Cheers! The Top Vodka Cocktails For National Vodka Day

Bloody Mary: tomato juice, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, seasonings. Here’s the recipe.
Cosmopolitan: orange liqueur, cranberry juice, lime juice. Here’s the recipe.
Espresso Martini: espresso and coffee liqueur. Here’s the recipe.
Lemon Drop Martini: lemon juice, sugar or simple syrup, often orange liqueur. The recipe is below.
Moscow Mule: ginger beer and lime juice. Here’s the recipe.
Screwdriver: orange juice.
Vodka Cranberry/Cape Codder: cranberry juice, typically a lime garnish. Here’s the recipe.
Vodka Martini/Dirty Martini: dry vermouth, here’s the recipe. Add olive brine for the dirty version. Here’s the recipe.
Vodka Soda: club soda, often with lime. The recipe: a 1:3 ratio of vodka to chilled club soda over plenty of ice.
White Russian: coffee liqueur and cream. Here’s the recipe.

2. THE 12 LEADING VODKA BRANDS SOLD IN THE U.S.

The best-selling brands in the U.S. are Tito’s (the top seller), Smirnoff, New Amsterdam, and SVEDKA.

On the upscale cocktail-bar side, Union, a website that serves the hospitality industry, names the top-selling bar-and-restaurant brands as Tito’s, Ketel One, Grey Goose, Absolut, and Deep Eddy (2023 sales).

These brands, in alphabetical order, are the biggest sellers overall (both consumer and trade):

Absolut: Swedish vodka recognizable for its distinctive bottle and extensive flavored range.
Belvedere: Polish rye vodka positioned in the luxury segment.
Deep Eddy: Texas vodka particularly associated with fruit flavors, including lemon and ruby-red grapefruit.
Grey Goose: French wheat vodka and a prominent premium brand.
Ketel One: Dutch wheat vodka; its range also includes Ketel One Botanical.
New Amsterdam: American vodka made primarily from corn, with other American grains, available in both original and flavored offerings, including Pink Whitney, a pink lemonade-flavored vodka created in collaboration with Ryan Whitney and the hockey podcast Spittin’ Chicklets.
Pinnacle: A value-oriented brand made with wheat from northern France, with original and flavored vodkas.
SKYY: American vodka recognizable for its blue bottle, made from American grains.
Smirnoff: A major mainstream brand with original and numerous flavored offerings.
Stoli: The wheat-based brand formerly marketed as Stolichnaya, with original and flavored vodkas.
SVEDKA: Now made in the U.S. from corn, offering original and flavored vodkas.
Tito’s Handmade Vodka: A premium brand from Texas, made from corn.

3. VODKA TRIVIA

The Word. The word “vodka” comes from the Russian words zhiznennaya voda, which mean “water of life” (the literal translation is “little water”). Interestingly, this is the same translation as for “whiskey”: The Gaelic uisce beatha, pronounced ISH-ka BYA-ha, which evolved to the modern word, whiskey, also means “water of life.” (In Scotland it’s spelled uisge beatha, ISH-ka BA-ha.)
Aging. Unlike whiskey, no aging or maturation period is required for vodka.
Ingredients. Just about anything fermentable can be used to make vodka: potatoes, sugar cane, barley, molasses, even beets. Rye and wheat are the classic grains; most of the best Russian and Swedish vodkas use wheat while Polish vodkas have a preference for rye. Molasses is used for inexpensive, mass-produced brands. American distillers use the full range of base ingredients, depending on price range and preference.
Gluten-Free Note: Potato-based vodka is gluten free. Since it isn’t distilled from grain like wheat and rye vodka, potato vodka can be enjoyed by people who have gluten allergies. Some excellent vodkas are made from potatoes, like Cold River Vodka, distilled in Maine. Chopin Potato Vodka, from Poland, is widely regarded as a global benchmark.
Character. A vodka’s water supply, its base ingredient (grain or other), and its filtration method are all important to its character. Potato vodkas, for example have a subtle hint of sweetness not present in other varieties. When you find particular brands that you prefer, check to see what the base ingredient is. You may find that you’re a winter wheat vodka person, a rye vodka lover, or a potato vodka fan.
Style. In Eastern Europe, vodka is commonly drunk “neat” and ice-cold in iced glasses, which some people believe is the best way to enjoy premium vodka. (At THE NIBBLE, we keep our vodka and our glasses in the freezer.)

4. RECIPE: LEMON DROP COCKTAIL A.K.A. LEMON DROP MARTINI

We’d never had a Lemon Drop Martini, but as we created this article and saw it on the Top 10 Vodka Cocktails list, we figured it was time.

This is a sweet drink, and not in any way a Martini. People often call it a Martini simply because of the glass it uses.

However, it lacks vermouth or gin, and got rounded up in the Martini craze of the 1990s when every flavor of drink was called a Martini.

The Lemon Drop actually belongs to the sour family of cocktails.

The Lemon Drop cocktail was invented in the 1970s by Norman Jay Hobday, owner of Henry Africa’s, a legendary singles bar in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood. The bar opened in 1969, and was one of the first of the so-called “fern bars”—welcoming, plant-decorated spaces that helped draw single women into a previously male-dominated bar culture.

The bar got its iconic aesthetic because Hobday lacked funds for expensive decor, and instead filled the space with lush hanging plants, Tiffany lamps, stained glass, and Victorian knickknacks.

Hobday named the drink after the classic sweet-and-sour Lemon Drop candy (another way to attract the ladies).

The recipe was a variation of a Sidecar, made with vodka, triple sec or Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice, originally served straight up in a cocktail glass.

Hobday became so attached to his bar that he legally changed his own name to Henry Africa. He sold his stake in 1983, and the original location eventually closed in 1986. Hobday/Africa passed away in 2011.

Ingredients Per Drink

2 ounces vodka, regular or citrus-flavored
1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce triple sec, Cointreau, or other orange liqueur
Sugar for the sugared rim
Garnish: lemon twist or wheel

Preparation

1. PREP the glass: Rub a lemon wedge along the rim of a martini glass. Dip the rim into a plate of granulated sugar to coat it evenly. Place the glass in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.

2. FILL a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add the cocktail ingredients and shake the mixture vigorously for 20 to 30 seconds, until the shaker feels very cold and frosty.

3. STRAIN the liquid into the chilled, sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and serve immediately.

5. MORE VODKA COCKTAIL RECIPES

Specialty cocktails we’ve made over the years: