You know we're big fans of flavored vodkas around here--they're a great way to enhance a mixed drink (citrus flavored vodka in a cosmopolitan or screwdriver, for example) or to add an unexpected twist to an old favorite. You can even create signature drinks by using one as a secret ingredient. We especially like them in the summer, when the fruit-flavored vodkas, for one, can be added to fruit juices for really cool, light, summer drinks.
A few years ago I created one I called a South Beach Sunset by using orange juice and mango vodka, with a half-ounce of DeKuyper Raspberry Pucker to top it off. It's still one of my favorite summer drinks.
Make a Moscow Summer Night by pouring an ounce of Kahlua and 1½ ounces of Van Gogh Chocolate Vodka over ice in a tall glass, and add hazelnut coffee. Make it a White Night by adding milk.
It's all in your creativity. What do you like, and how can you mix it up at little?
This year, one of the flavored vodkas taking the country by storm is sweet tea. Southern style, sweet tea flavored vodka. What can you do with that? Enhance a Long Island Ice Tea, perhaps? Add it to regular iced tea? (Not so sure about that one.)
Put your thinking cap on and think outside the martini glass! There are dozens of flavors to explore, and who knows--you might just come up with a hit.