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Home » Vodka Cocktails

Jun 12, 2023 by Kristin

Vodka on the Rocks

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If you want to keep it classic and straightforward, look no further than the vodka on the rocks. This glass of ice cold vodka has each sip delivering a clean and pure taste that allows your vodka smoothness to shine through.

Vodka on the rocks with a lemon twist on a wooden table.
Jump to:
  • 🥃 What is a Vodka on the Rocks?
  • ⭐ When to Make This Drink
  • 📖 Variations
  • 🥄 Equipment
  • 📋 Ingredients
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 Instructions
  • Recipe

🥃 What is a Vodka on the Rocks?

Vodka on the rocks is an easy to make classic cocktail that is simply a shot of vodka poured into a rocks glass with ice. This simplistic drink is perfect for sipping to allow you to really savor and enjoy all of the nuanced flavor of vodka.

This drink is straightforward and uncomplicated. The vodka itself is a clean and smooth flavored drink. It tends to have a rather neutral taste and is a colorless spirit. By serving it over ice it allows the vodka to become chilled thus creating a refreshing and invigorating cocktail.

On the rocks, when speaking about cocktails, simply means you are serving your drink over ice. This not only allows the drink to easily chill, but it also allows the liquor to become slightly diluted as the ice melts.

Serving drinks on the rocks is quite popular. Here are a few other ones you may want to try: tequila on the rocks, gin on the rocks or whiskey on the rocks.

Since the vodka is the star of the show in this drink you’ll want to make sure that you use a high quality vodka. There are lots of different ones to choose from, some of our favorites are Grey goose and Stoli.

There are a multitude of different reasons to consider this as one of your drinks of choice. Here are just a few:

  • Crisp and clean. Having just the one ingredient really allows you to appreciate the pure, unadulterated flavors of the spirit. It has a clean and crisp flavor.
  • Versatility. You can serve this at so many different different events indications. It makes an excellent base to serve from casual to formal settings.
  • Super easy. All you need is a shot of vodka and a glass full of ice for this one. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

⭐ When to Make This Drink

You can enjoy this drink at almost any occasion you prefer. If you’re looking for some ideas, you are four occasions for this drink shines through:

  • Pre-dinner aperitif
  • Happy hour
  • Picnics or barbecues
  • Cocktail parties or other gatherings

📖 Variations

Since this drink is only one ingredient, there’s not much to change or substitute. However, here are a few things you can do:

  • Add a splash of water. Dilute the strong alcohol bite of the vodka by adding a little splash of water.
  • Give it a garnish. Adding a lemon or lime twist or red wedge can add a little color to your glass. Additionally, if you use a wedge you can squeeze a little of the juice into the top of the drink to give it a citrus twist.
  • Use a flavored vodka. Plain vodka tends to have a neutral, smooth and almost flavorless taste. However, it also comes in a large variety of different flavors. Try out a flavored vodka to suit your taste buds such as:
    • Fruit flavors. You can have a whole slew different fruit flavors from citrus like orange or lemon to berries like raspberry and strawberry.
    • Dessert flavors. There are large variety of different dessert flavored vodkas including cake vodka, whipped cream vodka and vanilla vodka.
    • Spices and other flavors. If you’re looking for something a little different you can try herbal vodkas that have things like basil or rosemary in them or even spicy vodkas that are jalapeno flavored there’s even espresso flavored vodkas.

🥄 Equipment

  • Rocks/Scotch/Bourbon glass
  • jigger

📋 Ingredients

  • 2 oz Vodka
  • (optional) lemon twist
  • Ice
Vodka next to a rocks glass with ice, lime wedge and a jigger.

👩🏻‍🍳 Instructions

Step one

Go ahead and get started by gathering everything you need including vodka, rocks cloth, ice, jigger and, if desired lemon twist.

Step two

Grab some ice and go ahead and toss it into your rocks glass. The glass should be filled up to the top with ice.

Measuring vodka with a jigger.

Step three

Grab your bottle of vodka. Use the jigger to measure 2 oz.

Pouring vodka from a jigger into a rocks glass.

Step four

Pick up the jigger and pour your 2 oz of vodka directly into the rocks glass over the ice.

Step Five

If you’re planning to add a garnish, now it’s time to do so. To make a lemon twist take a lemon and cut it into wheels.

Then, take one wheel and remove all of the pulp away from the peel. Cut The peel so that it is no longer in a circle and instead is in a straight line.

Wrap your peel around a cocktail pic and hold for a few seconds. Then remove, it should stay in a twisted shape and you can place it on the rim of your glass.

Recipe

Vodka on the rocks with a lemon twist on a wooden table.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Vodka on the Rocks

Prep Time5 minutes mins
Course: Drinks
Keyword: Vodka on the Rocks
Servings: 1

Equipment

  • jigger
  • Rocks glass
  • cocktail pick optional for garnish
  • Knife optional for garnish

Ingredients

  • 2 oz Vodka
  • Lemon Twist optional garnish
  • Ice

Instructions

  • Add ice into the glass so that it is filled up with it.
  • If you are adding a lemon twist:
    1) Slice a lemon into wheels.
    2) Cut the fruit from the peel.
    3) Slice the peel in one spot so that it is just a straight line.
    4) Remove any leftover pulp from the peel.
    5) Wrap the peel on a cocktail pick in a spiral for around 30 seconds.
    6) Remove from the pick and stick on the glass rim.
  • Measure out 2 oz of vodka by using the jigger. Then, add the vodka to the glass.

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