Celebrating Summer In Style

Every year, our family holds a contest to determine our favorite summer cocktail. Typically, our three grown sons (ages 27, 25 and 24) submit the entries and I am the judge. That seems fair enough. Right?

Last year, we all submitted cocktails. I created an aqua colored margarita for our beach house, which matched the decor. Obviously, my drink won.

This year we partnered with SVEDKA vodka and I added a twist. Three drinks would be chosen and the final three had to be red, white and blue!

I went to our local grocery store and bought a bottle of SVEDKA Limited Edition Stars & Stripes. Did you know SVEDKA is the #1 imported vodka in the US? It’s imported from Sweden and the name SVEDKA is a portmanteau of the word “Svenska” (meaning Swedish) and “vodka” (derived from the Slavic word “vodka”).

My boys all sent a shopping list of all of the items needed for their cocktails. This included cranberry juice, grenadine, caramel sauce, blue lemonade, cream, margarita mix, and orange juice. All of the other ingredients we already had at home.

The drinks were mixed and poured and tasted. Some were good and many were not.

One of the cocktails had a salty caramel rim. I thought that was very clever and tasty!

The three winning cocktails were very easy to select. They were all delicious.

The “red” cocktail was named Summer Breeze. It consisted of 1 1/2 ounces SVEDKA vodka, cranberry juice and a splash of orange juice. It’s so easy to make, as all you need to do is add the SVEDKA to a glass with ice, fill with cranberry juice and top with a splash of orange juice.

The “white cocktail” was named Salted Caramel Creme and consisted of 1 1/2 ounces SVEDKA vodka, one teaspoon coconut syrup, 1 ounce coffee liqueur, half and half cream and a splash of caramel topping. First, dip the rim of the glass in the caramel sauce and then dip lightly in sea salt. Fill the glass with ice and add the SVEDKA, coffee liqueur, and coconut syrup. Fill the glass with half and half and top it off with more of the caramel topping.

The “blue drink” was named Summer Splash and consisted of 1 1/2 ounces SVEDKA vodka, blue lemonade and 1 ounce of margarita mix. Fill a glass with ice, add the SVEDKA and blue lemonade and top with the margarita mix.

I love these three drinks just sitting on our bar cart. It took me a while to decide which one to drink, as the boys gave me first choice. I went with the Salted Caramel Creme. It was like a dessert!

The boys opted to enjoy their cocktails by the pool. Great choice. Great vodka. Great drinks.

#SVEDKAStarsandStripes

#SVEDKACelebrateFreedom