.
 
Cole recommended three drinks for celebrating the end of tax season: a peach-flavored martini, a chocolate martini and an Italian margarita.
 
“A Bellisima is a light, refreshing martini,” she said. With it's fresh, fruity flavor, it hardly seems like an alcoholic drink although it does contain vodka. “The peach nectar really helps,” she said. “We mix Kern's peach nectar with peach schnapps and vodka.”
 
Because it's light, it makes a great after-work or before-dinner drink, she said.
 
By contrast, a chocolate martini is a sweet, creamy drink that's perfect for after dinner, she said. Like a bulisima, a chocolate martini does not taste much like an alcoholic drink. In fact, it's like a milkshake with a kick (Disclaimer: Or so I've heard).
 
“You'd think that because it's so sweet and because it has liqueurs in it, that it's not strong, but it actually is,” Cole said.
 
Tony Ruanova, also a bartender at Ciao Bella and River City Grill restaurants, said, “We have people come in here just for this drink. At River City, four guys always come in and they get, like eight of them.”
 
But the sweet margarita made with chocolate liqueur, Bailey's Irish Cream and vodka is not just a guy's drink. “It's nice for dessert, or if you want to get romantic,” Ruanova said.
 
An Italian margarita is another drink with a kick, Cole said. “It's good for after work or anytime you'd have a regular margarita,” she said. “It's just a little bit different.”
 
The difference is that Amaretto is used instead of triple sec, she said. "It has a little bit more flavor than a regular margarita, and it's a little bit stronger because triple sec generally doesn't have too much alcohol in it, but Amaretto does."
 
Cole recommends chilling glasses before pouring drinks into them. “When you take that first drink and it's nice and cold, it tastes a lot better. We just put a little ice in the glass and then fill it with soda water, but you could also use water. For some reason, soda water just mixes it around a little faster and gets the glass colder quicker.”
 
The ice water mixture is dumped out just before the drink is poured into the glass.
 
Ruanova also recommends flavoring the edge of a  martini glass with lemon peel before pouring a bulimia into it.  “The lemon gives the glass a nice little flavor when you put your lips on it,” he said.

• Bellisima martini
  
Mix three parts vodka, three parts peach schnapps, and one part Kern's peach nectar, and shake up all the parts in a shaker (or two different size glasses, one that fits over the other) until it's cold on your hands and the shaker frosts up, about 20 seconds. Pour into chilled martini glass flavored and garnished with a lemon twist.

• Chocolate Martini
 
Drizzle Godiva Chocolate Liqueur into chilled martini glass and set it aside. Meanwhile, mix three parts each of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, Bailey's Irish Cream and Vodka in a shaker until it's cold on your hands and the shaker frosts up, about 20 seconds. Pour into chilled martini glass over chocolate drizzle.

• Italian Margarita
 
Mix three parts tequila with two parts Disaronno Amaretto in a shaker for about 20 seconds, or until it's cold on your hands and the shaker frosts up. Pour into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

• How to make lemon twists

To make lemon twists for several mixed drinks, Cole suggests rolling a lemon first, to soften it. Next, cut the edges off, slice the peel, remove and discard the inside of the lemon, roll up the peel, and cut it into thin slices. Then, place each spiral-shaped twist on the edge of the glasses and pour the drinks, she said.