Vodka is the easiest spirit to mix because it brings almost no flavour of its own. It's distilled to be clean and neutral and is usually bottled at 40% ABV, so in a drink it adds strength and lets the mixer do the talking. That makes it the right base for two-ingredient highballs, fruity party drinks, and coffee cocktails alike. Below is what to mix with vodka when you don't want a recipe, then the twelve best vodka drinks, roughly from simplest to most involved. For the full list of vodka recipes, see the vodka cocktails collection.
Vodka Drinks at a Glance
Strength and calories are per serving, from the recipe data behind each drink's recipe card.
| Drink | What goes in with the vodka | ABV | Calories | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screwdriver | Orange juice | 12.5% | 190 kcal | Easy |
| Moscow Mule | Ginger beer or ginger ale, lime | 10% | 182 kcal | Easy |
| Greyhound | Grapefruit juice | 12% | 145 kcal | Easy |
| Sea Breeze | Cranberry juice, grapefruit juice | 8.5% | 159 kcal | Easy |
| Black Russian | Coffee liqueur | 27% | 244 kcal | Easy |
| White Russian | Coffee liqueur, cream | 17% | 330 kcal | Easy |
| Bloody Mary | Tomato juice, lemon, Worcestershire, hot sauce | 11% | 125 kcal | Easy |
| Blue Lagoon | Blue curaçao, lemonade | 10.5% | 220 kcal | Easy |
| Sex on the Beach | Peach schnapps, orange juice, cranberry juice | 12.5% | 289 kcal | Easy |
| Cosmopolitan | Citrus vodka, Cointreau, lime, cranberry | 17% | 151 kcal | Easy |
| Lemon Drop Martini | Triple sec, lemon, sugar rim | 23.5% | 201 kcal | Easy |
| Espresso Martini | Coffee liqueur, espresso, sugar syrup | 18.5% | 250 kcal | Easy |
What to Mix with Vodka (No Recipe Needed)
The simplest vodka drink is one part vodka to three parts mixer over plenty of ice, with a wedge of lime or lemon. For a standard highball that's 50 ml (1.7 oz) of vodka topped with 150 ml (5 oz) of mixer. The mixers that work best:
- Tonic water makes a vodka tonic: dry, a little bitter, and the easiest vodka highball to get right. Squeeze in a lime wedge.
- Soda water makes a vodka soda, the lightest option, with no sugar beyond what the citrus adds.
- Cranberry juice is tart and fruity; it's the base of the Sea Breeze and the Cosmopolitan below.
- Orange juice makes a Screwdriver, the classic brunch drink.
- Grapefruit juice makes a Greyhound, drier and more bitter than orange.
- Ginger beer gives spice and fizz, and with lime it's a Moscow Mule.
- Lemonade makes a sweet, easy cooler for warm days.
Because vodka has so little flavour, the quality of the mixer decides the drink. Fresh juice and a tonic you'd drink on its own make more difference here than the vodka brand does.
The 12 Best Cocktails with Vodka
1. Screwdriver
Two ingredients and no tools. The Screwdriver is vodka and orange juice poured over ice in a highball glass and given a stir. The recipe uses 2 oz (60 ml) of vodka topped with juice, which puts it at 12.5% ABV. Freshly squeezed orange juice makes it taste brighter and less sugary than carton juice, and swapping in pineapple juice gives a more tropical version.
2. Moscow Mule
Vodka, fresh lime, and ginger beer, traditionally served in a copper mug. The Moscow Mule was created in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, partly to sell vodka to Americans who had barely heard of it, and the copper mug was part of the pitch. The recipe uses 45 ml (1.5 oz) of vodka, 10 ml of lime, and 120 ml (4 oz) of ginger mixer. Ginger beer gives more bite; ginger ale makes a softer, sweeter drink.
3. Greyhound
Vodka topped with grapefruit juice in a tall glass of ice. The Greyhound is the driest of the juice highballs and one of the lightest drinks here at 145 kcal. The ratio is 1.5 oz (45 ml) of vodka to 3 oz (90 ml) of grapefruit juice. Salt the rim of the glass and it becomes a Salty Dog, which softens the grapefruit's bitterness.
4. Sea Breeze
Vodka with 4 oz (120 ml) of cranberry juice and 1 oz (30 ml) of grapefruit, built over ice and finished with a lime wedge. The Sea Breeze is the lowest-strength drink on the list at 8.5% ABV, because it's mostly juice. The grapefruit keeps the cranberry from tasting flat, so don't leave it out.
5. Black Russian
Vodka and coffee liqueur stirred over ice in a rocks glass, nothing else. The Black Russian is the strongest drink here at 27% ABV: 50 ml (1.7 oz) of vodka to 20 ml of coffee liqueur, with no juice or soda to dilute it. It tastes sweet and smooth, which makes the strength easy to miss. Sip it slowly.
6. White Russian
A Black Russian with cream poured over the top. The White Russian uses 2 oz (60 ml) of vodka and 1 oz (30 ml) of coffee liqueur over ice, then a float of light cream. It's dessert in a glass and the highest-calorie drink on the list at 330 kcal. Half-and-half makes a lighter version; heavy cream makes it richer.
A bottle of vodka and no idea what else to buy?
Pocket Bartender shows every drink you can make with the bottles you already have.
7. Bloody Mary
The savoury vodka drink. The Bloody Mary mixes 45 ml (1.5 oz) of vodka with 90 ml (3 oz) of tomato juice, 15 ml of lemon juice, two dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to taste. Stir it gently with ice rather than shaking, since shaking makes tomato juice foamy, then pour into a rocks glass and add a celery stalk if you have one. At 125 kcal it's the lowest-calorie drink here.
8. Blue Lagoon
Vodka and blue curaçao in equal parts, 1 oz (30 ml) each, poured over ice and topped with lemonade. The Blue Lagoon is bright turquoise, sweet, and citrusy, a drink for pool parties more than for quiet evenings. If you don't have blue curaçao, triple sec gives the same orange flavour without the colour.
9. Sex on the Beach
Vodka and peach schnapps with equal parts orange and cranberry juice. The Sex on the Beach uses 40 ml each of vodka, orange juice, and cranberry juice with 20 ml of peach schnapps, built in a highball glass with ice. It's fruity and sweet, at 289 kcal one of the heavier drinks here, and it scales up easily to a jug for a group.
10. Cosmopolitan
Citrus vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime, and a splash of cranberry, shaken and served in a cocktail glass. The Cosmopolitan became famous in the 1990s and is still one of the best vodka drinks for showing what fresh lime can do. Use 40 ml of citrus vodka, 15 ml each of Cointreau and lime, and 30 ml of cranberry. Plain vodka works too: add a squeeze of lemon to make up for the missing citrus.
11. Lemon Drop Martini
Vodka shaken with triple sec and fresh lemon juice, served in a sugar-rimmed glass. The Lemon Drop Martini tastes like a sour lemon sweet and is stronger than it looks at 23.5% ABV. The recipe is 30 ml of vodka, 20 ml of triple sec, and 15 ml of lemon juice. For a classic vodka martini with dry vermouth instead, see our martini guide.
12. Espresso Martini
Vodka, coffee liqueur, a fresh shot of espresso, and a little sugar syrup, shaken hard until a thick foam forms. The Espresso Martini was created in London in the 1980s by bartender Dick Bradsell and has become a fixture of cocktail menus since. Use hot, fresh espresso and shake longer than feels necessary: that's what builds the crema on top. Garnish with three coffee beans.
Which Vodka Drink Should You Start With?
If you have only vodka and whatever is in the fridge, pour it over ice with tonic or orange juice and you have a vodka tonic or a Screwdriver. If you have ginger beer and limes, make a Moscow Mule. If you have coffee liqueur, make a Black Russian, or a White Russian if there's cream. For a party, a jug of Sex on the Beach or Sea Breeze needs no bar tools. For a vodka drink with several spirits in it, the Long Island Iced Tea is the next step up.
For more ideas, browse the full vodka cocktails collection.