13 Best Vodka Cocktails To Make At Home

Screwdriver Cocktail
Photo:

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

Vodka has been America's most popular spirit since 1976 for a reason: It's incredibly versatile. Clear, colorless, odorless, and (relatively) flavorless, vodka pairs well with just about any flavor profile you can think of, making it an essential bottle to have on hand if you're entertaining at home. That neutrality also means it takes well to infusions with ingredients like citrus fruits, herbs, and even jalapeño peppers. We've collected our favorite vodka cocktails from bartenders and chefs around the country, from a perfect frozen Espresso Martini, to a magical, miso-driven twist on everyone's favorite breakfast Bloody Mary. Stock up your cabinet with one of the best vodkas, and start mixing up any of these 13 best vodka cocktails.

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Moscow Mule

Moscow Mule
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A cool, refreshing vodka and ginger beer concoction served over ice and garnished with a wheel of lime, this popular vodka cocktail is synonymous with summer. Moscow Mules are traditionally served in copper mugs, which is how the cocktail was first presented when it was invented in the 1940s; you can order your own copper mugs, but a Moscow Mule is just as tasty sipped out of a Collins glass.

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Grapefruit Vodka Soda

Grapefruit Vodka Soda cocktail
Photo by Adam Friedlander / Food Styling by Pearl Jones

Homemade grapefruit vodka, made by steeping Ruby Red grapefruit segments in vodka overnight, gives this refreshing vodka cocktail its delicious bright flavor. Once the vodka is infused, simply serve it over ice, topped off with club soda and a slice of grapefruit for a delicious, elegant, bone-dry cocktail. You can use the grapefruit vodka in other cocktail recipes, too.

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Frozen Salted Espresso Martinis

Frozen Salted Espresso Martini
Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Hannah Greenwood

If you're an Espresso Martini fan, you'll love this frosty twist, topped with flaky salt for contrast.

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Frozmopolitan

Frozmopolitan
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Cocktail savant Toby Cecchini is credited with inventing the internationally recognized version of Cosmopolitan — a drink he codified while bartending at the Odeon. These days, as the owner of The Long Island bar in Brooklyn, he continues to come up with distinctive drinks that taste like instant classics, including this frozen Cosmopolitan that's great for a crowd. Fruity and citrusy, Cecchini's "froze-mopolitan" (a portmanteau of "Frozen" and "Cosmopolitan'') tastes so much like a delicious fruit punch that you might not notice there's alcohol in it.

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MSG Martini

MSG Martini
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

For Bonnie's signature MSG martini, Bonnie's lead bartender Channing Centeno creates a solution of MSG (monosodium glutamate), a salt which naturally occurs in things like tomatoes and cheese which, like table salt, enhances the flavor of anything it is added to. In lieu of vermouth, Shaoxing wine, a sweet and sour Chinese rice wine made for both drinking and cooking, is used here, bringing complex, savoriness, acidity and subtle sweetness to the martini, while olive brine adds a briney, saline quality. (The combination of salty olive brine and sweet and sour Shaoxing wine is made even more umami-forward with the addition of a few dashes of the MSG solution. ) Finally, a citrus- and juniper-forward gin like Botanist counters the salty and savory flavors of the other ingredients, bringing everything into balance.

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Dirty Shirley

Dirty Shirley
Photo by Huge Galdones / Food Styling by Christina Zerkis

Remember drinking Shirley Temples when you were a kid? The cocktail for children has made a comeback, albeit one suitable for adults only. A shot of vodka added to the mixture of ginger ale and grenadine gives it a slight edge, but the maraschino cherry on top keeps things whimsical. Feel free to cut the ginger ale with sparkling water to cut the sweetness, or to swap in lemon-lime soda for the ginger ale if you prefer.

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Vesper Cocktail

Vesper Cocktail

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

Gin people and vodka people alike can agree on how delightful this cocktail is.

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Kombucha Mule

'Bucha Mule
Carey Jones

Fizzy, highly acidic kombucha makes this drink an acidic, refreshing take on a classic Moscow Mule.

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Screwdriver

Screwdriver Cocktail

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

If you've got vodka and freshly squeezed orange juice, you can make this simple brunch cocktail in minutes.

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White Russian

White Russian

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

While a White Russian can be made with milk or half-and-half, heavy cream adds unmatched flavor and texture to this simple cocktail.

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Miso Mary Libertine

Miso Mary Libertine

Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

An ode to Japanese ingredients, this Bloody Mary gets a satiating and savory punch from shiro dashi and white miso.

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Honey Deuce

Grey Goose Honey Deuce

The signature cocktail of the US Open and perhaps the most iconic symbol of the annual sporting event, the Honey Deuce craze started back in 2006, when Grey Goose, a sponsor of the US Open, partnered with expert mixologist Nick Mautone, a restaurant industry veteran of Union Square Hospitality and Gotham Bar & Grill, to craft a vodka cocktail for the event. 

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Mudslide

Mudslide
Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Created in the 1970s at Grand Cayman's Wreck Bar at Rum Point, this potent blend of vodka, Kahlúa, and Baileys Original Irish Cream might taste like a milkshake, but it can't be ordered virgin because all you'd get is a cup of crushed ice! The trio of alcohol blends into a smooth and velvety cocktail just sweet and chocolaty enough without being cloying. A generous drizzle of chocolate syrup and a bright red maraschino cherry with a dusting of ground cinnamon top off each glass.

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