2 New Zero Sugar Vodka Soda Recipes

I was sent a bottle each of Smirnoff Zero Sugar Infusions Strawberry & Rose vodka as well as their Cucumber & Lime vodka to try.  I was not required to do a post in return.  These are my honest opinions of what I thought of them.

Flavored vodka.

Way back when we started drinking there was only vodka.

Then came flavored vodka, which was fun for a while.

Quite a few years later I decided that I liked plain old vodka again.  No flavors, just plain.

Well times have changed around here once again.

I am enjoying the flavored vodkas more so now.  I think maybe it has to do with the fact that they are getting pretty creative with their flavors lately.

No I'm not talking about raspberry vodka, marshmallow vodka or cake vodka.

I'm talking about the way they mix different flavors together to create something new and refreshing.

Like these for instance these:

Now before I was sent these bottles to sample a friend of mine had me try Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Blossom.

I FELL IN LOOOOOVE with it!  

I also tried their grapefruit & rose vodka.......it was good, but the rose flavor was a bit too strong for me.  I'm not a floral smell kind of person......so to drink it......ahhhh, not for me.

When I received these bottles I was hoping that when I tried the strawberry & rose flavor that I wouldn't taste the rose as much as I did with the Ketel One.

I didn't!  I definitely tasted the strawberry more then the rose and in by book that's EXACTLY what I wanted!

When I made the Strawberry Rose & Soda cocktail I was pleasantly surprised with how refreshing the strawberry tasted and how I really couldn't taste the rose flavor as much.  Very nice!

Now let's talk Cucumber & Lime.

I'm not a cucumber water girl.  Well.....I'm not a flavored water girl period.

I know there are those fancy Fruit Infused Water Pitchers as well as those Fruit Infused Water Bottles....I just like my water with ice.

Anyways where I was going with that was, when I think of fancy flavored water I think of cucumber water.  

Looking at that bottle, that's what was in my head.  Cucumber water.

So I sucked it up and made myself a Cucumber Lime & Soda cocktail as well:

Once again.

I was pleasantly surprised.  This was not a bad cocktail, EVEN with the cucumber flavor!

Now I haven't even touched yet on what is written on the front of each of these bottles.

ZERO SUGAR.

Yup, you saw that right, zero.

OK, the other thing I was thinking (besides cucumber water) was, how are they going to make these taste good and have zero sugar in them?

Right right, but a lot of vodka's have no sugar in them.

True.

But what I'm seeing is that somehow this vodka with it's zero sugar claim has somehow brought the calorie count down as well.

A regular bottle of Smirnoff vodka has more calories then these bottles.  Interesting, right?

OK, I know what you're going to say.  

Isn't that how many calories is in the regular Smirnoff vodka?

Nope!  That amount is for less vodka.  Their serving size is 1.5 ounces.  Mine is 2 ounces!

There you go!  MORE alcohol.  LESS calories.  It's a win-win!

OK, so you're probably ready for me to share the "How To" part of this post?  Yup, I knew it!

These two cocktails are so super easy to make.  

Two simple ingredients.  Can't get better then that.

First you add the vodka.

Next you add the club soda.

Stir and garnish.

Simple and easy and you get to enjoy these refreshing cocktails.

Strawberry Rose & Soda

ingredients:

• 2 ounces Smirnoff Zero Sugar Infusions Strawberry & Rose Vodka
• 4 ounces club soda

instructions:

How to cook Strawberry Rose & Soda

1. Fill a cocktail glass half way with ice.
2. Pour in the vodka.
3. Pour in the club soda.
4. Stir and enjoy.

Created using The Recipes Generator

*

Cucumber Lime & Soda

ingredients:

• 2 ounces Smirnoff Zero Sugar Infusions Cucumber & Lime Vodka
• 4 ounces club soda

instructions:

How to cook Cucumber Lime & Soda

1. Fill a cocktail glass half way with ice.
2. Pour in the vodka.
3. Pour in the club soda.
4. Stir and enjoy.

Created using The Recipes Generator

I have to say, I am a fan of the Smirnoff Zero Sugar vodkas!  I know there is one more zero sugar flavored vodka that I have not yet tried, but am hoping to.  That one is Watermelon & Mint and I've heard it's pretty delicious!

Captain Morgan Apple Smash & Soda

I was sent a bottle of Captain Morgan Apple Smash to try for myself.  I was not asked to create a post for it or paid for my opinion.  My opinion is mine and completely honest.

Do you love apple flavored cocktails?  The Apple Smash smells and tastes just like a green apple.

If you enjoy an Appletini you will definitely enjoy this new flavor from Captain Morgan.

Check out the side of the bottle.  It's a freaking scratch and sniff!!  You can totally smell the green apple when you scratch and sniff too!

OK, sorry (squirrel) back to the cocktail!

This is a pretty easy cocktail to make.  It's all of 3 ingredients so that's nice.

All you need to do is add the Apple Smash and Club Soda.

After that you add in the mint leaves and give them a light muddle to release the mint flavor.

Finally give the cocktail a good stir and enjoy!

For me this cocktail had too much club soda in it.  I tasted the club soda more then I tasted the Apple Smash.

That being said it was refreshing.

Next time I would use less club soda so that I get more of the green apple flavor.

Author: The Cocktail Lady

Captain Morgan Apple Smash & Soda

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces Captain Morgan Apple Smash
• 4 ounces Club Soda
• 5 mint leaves

instructions:

1. Add Apple Smash and club soda to an empty glass.
2. Drop in mint leaves and muddle lightly.
3. Add ice and stir.

Created using The Recipes Generator

If you enjoy a nice green apple flavored cocktail, I would definitely try the Captain Morgan Apple Smash, I think you would really like it!

Mojito

The Monday of Thanksgiving week is finally here......or should I say, "Is it here ALREADY?!?!".  


This year we are heading to my uncles for Thanksgiving and we are bringing vegetables (trying out a new recipe tonight to see if it's a winner for Turkey Day).  The next day we are doing to my Mother-in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and and my Sister-in-law and our nieces and nephew.  


We are bringing my mashed potatoes (awesome recipe, email me if you want it!!) and our artichoke dip.....oh and our deep fryer so that we can deep fry the turkey!  


Honestly I love splitting up Thanksgiving into two days, it gives us quality time with each side of the family and we don't have that "rushed" feeling of having to be somewhere else.

I received a muddler in the mail from Arctic Chill (stay tuned for a review coming up shortly) and decided what better way put it to use then to make a Mojito.......plus it was the only muddled cocktail I could think of off the top of my head.

I have had a mojito before.......wasn't a big fan.  


I have tried a raspberry mojito quite a few years back and remember liking it though......so maybe I need a flavor in my mojito for me to really enjoy it.  


I was on a mission to find a mojito recipe......wow there are quite a few different ones out there so I decided to have a go at it myself.  


I made one......didn't like it.......dumped it.  


I made another one and thought it was OK.  


Then I put it aside and started doing a couple things, sat back down here to blog about it, tried it again and I have to say now that it has been sitting here for a little bit (getting a "little" watered down by the ice), it's not bad!  I like it more now.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a mojito:

• 4 mint leaves
• 2 lime wedges
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces white rum
• 1 ounce club soda

In a cocktail glass, drop in your 4 mint leaves and 1 of your lime wedges.  Muddle them up well.  Next put in the simple syrup and muddle that all together again.  Pour in the rum and stir everything together then fill the glass with ice.  Top it off with the club soda and give it a quick stir.

Here is to a new muddler and a mojito!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Kinky Collins

Day 285

Kinky Collins

2 shots out of 5

Tonight's magic number is 81.  81 nights of cocktails left until my year long adventure is done.  That's not even three months.......WOW.  When I first started this blog, I wrote down a good amount (so I thought) of cocktails that are pretty common and would be good ones for me to try.  As time went on, I received a lot of amazing cocktails from a lot of you wonderful readers.  I've been searching for more hours then I'd like to admit online to find other delicious (and some not so delicious) cocktail recipes.  I will admit that finding a cocktail recipe is not just as easy as typing in what you want and taking the first thing that pops up.  There are a LOT of different variations of a lot of different cocktails out there......a lot.  Another challenge is sitting in front of my computer, having NO idea what so ever of which kind of cocktail to make.  Do I search by liquor, by mix, by liqueur.....maybe I should check the liquor brands sites for their recipes.....some nights were really hard.  All in all, I am SOOO very happy that I have done this blog and stuck with it for 285 nights so far.  Without it, I would not have been able to try all of these amazing cocktail and I would not have been able to meet all of you amazing people.

I gave tonight's cocktail 2 shots out of 5.  All I can say is lemon.  It's what I taste the most of, and I wish I didn't.  I can feel the club soda tingle my tongue and taste the lemon juice in this cocktail.  I'm sure if I really really concentrated really really hard, I could taste more of the gin and kinky, but I don't want to have to do that to taste it.  Needless to say, I won't be making this cocktail again.  I found this recipe on Kinky's facebook page.

Here is the recipe for a Kinky Collins:

• 1 oz Kinky
• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 3 oz club soda

In a short glass, fill 1/2 way with ice and pour in all of the ingredients above.  Give it a good stir and you're done.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here's to adding another cocktail to my list of 2's.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Thanksgiving Cider

Day 274

Thanksgiving Cider

3.5 shots out of 5

Thanksgiving is a week away!  

When exactly did that happen?  

This year has been flying by so quickly I can't even seem to get a handle on it.  

If you were to tell me that Halloween was next week, I would totally believe you.

I gave tonight's cocktail 3.5 shots out of 5.  

Staying in the Thanksgiving spirit, I decided to make a cocktail tonight that had apple cider as an ingredient.  

This cocktail is a pretty good one.  The pumpkin pie vodka mixes well with the apple cider (wasn't sure if it would), my only problem is that I think I was in the mood for a more flavorful cocktail tonight.  

This cocktail has flavor (of course), but I think I wanted a more intense flavor then appley flavor.......oh well, my problem not yours.  

In the season of apple cider, I will say that this cocktail fits right in.  I found this recipe here.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Thanksgiving Cider:

• 1 oz Pumpkin Pie Vodka
• 3 oz apple cider
• 1/4 oz club soda

In a tall glass filled with ice, pour in all of your ingredients and give it a good stir.

Here's to a good year so far.  Sure every year has their ups and downs (some more up and/or down then others), but in the end we have our cocktails!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Old Fashioned

Day 104

Old Fashioned

3 shots out of 5

Tonight I'm turning back the clock to make a cocktail that our Grandparents.......probably even their parents enjoyed to sip on.  

This cocktail was so popular, the cocktail glass that they made it in became named after it.

I gave tonight's cocktail 3 shots out of 5.  

I was torn on how to rate this cocktail.  I'm not a straight whiskey fan by far......I initially thought of giving it a 2.5.  

If I had a bigger taste for whiskey it would have gotten a much higher rating.  

I did like it more then a 2.5 if I took little sips (which if you know me, that's something I "rarely" do).  

I think this cocktail is supposed to be sipped in little sips (the way I'm sipping it), therefore I decided to rate it a 3.  

I had a great Memorial weekend with my family and my folks and got talking with my mom about my blog and she had asked me if I had done a Manhattan, Old Fashioned and a couple other older cocktail that I can't remember.  

It got me to thinking that I need to throw some "classic" cocktails in there from time to time.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for an Old Fashioned:

• 1 cube of sugar (or 1 tsp. if you don't have a cube.........I didn't have a cube)
• 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters (I had bitters that were similar to Angostura)
• 2 ounces of whiskey (just under a shot and a half)
• dash of club soda (a little less then 1/4 shot)
• 3 ice cubes

In a short cocktail glass pour in your sugar, then put your dashes of bitters on top.  Pour in your club soda and muddle them together.  Put in your ice cubes, then your whiskey and stir real well.

Here's to taking a step back and enjoying a cocktail that my Grandpa used to enjoy.

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady