20 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

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

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

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

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

It’s tall, it’s bubbly, and it goes down easy: it’s the Vodka Collins! This spin on the Tom Collins is essentially a sparkling vodka lemonade. It’s easy to drink and it’s classic: the base drink goes all the way back to the 1870’s when cocktails were just stating to emerge. Take one sip and it’s sweet tart, bubbly and ultra refreshing. It’s one the vodka drinks we love best.

Ingredients: Vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, soda water

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. And there many more vodka martinis to try!

More vodka martinis: Watermelon Martini, French Martini, Raspberry Martini, Coffee Martini, Chocolate Martini, Blood Orange Martini, Cranberry Martini, Limoncello Martini, Ginger Martini, Espresso Martini

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

Here’s an easy vodka cocktail that’s light, refreshing, and goes down easy: the Vodka Soda! Cousin to the Vodka Tonic, the vodka soda is even more tart and refreshing. Just lime, vodka and soda water make the best hydrating combination! This concept is actually called a “rickey”, a classic cocktail made with liquor and soda water. 

Ingredients: Vodka, soda water, lime

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. This drink is 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. This vodka drink goes down easy!

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

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, Bay Breeze, or Transfusion.

Ingredients: Vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice

Meet the French 76! This classy cocktail is just as sophisticated the classic French 75, but this spin uses vodka instead of the traditional gin. It’s got a light, bright flavor and effervescent bubbles: ideal for any time you need a festive signature drink. 

Ingredients: Vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, Champagne or other sparkling wine

Need an easy vodka cocktail that looks impressive? Try the Vodka Sunrise! This layered cocktail looks like a gradient of a summer sunrise, and it’s ideal for brunch or a laid back afternoon drink. The way that orange juice fades into bright pink grenadine is truly magical. All you need are three ingredients for this spin on the classic Tequila Sunrise.

Ingredients: Vodka, orange juice, grenadine syrup

Coffee lovers, here’s the vodka cocktail for you! Meet the Espresso Martini. This one is an ideal pick-me-up for a lazy afternoon or an after dinner drink…it even doubles as dessert! Bittersweet coffee pairs perfectly with the rich sweetness of Kahlua. Add vodka and the trio makes a full-flavored sophisticated drink that tastes like much more than the sum of its parts.

Ingredients: Vodka, Kahlua, espresso

Got OJ? Got vodka? Make a Screwdriver! The Screwdriver is one of the easiest cocktails there is, ideal for afternoon drinks or brunch. On its own it's a little one note, so to make it more complex make it a Harvey Wallbanger! It stars Galliano, an herbal Italian liqueur invented in the 1890’s. It gives this otherwise boring brunch drink a complex, funky herbal finish.

Ingredients: Orange juice, vodka, Galliano (for the Harvey Wallbanger)

Last up in our vodka drinks, the classic Mudslide! It's more than a glorified milkshake: it’s classy and full of intrigue! Make it as the drink was first intended: shaken with coffee liqueur and Irish cream and served up in a cocktail glass. Or, go for the milkshake and use vanilla ice cream! We won't judge.

Ingredients: Vodka, Kahlua, Irish cream, heavy cream (or ice cream)