Here are the Vodka based cocktails I make during my reviews.

The title of the cocktail is linked to the source, since I am by no means a mixologist, and can claim none of these as my own creation.

Please don’t drink and drive, and if you are under 21, do not try this at home… or in public. Always drink responsibly.

Purple Jesus

1 1/2 oz Vodka

3 oz Grape Juice

2 oz Ginger Ale

Red Grapes (optional)

Fill a highball glass with ice and pour all ingredients into the glass. Stir to mix and garnish with red grapes.

What else would one mix when talking about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, other than a Purple Jesus? This was the cocktail I picked for Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes du Mez and it was a little sweet for my taste. Kind of like a boozy grape soda.

Mixed on 11/07/2021

Hymen Ripper


1/2 oz Raspberry Vodka

1/2 oz Triple Sec

1/2 oz Melon Liqueuer

1/2 oz Coconut Rum

Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake it, pour into a shot glass.

I could not have picked a better cocktail for the scream of rage that is Mona Eltahawy’s Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution.

Mixed on 04/17/2022

Morning Mud

Cup of Coffee

1 shot Vodka (or in this weeks cocktail, Aquavit)

1 shot Irish Cream

Top with Heavy Whip or Half & Half

Pour all ingredients into a cup of coffee, stir and enjoy!

There really wasn’t a Viking based cocktail I could find for this weeks book, The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada by Don Hollway, so I made a warm drink for a cold morning, substituting the very Norse drink of Aquavit for the usual Vodka.

Mixed on 11/21/2021

Stars and Stripes

1 oz blueberry vodka

1/4 oz absinthe

1/4 oz lemon juice

1/4 oz simple syrup

1 dash raspberry brandy

5 Fresh Blueberries

Ginger beer

Sugar cube

Muddle the blueberries, add the vodka, absinthe, lemon juice, simple syrup, and ice, shake well. Pour unstrained, so everything including ice and blueberries, into a glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with one sugar cube.

This was a delicious and refreshing cocktail to go with Tim Kennedy and Nick Palmisciano’s book, Scars and Stripes: An Unapologetically American Story of Fighting the Taliban, UFC Warriors, and Myself.

Mixed on 06/19/2022

Jericho

60 ml (about 2 oz)

Vodka 20 ml (about 3/4 oz)

Blue Curacao 30 ml (about 1 oz)

Orange Juice 30 ml (about 1 oz)

Lime Juice

Lemonade

Shake all with ice, pour into a Collins glass over ice and top with lemonade.

I went with the eponymous Jericho cocktail for a book written by Chris Jericho, No is a Four Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life.

Mixed 01/22/2023

Holy Water

1 oz Vodka

1 oz Rum

1/2 oz Blue Curacao

1/2 oz Peach Schnapps

4 ozs Lemonade

Splash of Pineapple juice

Strawberry to garnish

Put all in a goblet with strawberry slices and crushed ice. Enjoy!

This was an amazingly delicious choice to go with Robert A Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, and incredibly appropriate, given how holy the sharing of water is to the story.

Mixed 07/02/2023

Fresh Picked Freedom

50 ml Hangar 1 Straight Vodka

20 ml lemon juice, fresh

20 ml simple syrup

Club soda, to finish

2 handfuls blueberries

6 mint leaves, fresh, plus more to garnish

Muddle one handful of blueberries, mint leaves, lemon juice, and simple syrup, add ice and vodka, shake until chilled. Pour over ice in a mason jar, add another handful of blueberries and top with Club Soda. Add another mint leaf for garnish.

Since the Libertarian credo is freedom for all, I mixed up a Fresh Picked Freedom for this weeks book, For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto by Murray N. Rothbard.

Mixed on 05/12/2024

Dirty Shirley

2 oz Vodka

1 oz Grenadine

Lemon/Lime Soda

Maraschino Cherries

Build in the glass. Pour the vodka and grenadine over ice, top with lemon/lime soda and add maraschino cherries to garnish. What better cocktail could there be for a book called Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker.

Mixed on 08/11/2024

Valkyrie

2 oz Vanilla Vodka

1/2 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice

1/2 oz Vanilla Sugar Syrup

Shake all with ice, strain into a glass with crushed ice. Garnish with Grapefruit Zest twist.

This was the cocktail I found for this week’s book, Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World by Johana Katrin Fridriksdottir. Cocktail was not half bad, the book was not my favorite.

Mixed 12/12/2021

Sex on the Beach

1 1/2 oz vodka

1/2 oz peach schnapps

1/2 oz chambord

1 1/2 oz orange juice

1 1/2 oz cranberry juice

Put all in a shaker with ice and shake, pour in a highball glass over fresh ice.

This was a tongue in cheek accompanying cocktail for The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society by Dr. Debra Soh.

Mixed on 07/17/2022

Mount Carmel Martini

3 ozs apple cider

2 ozs caramel vodka

Caramal sauce

Sugar

Apple wheel to garnish

Rim a martini glass with caramel sauce and dip in sugar. Shake apple cider and caramel vodka in a shaker with ice, then pour into the martini glass. Garnish with an apple wheel. This was a horrifyingly delicious cocktail to go with the horror that was Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage by John Guinn.

Mixed 03/12/2023

No Fear

1 oz Citron Vodka

1 oz Grapefruit Juice

Top off with Seltzer Water

Fill a highball glass with ice and add the citrus vodka. Add the grapefruit juice, and fill with Schweppes Russchian or tonic water. Garnish with an orange slice.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker will hopefully help you feel no fear when moving forward in life….or rather know when fear should be listened to.

Mixed on 07/16/2023

Recession Depression

1.5 oz Citron Vodka

.5 oz Triple Sec

.5 oz Lemon Juice

2 Splashes Lime Cordial

Put all in a shaker with ice, shake, pour into a cocktail glass, enjoy. Was not sure what to make for this weeks book, but Recession Depression seemed as good a pick as any for The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine.

Mixed on 03/17/2024

Transfusion

Concord grape juice ice cubes*

2 ounces vodka

1/2 ounce ginger syrup

1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

2 ounces club soda, chilled

Garnish: concord grapes

Garnish: crystallized ginger

Put the vodka, ginger syrup, lime juice in a shaker with ice and shake well. Pour over your grape juice ice cubes and top with club soda. Garnish with concord grapes and crystallized ginger. I’ve read two things about this cocktail. One is that it was Eisenhower’s favorite. One is that he created it out of a bunch of ingredients that were available. Either way, when I googled Eisenhower cocktail, this popped to the top of the search bar, making it a perfect choice for this weeks book, Eisenhower: Soldier and President: The Renowned One-Volume Life by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Mixed on 05/27/2024

“I Put a Spell on You” Poison Apple Martini

2 tablespoons spiced apple cider

2 tablespoons pomegranate juice

2 ounces vodka or apple vodka

1-2 teaspoons real maple syrup

edible gold glitter (optional)

cinnamon stick (optional)

Put all but the cinnamon stick in a shaker with ice and shake. Since this weeks book, Art of the Grimoire: An Illustrated History of Magic Books and Spells by Owen Davies is all about the history of magic and spells, this weeks cocktail is “I Put a Spell on You” Poison Apple Martini.

Mixed on 10/06/2024

Black and Blue

3/4 oz cherry vodka

1/2 oz raspberry liqueur

1/4 oz blue caracao

Shake with ice, pour into iced shot glass. Looks like a bruise, tastes like either grape koolaid or nyquil.

This was a good pick for a book titled Beaten Black and Blue, by Officer Brandon Tatum.

Mixed on 02/13/2022

Ghost in the Graveyard

2 ozs black vodka

2 ozs Cream de Cacao or Coffee Liquere

1 scoop Vanilla Ice Cream

Nutmeg for garnish

If you can find Balvod in your area, great, if not, here is how I made my vodka black.

In a glass, combine vodka and creme de cacao, and set aside. Place a scoop of ice cream in a highball glass, and slowly pour vodka mixture over ice cream. Garnish with nutmeg.
Since Dreadful Places was all about the ghosts that leave an impression, this was a delicious cocktail pick for Aaron Mahnke’s The World of Lore: Dreadful Places.

Mixed 10/09/2022

Glasnost

2 oz Vodka

1/2 oz Peppermint Schnapps

Mix both in ice in a cocktail shaker, strain into a glass.

I picked this cocktail based on the Russian policy of glasnost or open consultative government and wider dissemination of information, which made this weeks book, Beria: Stalin’s First Lieutenant by Amy Knight, possible.

Mixed on 06/04/2023

The Big Short

2 1/2 oz Vodka

2 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Simple Syrup

Put all in a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour over ice. Garnish with mint and lime.

It’s always nice to find an eponymous cocktail to go with the book of the week, which is why I picked this cocktail to go with this weeks book, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis.

Mixed on 11/19/2023

Vodka Paralyzer

4 fluid ounces cola

1 fluid ounce coffee flavored liqueur

1.5 fluid ounce vodka

2 fluid ounces milk

1 maraschino cherry (Optional)

Stir all in a highball glass with ice, top with maraschino cherry. This cocktail was NOT a reference to FDR’s polio/paralysis….I picked this cocktail for how FDR’s policies paralyzed the American economy, which made this the best pick for this weeks book, New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR’s Economic Legacy has Damaged America by Burton Folsom Jr.

Mixed on 04/07/2024

Mudslide

Chocolate syrup, for glass

4 oz Vodka

2 oz Kahlua

2 oz Baileys

1/4 cup Heavy Cream

You can shake this with ice in a shaker, or blend with ice in a blender for a thicker mudslide. I mixed this up for Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President by Robert Dallek. Because his nickname was Landslide Johnson, but given the dirty of nature politics, I decided a mudslide was more appropriate.

Mixed on 07/28/2024