Simple Cocktail Recipes ft. winter citrus – Russian Standard Vodka

During the pandemic, I found a new appreciation for things that I considered ordinary before. I soak up every second I get to spend in our backyard, noticing the beauty in nature’s everyday occurrences. As for our human relationships, we really have to make a larger effort than before when we could easily see people in person. Now we must nurture and develop many of them from afar, perhaps with simple cocktail recipes in hand!

I was so lucky to be able to have my boyfriend (now husband) in town from Italy for a good portion of time at the beginning of shelter in place. We were lucky with the timing of everything. When Walter got here at the end of February we were able to get a trip in up to San Francisco, Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. We also got to head down to Joshua Tree & Palm Springs for my birthday in the middle of March. I will never forget that birthday; the day we arrived in Palm Springs was the day everything shut down. Luckily we still enjoyed the trip and numerous others around California. We were even gifted a couple more months together since the second half of Walter’s flight home got canceled multiple times.

A newfound appreciation for Simple Cocktail Recipes

Since he made it home 7 months ago, we’ve found a lot of appreciation in setting aside days that we will both join our video call with a drink in hand, raise a glass to seeing each other again “soon”. My group of friends has also made it a point to catching up over video calls, with drinks in hand, going around telling each other what simple cocktail recipes we crafted up that evening!

Simple Cocktail Recipes with Russian Standard Vodka

Recently, I whipped up a couple cocktails featuring Russian Standard Vodka! You may know vodka isn’t usually my go-to spirit, but since trying this one, I find myself reaching for it more and more often when crafting a drink. It’s the smoothest vodka I’ve tasted, blends well into cocktails, but is also good straight up served over ice or ice cold straight from the freezer.

Another thing I’ve found a deeper appreciation for is the seasons. I love the rain, though I do prefer a perfect 75* day –– a partly cloudy sky (you know with those big fluffy clouds that you can spot animal shapes in) that turns into an unbelievable golden hour sunset. I am definitely not a huge fan of being HOT, avoiding being in the sun at all costs (very much prone to sunburn even with sunscreen on) –– you can either find me in the shade, with a large hat on or under a huge umbrella. Anyways, I’ve found myself yearning for the longer days, warm nights, exploring a new-to-me city with a cocktail in hand with my love by my side. Those yearnings definitely inspired these cocktails!

I’d love to hear what simple cocktail recipes you’re mixing up and appreciating these days!

Simple Vodka Cocktail Recipes

Winter Sunset

Ingredients

2 oz vodka
3/4 – 1 oz lemon juice (depending on how tangy you want it)
sparkling water of choice, preferably Olipop Strawberry Vanilla
lemon peel, for garnish

Put all ingredients besides sparkling water & lemon peel into a shaker with ice. Shake for 20 seconds. Strain liquid into your glass of choice. I went with these gorgeous iridescent glasses I found on Facebook marketplace. Top off with sparkling water.

Non-Alcoholic Option

Looking for a non-alcoholic alternative or just wanting to spruce up your water?

Ingredients

equal parts plain sparkling water and Olipop Strawberry Vanilla (I like to do this so the Olipop can last longer, cause it’s so dang good!)
1 oz lemon juice

Fill glass of ice with sparkling water and Olipop. Pour in lemon juice. Stir.

Simple Cocktail Recipes with winter citrus

Eternal Golden Hour

Ingredients

2 oz vodka
3/4 oz orange juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz honey syrup
rosemary sprig
a few whole black peppercorns
2oz sparkling water

Put all ingredients besides sparkling water into a shaker with ice. Shake for 20 seconds. Pour all contents of shaker (except rosemary sprig, unless you’d like to keep it for garnish) into your glass of choice. I went with a Collins glass. Top off with sparkling water.

Non-Alcoholic Option

Looking for a non-alcoholic alternative or just wanting to spruce up your water?

Ingredients

2 oz sparkling water
2 oz oj
rosemary sprig
a few whole black peppercorns

Fill glass of ice with sparkling water. Put all other ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake for 20 seconds. Strain contents of shaker into glass with sparkling water.