For Your Summer Soirée: 3 Easy Vodka Cocktails

Do we really need a reason to throw a cocktail party? Aside, perhaps, from the fact that we may all not be the expert bartenders we would hope. But, fortunately for us, we’ve got access to some of the top mixologists in the business.

Let’s start with one of the most popular spirits, to make it easy. We asked the experts at Zirkova One and Zirkova Together to give us a hand with a few tips and recipes.

The distillers took our request to heart, wanting an easier way to make the best tasting drinks. The minds behind Zirkova One, a premium blend of 100 per cent Ukrainian wheat and rye grain vodka – grains mashed and fermented in a vodka mill built by Tsar Nicolas II in 1896, by the way! – have also created Zirkova Together, also using an underground fresh water source close to the mill as the other main ingredient of the spirit.

It’s recommended you use Zirkova One for when you want to sip vodka straight, and get the flavours for all they’re worth, say neat, on the rocks or in a martini. Zirkova Together is better suited for mixed drinks and cocktails. This way, you’re not “watering down” the full-bodied terroir-tinged flavour of Zirkova One.

But most importantly, the brand has a conscience, too. Zirkova One+Together vodka dedicates the equivalent of 10 per cent of its revenue to supporting charitable and social causes, and is committed to positive change, social equality and human rights. “We’ve built these principles into our identity and are committed to empowering everyone to do just that. To just be you. To appreciate and celebrate each other. And to unite through uplifting moments of optimism and possibility. Zirkova One+Together stand for each of us being unique, vital parts of the human tapestry.”

In Ukraine, there is a traditional toast: “Budmo” or “just be.” Now, with these recipes, you can be just be a great bartender, too. Budmo!

 

 

PERSIAN LEMONADE

Created by The Cup Bearer, a classic cocktail preparation and private bartending service

Ingredients:

1.75 oz Zirkova Together

0.75 oz lemon juice

0.75 oz Simple

1 bar spoon of Persian basil seeds rehydrated in rose water

Garnish: Mint bouquet and cucumber slice

Glass: Tall Glass

Method: Shake all ingredients and pour over ice. Garnish with a mint bouquet and cucumber slice.

 

JUICY LUCY

Created by Yana Volfson

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Zirkova Together

0.5 oz Aperol

0.5 oz St Germain

1 oz Grapefruit

Garnish: Large grapefruit slice

Glass: Rocks

Method: Combine all ingredients into a tin canister and hard shake. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with a large slice of grapefruit.

 

ZIRKOVA OM SHANTI

Created by The Cup Bearer

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Zirkova Together

0.5 oz Lime Juice

2 oz Coconut Water

1 oz Simple Syrup

Garnish: Mint bouquet

Directions: Build ingredients in tall glass over ice, no shaking required. And be eco-friendly: look for alternatives to plastic straws.