Looking for fab custom cocktail recipes for your Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day party? Whether you’re having a romantic evening with you’re one and only or watching chick flicks with your girlfriends, it’s always a must to have fancy cocktail recipes on hand. Here are a few cocktails that my friends at Van Gogh Vodka dreamed up for Valentine’s Day.
Pomegranate Serenade
2 oz. Van Gogh Pomegranate Vodka
3 oz. Pink Lemonade
Pour ingredients into a rocks glass with ice and stir. Garnish with floating raspberries and a squeeze of lemon.
Pom-Punch
1 -1/2 oz. Van Gogh Pomegranate Vodka
1 oz. Cranberry Juice
Splash of Soda
Sangria Fruit
Place vodka and cranberry juice in a mixing glass with ice. Shake vigorously to chill. Add in cut fruit and shake lightly. Pour mixture into a rocks glass. Add a splash of soda.
Chocolate Almond Kiss
2 oz. Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate Vodka
1 oz. Hazelnut Liqueur
1/2 oz. Dark Crème de Cacao
Splash of Cream
Pour vodka, hazelnut liqueur and dark crème de cacao into a rocks glass filled with ice and stir. Top with a splash of cream and garnish with a sprig of mint.
According to The Cocktail Guru, lemonade cocktails are so hot right now. After sipping them at Van Gogh Vodka’s Lemonade Social, I couldn’t agree more. Bittersweet lemonade cocktails are perfect for summer or whenever you feel like a quick refresh. Plus, they’re super pretty.
So without further ado, here are a few simple lemonade cocktail recipes by The Cocktail Guru made with some of my favorite Van Gogh Vodka flavors. Extra points if you serve them in a mason jar. Using natural ingredients such as organic lemonade and fruit can help you avoid hangovers. So get out your mixer and drink up!
The Brazilian
2 oz. Van Gogh Acai-Blueberry
4 oz. Pink lemonade
Add ingredients to a rocks glass with ice and stir. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Van Gogh Melonade
1 1/2 oz. Van Gogh Melon
3 oz. Pink lemonade
Pour ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a thinly sliced lemon wheel.
Pomegranate Serenade
2 oz. Van Gogh Pomegranate
3 oz. Lemonade
Pour ingredients into a rocks glass with ice and stir. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Whether you’re single or taken, there’s no better time of the year than Valentine’s Day to drink a sexy vodka cocktail. Though a cocktail’s flavor can stand alone, like love, you experience a cocktail with all five senses. The perfect cocktail filled with bold aromas and flavors, starts with the perfect vodka. Flavored vodkas good enough to drink straight are ideal for cocktails. After discovering Van Gogh Vodka‘s collection of vivid vodka flavors and colors, I don’t think I can drink anything else. As the first to introduce flavors such as chocolate, coffee, pomegranate, and acai-blueberry, Van Gogh Vodka is a pioneer in the flavored vodka category. Imported from Holland and crafted by second generation Master Distiller, Tim Vos, Van Gogh Vodka is perfect for the home bartender who wants to create delicious drinks without the fuss. Their portfolio of 22 vodka flavors (Pomegranate being my favorite), even includes PB&J for a touch of nostalgia.
Just in time for February 14th, Jonathan Pogash of The Cocktail Guru created a series of Valentine’s Day-themed cocktails crafted around Van Gogh’s vibrant flavored vodkas. I’ve tried all of them. So I can tell you from personal experience that they’re delicious and perfect to enjoy either during a night on the town with your girlfriends or on an intimate dinner with your lover. Here are his fab recipes:
My Honey Valentine
1-1/2 oz. Van Gogh Pomegranate Vodka
3/4 oz. pomegranate juice
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. honey syrup (equal parts honey and hot water stirred until the honey dissolves)
Directions: Shake ingredients very well with ice and strain into martini glass or over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Cool Peach Bellini
1 oz. Van Gogh Cool Peach Vodka
1-1/2 oz. Peach Puree
3 oz. Prosecco
Directions: In a mixing glass stir the vodka and puree well. Add the Prosecco with ice and gently fold the ingredients (without stirring too much, as this will remove bubbles). Strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top off with extra Prosecco and garnish with a fresh peach when in season.
Spice It Up
1 1/2 oz. Van Gogh Rich Dark Chocolate Vodka
3/4 oz. milk
1/2 oz. cinnamon syrup
Directions: Shake well with ice and strain into martini glass.
Garnish: pinch of chili powder sugar (equal parts cayenne pepper and sugar)
I love a good cocktail just as much as any blue blooded New Yorker. In the city that never sleeps and never drives, we take the after work cocktail to another level making Manhattan just as much a drink as it is an island. At the age of 26, I’m slowly becoming a more sophisticated drinker which is why I recommend reading The Socialite’s Guide To: Choosing The Right Cocktail by Cristal Carrington, Cocktail Columnist for Examiner.com and Washington D.C. Socialite.
The book serves as a guide to personal branding that profiles the 5 different types of female drinkers (The Party Animal, The Conservative, The Maverick, The Light-Weight, and The Connoisseur) explaining the messages they are unconsciously sending when socializing at bars, restaurants, and parties based on their drink choices while a tequila drinker can be seen as a party girl, a champagne drinker such as myself can be viewed as an elitist. For the young and ambitious professional looking to make a positive impression at upcoming holiday parties, The Socialite’s Guide To: Choosing The Right Cocktail is a must-read. Aside from great advice on personal branding and finding your signature drink, Carrington also provides excellent drink recipes that I can’t wait to try.
Keep reading for my exclusive cocktail Q&A with Cristal Carrington:
What should you drink when you have top shelf taste on a waist-high budget?
My best advice for ladies or gents on a budget when at the bar is:
Step #1: Order a shot of chilled vodka or gin (order the drink in a snifter, so you can still look classy, however, don’t throw it back, savor it).
Step #2: Follow up with a glass of Pinot Grigio or Riesling with a splash of Chambord. The trick is to look great while drinking, not necessarily to get drunk in public.
Belvedere or Grey Goose?
Definitely Grey Goose, but I also recommend the always delicious and timeless brand Stolichnaya.
You certainly seem to have a dream job as the Cocktail Columnist for Examiner.com. How did you land such a great gig?
In graduate school at Georgetown, I came up on an opening for writers with Examiner. I originally wanted to be a food writer, but the position was already filled. I had to think about what I liked as much as food and the answer was cocktails, so I applied with a lengthy article application and landed the gig. I thought, now I have a license to drink all the best cocktail creations and couldn’t be happier with the choice.
Since I prefer the finer things in life, my go-to drink is champagne. But, if you were to make an Aspiring Socialite cocktail, what would be the recipe?
A great Aspiring Socialite cocktail would have to be a creation that a bartender made for me on a whim called The Thing: (feel free to call it A Socialite Thing or Glamorous Thing or whatever)…but it contains:
Cherry Vodka, Cranberry Juice, and Ginger Ale
I like it because it was easy to make, tastes great, is unisex, and certainly not hard on the Aspiring Socialite’s pockets.
To make the perfect cocktail, what is the ideal amount of times liquor should be distilled?
I like any liquor distilled over 3 times and if we are speaking of aged liquors anything over 10 years is acceptable. I think at that point the liquor can be consumed neat or mixed. Also, don’t be afraid to ask what the rail liquor is at the bar. Often times, it is a quality brand; it’s just not Ciroc or Patron. Last note on this is to remember that the higher quality the brand, the less likely you are going to want to dilute it with additives such as juices and liqueurs. This rule includes Champagne.
Can people fall into more than one drinking category?
Absolutely! I personally fall into the Maverick/Connoisseur category. However, I tend to lean more to the side of the Maverick. The categories listed in The Socialite’s Guide To: Choosing The Right Cocktail were simply ways to identify stronger drinking habits/patterns. There is nothing wrong with any of them as I do offer ways for all the personality types to strengthen and refine their behaviors, even the Connoisseur who seems to do no wrong in their own eyes
