We’re so grateful to the people of Eastern Europe from centuries ago for concocting one of the most versatile liquors ever, vodka. Whether you choked back cheap pints of Smirnoff at frat parties or you always reach for a dirty vodka martini at your local watering hole, you’re familiar with the clear neutral spirit.
You May Also Like: The Modern Man’s Guide to Drinking Well
There are quite possibly thousands of ways to enjoy it. You can have it as a pick-me-up with Red Bull before you hit the town. Or bitterly cold, in a glass by itself, tasting unapologetically of vodka. Have it in a lemon- or apricot-flavored form, blending seamlessly into the other flavors of your cocktail. Pick the one that suits your mood—contemplative (the Vesper), high-spirited (the espresso martini), hungover (what else? the Bloody Mary)—and gather your ingredients. Cheers to the most basic and easy-drinking liquor.
ESPRESSO MARTINI
This coffee-and-vodka cocktail is a viral sensation and surprisingly simple to make.
Ingredients
2 oz Grey Goose vodka
1/2 oz Mr Black coffee liqueur
3/4 oz simple syrup
1 1/2 oz fresh espresso
Directions
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with two or three coffee beans.
VESPER
James Bond was good at many things, but inventing a cocktail was not one of them.
Ingredients
3 oz London dry gin
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
Directions
Stir ingredients briskly with ice in a mixing tin until very cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a large, thin-cut lemon peel.
CHI CHI
Love piña coladas but not a fan of rum? Swap it out for vodka without compromising the taste.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz vodka
4 oz pineapple juice
1 oz cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)
Pineapple slice
Directions
Add ice to a cocktail shaker. Combine vodka, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut and shake vigorously until chilled. Strain into a goblet of crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple.
MIDORI SOUR
This melon liquor and vodka drink will transport you to the disco days of the ’70s.
Ingredients
1 oz Midori
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
Club soda
Directions
Add the Midori, vodka, lemon juice, and lime juice to a Collins glass with ice. Stir to combine, then top with a splash of soda water.
DIRTY SHIRLEY
Take your favorite childhood drink, mix it with vodka, and prepare for a good time.
Ingredients
2 oz vodka
1 oz grenadine
6 oz lemon-lime soda
Maraschino cherry
Directions
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the vodka and grenadine. Top with the lemon-lime soda and stir gently. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
MUDSLIDE
When you want to drink your dessert, reach for a Mudslide.
Ingredients
1 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz Irish cream liqueur
Directions
Combine coffee liqueur, vodka, and Irish cream liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake for at least 10 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over ice.
LEMON DROP MARTINI
Simple, tart, and hard to put down, the Lemon Drop Martini can easily become a go-to.
Ingredients
2 oz vodka
3/4 oz Cointreau
1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
Lemon sugar
Directions
Twist rim of a chilled martini glass into sugar and lemon juice and set aside. Add ingredients and ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake until very cold. Strain into the martini glass.
VODKA LEMONADE
With a few additions, you’ve got the robustly flavorful cocktail you’ll be sipping all weekend.
Ingredients
24 oz lemonade
1 cup vodka
4 oz simple syrup
4 sprigs fresh peppermint
1 lemon, cut into rounds
Directions
In a pitcher with ice, mix the lemonade with the vodka and simple syrup. Fill a highball glass with ice. Add vodka lemonade until the glass is three-quarters full. Top off with club soda and stir. Garnish with a lemon round.
SEA BREEZE
Light and refreshing, the Sea Breeze gives a classic vodka cranberry a bittersweet twist.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz vodka
3 oz cranberry juice
1 1/2 oz grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
Grapefruit slice
Directions
Fill a highball glass with ice, then add ingredients. Stir. Garnish with grapefruit.
SEX ON A BEACH
As the name suggests, this fruity cocktail feels like a fun afternoon delight.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz peach schnapps
2 oz orange juice
2 oz cranberry juice
Orange wedge and maraschino cherries
Directions
Combine vodka, peach schnapps, and orange juice in a glass with ice and gently stir to combine. Pour cranberry juice over. Garnish with cherries or orange wedge.
MOSCOW MULE
The most popular vodka drink of the lot, with plenty of spicy ginger zing.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 6 oz ginger beer
Directions
Squeeze lime juice into a copper mug (or a Collins glass) and drop in the spent shell. Add ice cubes, then pour in the vodka and fill with cold ginger beer. Serve with a stirring rod.
VODKA GIMLET
A bracingly sour, slightly sweet, purely refreshing jewel of a drink.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz lime juice (fresh)
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
Directions
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wheel.
VODKA MARTINI
A well-proportioned classic that’ll win over even the gin martini purists.
Ingredients
• 3 oz vodka
• 1/4 oz dry vermouth
Directions
Stir the ingredients well with ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist or olives.
DIRTY MARTINI
Salty like the sea, in a worryingly addictive kind of way.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 1/4 oz extra dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz olive juice
• Olives
Directions
Combine the gin, vermouth, and olive juice in a mixing tin with ice. Stir well. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with as many olives as you’d like on a toothpick.
BLACK RUSSIAN
A pared down version of the White Russian that’s less reminiscent of a milkshake and more like an after-hours black-coffee replacement.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz coffee liqueur
Directions
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over fresh ice.
SCREWDRIVER
A drink that exemplifies the timeless marriage of vodka and orange juice.
Ingredients
• 1 part vodka
• 2 parts orange juice, freshly squeezed
Directions
Pour ingredients over ice in a glass. Stir, then garnish with an orange slice.
CAPE CODDER
The vodka cran that grew up and got a real job with a house near the shore.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 2 to 3 oz cranberry juice
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• Club soda
Directions
Pour vodka, cranberry juice, and lime juice into a Collins glass over ice. Stir. Top with club soda, then garnish with a lime wedge.
COSMOPOLITAN
A very good drink that’s long overdue a cultural resurgence.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• 1 oz Rose’s lime juice
Directions
Shake the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, then garnish with lime.
GREYHOUND
An incredibly simple sipper to make, if grapefruit is your fruit of choice.
Ingredients
• 2 oz vodka
• 4 oz grapefruit juice
Directions
Add vodka and grapefruit juice to a glass over ice. Stir until mixed.
BLOODY MARY
Like drinking a salad for breakfast. More or less.
Ingredients
The Mix (for one serving)
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 1/4 inch horseradish, chopped
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of celery seeds
• 4 dashes hot sauce (Tabasco, Tapatio, etc.)
• 1/2 lemon’s juice, fresh squeezed
• 1/2 lime’s juice, fresh squeezed
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of black pepper
• 1 tbsp vodka
The Drink
• 2 oz vodka
• 6 to 8 oz Bloody Mary mix
Directions
Blend tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, and celery seeds until smooth. Add hot sauce, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, and pepper, then blend. Adjust the mix depending on how spicy, salty, or citrusy you like it. Add 1 tbsp vodka to stabilize the mix and keep the juices fresh, then blend. Combine 6 to 8 oz of the mix with 2 oz of vodka in a glass with ice. Pour back and forth into another glass 3 or 4 times to mix. Garnish with a celery stalk and a lime.
This story originally appeared on Esquire