15 Best Vodka Cocktails

First in the list of best vodka cocktails: the vodka gimlet! This sophisticated retro cocktail has a tart, refreshing flavor and a chic vibe. A gimlet it traditionally made with gin, but it common spin-off is the vodka gimlet: it's got a smoother flavor.

Ingredients: Gin, lime juice, simple syrup

Next up: the vodka sour! This one's a classic sour cocktail: refreshingly sweet tart with a frothy egg white foam on top! Use our dry shake technique to get the perfect foam.

Ingredients: Vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters, egg white

It’s fizzy, it’s tangy, it looks festive, and it goes down easy. What's a more classic vodka cocktail than a Moscow mule? This easy cocktail recipe was invented in the 1940’s, but it's totally timeless. With only 3 ingredients and 3 minutes required, it’s perfect for entertaining or a night in. (Also try: Mexican Mule, Kentucky Mule, or Gin Gin Mule.)

Ingredients: Vodka, lime juice, ginger beer

The vodka tonic is an easy two-ingredient highball cocktail with a bright, lemon lime flavor! This variation on the Gin & Tonic is less about the booze and more about citrusy bubbles. Gin is botanical and booze forward, but vodka melds right into the tonic water. It makes for an easy drinking vodka cocktail that's light and refreshing.

Ingredients: Vodka, tonic water, lime squeeze, lemon squeeze

Here's another classic vodka cocktail: the Cosmo! It’s got a brilliant pink color and refreshing flavor. This recipe is balanced and tangy, an improved version of the classic using 100% cranberry juice. It's an easy cocktail to make, ready to spice up your next gathering.

Ingredients: Vodka, 100% cranberry juice, lemon juice, Cointreau, simple syrup

Another well-known vodka cocktail: the Bloody Mary! This classic brunch drink is tangy, spicy, and perfectly seasoned, featuring tomatoes, horseradish, garlic, and lemon. Here's our spin on this classic.

Ingredients: Vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, celery salt, black pepper

Here’s one of the easiest vodka cocktail recipes you can make: the vodka cranberry! Also known as a Cape Codder, it has only a handful of ingredients and it tastes tart and refreshing. 

Ingredients: Vodka, cranberry juice

This bubbly and fruity Vodka Spritzer is all fun! It’s just sweet enough with a subtle berry flavor: tangy, refreshing and sparkling all at once. Cranberry juice makes the brilliant red color, but it’s 100% juice so it’s tart and crisp instead of saccharine. It makes for the most satisfying party drink that you won’t want to end!

Ingredients: Vodka, cranberry juice, strawberries, lemon, soda water

The Sidecar is one of the great classic sour cocktails. It's typically made with brandy, but this version swaps it out with…you guessed it, vodka! Sometimes trying to improve on a classic comes up a little short. But this vodka sidecar is absolutely worth making. It’s refreshingly tangy, with a little vodka zing on the back end. 

Ingredients: Vodka, Cointreau, lemon juice

This vodka smash cocktail is all about smashed fruit and ice! It’s tangy and refreshing, featuring muddled blackberries, mint, and lime. It’s tangy, it’s sweet, and it’s got a bit of back-end vodka flavor. And it goes down easy.

Ingredients: Lime, fresh mint, blackberries or raspberries, vodka, simple syrup, soda water

Here's a famous vodka cocktail that's creamy and sweet: the White Russian! It takes just 2 minutes to make and hits the spot in any season. Perhaps you know it from the 1990’s movie The Big Lebowski, but this drink has been around since the 1950’s. Also try it without the cream as a Black Russian.

Ingredients: Vodka, Kahlua, cream

Here's a tasty drink that's everything summer: a watermelon vodka cocktail! It's tangy and sweet tart, perfectly balanced between watermelon, bright lime and vodka. And that mini watermelon garnish? Perfection.

Ingredients: Watermelon, lime, vodka, simple syrup

Looking for a fruity vodka cocktail? Enter: the Bay Breeze! Also called the Hawaiian Sea Breeze, it has a vivid color and sweet tart flavor. Featuring the tropical taste of pineapple, it feels carefree and beachy.

Ingredients: Vodka, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, simple syrup

Want a vodka cocktail that’s laid-back, tart and refreshing? Look no further than the Sea Breeze cocktail! It tastes just like its name: light, breezy, and all about no-frills vibes. See also: Madras Cocktail.

Ingredients: Vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice

This vodka cocktail is intensely sweet tart! Use citron vodka for the most lemony flavor: otherwise, regular vodka works. It’s festive and refreshing, with a lemon twist and sugar rim.

Ingredients: Vodka or citron vodka, Cointreau, lemon juice, simple syrup

Looking for a fun vodka cocktail as a signature drink for your next gathering? Try a Pomegranate Martini! Crisp, sweet tart, fruity, and light: it’s much closer to a Cosmo than the classic martini. But instead of cranberry juice like the Cosmopolitan, it’s made with pomegranate juice instead.

Ingredients: vodka, pomegranate juice, Cointreau, lemon juice, simple syrup

Also try: Watermelon Martini or French Martini