It’s been a long week. And despite the pour weather forcing us to stay inside, I decided it was time to crack into the liquor cabinet. Why not? It’s almost summer (and supposedly spring). I figured I might as well practice some of my summer drinks. Must be prepared for the pool opening and cocktail hour.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a really good bartender. I couldn’t tell you what’s in half the drinks they serve at the bar, and when I do get something other than a craft beer, it usually consists of only two ingredients (rum and coke or vodka and soda). So I’m branching out so that this summer, we’re a little less bored with pitchers of Sangria. Although, I do make a mean Mojito if I do say so myself. Pitchers of those usually go over pretty well.
So we tried something new, called an Italian Soda. I used to have Italian sodas in the upstairs coffee house bar at the bookstore as a kid. These had no alcohol though, just simple syrup and seltzer, often a rose or yellow color depending on the flavor I chose. So to make it a little more adult, we added some vodka. And believe me, this one is easy to make. No seventeen ingredient drink and certainly less complicated than the real Italian sodas I used to drink.
(Alcoholic) Italian Soda
Ice
Vanilla Vodka
Ginger Ale
Fill a small tumbler half with ice. Add 1 1/2 oz of vanilla vodka. Fill the rest of the glass with ginger ale. Stir and serve.