Vodka blends well with other, more flavorful, ingredients; the liquor's own flavor and scent are almost indistinguishable when mixed with other flavorings. As a pairing, vodka and orange juice go together in many different types of drinks, but throwing strawberries into the mix limits the number and kinds of drinks. The three ingredients' flavors work with each other in mixed drinks like martinis, smoothies, punches and even sangrias.
Soused Smoothies
Orange juice and strawberries are ubiquitous ingredients in the healthiest of smoothies; for an adult kick, throw some vodka into the mix. To stick with a pure fruit-plus-vodka smoothie, add fleshier fruits like bananas, melons, pineapples and coconuts for body and flavor. Also, instead of blending the ingredients with ice, substitute the cubes with different flavors of sherbet, such as mango, raspberry or lemon. For all-ages smoothies, don't add the vodka until the drinks have been poured.
Mouthwatering Martinis
Some vodka martinis could use a little more flavor from fruits and juices. The biggest obstacle in making martinis and cocktails with strawberries is that the fruit doesn't easily blend with other ingredients. A way around this is to muddle or crush the fruit with a pestle or muddler before mixing it. Specific martinis with the vodka, orange juice and strawberry trio of ingredients include the aptly named strawberry martini, which also has orange liqueur, simple syrup and lemon juice, and the sunflower martini, which also contains benedictine, rose syrup and cranberry juice.
Savory Sangrias
Although sangrias are strongly linked to siestas, the usually wine-based collective cocktail may be enjoyed any time of day or year. Blonde sangria mixes vodka, orange juice and sliced strawberries with a good dry white wine, lemon slices, lemon-lime soda and pineapple and cranberry juices. For a rosier sangria, try the watermelon-strawberry citrus sangria, which also contains watermelon, rose wine, limoncello, limes and oranges, as well as vodka, strawberries and orange juice. To cut down on the alcohol content in both sangria cocktails, substitute part or all of the wine with club soda or ginger ale.
Playful Punches
Orange juice and strawberries combine to form a solid base for fruity punches -- with vodka giving the punches a bit more oomph. Strap-o-nilla juice is a simple punch that purees the strawberries, then mixes them with vodka, orange and pineapple juices and vanilla beans. The whiskey punch beefs up on booze by adding a whiskey liqueur, gin and berry schnapps along with cranberry juice and lemon-lime soda. The summer citrus punch is a far fruitier punch with grapefruit, lemon and lime juices in addition to vodka, orange juice and sliced strawberries.
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References
Writer Bio
Chance E. Gartneer began writing professionally in 2008 working in conjunction with FEMA. He has the unofficial record for the most undergraduate hours at the University of Texas at Austin. When not working on his children's book masterpiece, he writes educational pieces focusing on early mathematics and ESL topics.
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