Pot of Gold, photo courtesy of Voli Light Vodka

One of the great things about America is that we are all so willing and happy to adopt the holidays of countries around the globe–especially the ones that revolve around drinking. For those of us who wished we had saved our beverage calories for corned beef and shepherd’s pie, Voli has released a series of five low-cal vodkas. Now, for all St. Patrick’s Days to come, we can take part in all the usual festivities minus the (calorie-related) regrets.

Brad and I set out to the liquor store to get our St. Patty’s Day fixings. We picked out our elderflower liqueur (my fave), ginger beer and hard cider (Brad’s pick, not mine) and got out our IDs. Mine was my temp ID and I brought my old out-of-state one for photo purposes.

“Ooo, sorry,” the check-out guy said. “No paper IDs.”

My twenty-eight year old boyfriend and my twenty-five year old self gaped at him. This hasn’t happened since freshman year of college .We left our alcohol on the counter and walked out in a daze.

“It’s not like we had bottles of 151 either,” said Brad, as we backed out of our parking space, my cheeks still flaming. “We had ginger beer and damn St. Germain.”

Well, congratulations Argonaut check-out guy, you’ve done your job and also successfully ruined our St. Patrick’s Day Eve.

When we finally collected all of our mixers, we laid out the green fruits, vegetables and herbs. I pulled the vodkas out of the freezer–and they were frozen solid. I turned the bottle over. Please do not freeze.

Ah.

So, really, do not freeze.

Once the vodkas were thawed and we were both positively salivating for a beverage, I started muddling, mixing, shaking and straining. The favorite by far was Pot of Gold–which turned out more green than gold after I got a little cuke-happy–with its refreshing cucumber, crisp bite of mint and um, ginger beer is goooooood. The Get Lucky mojito-like drink was good as well with an improvised Voli LYTE and Voli Lemon mix, but was a little sweet for our palates. I’m sure that could easily be remedied with less sweetener. After we tipped back our second Pot of Gold, Brad stopped.

“Hold on, this is actually really good vodka! Like, better than Grey Goose.”

This comparison doesn’t mean much to me, because the last time I had Grey Goose, I choked on it and it came out of my nose and I was promptly called out by my little brother and all his little friends. Awesome.

Nevertheless, I smacked my lips and realized I hadn’t done the bitter-taste shudder at all, the shudder that usually keeps me away from liquor altogether.

“Should we do the ultimate test?” I asked, uncorking the bottle and holding it to his lips.

“To the leprechauns!” And we each took a swig, keeping it classy, St. Patty’s style.

It went down smooth, tasty and delicious. Good as gold.

Below, you’ll find our two favorite drink recipes for two of the vodkas. Other flavors include Voli Espresso Vanilla, Voli Raspberry Cocoa and Voli Orange Vanilla.

Get Lucky, photo courtesy of Voli Light Vodka

 

Pot of Gold

2 oz Voli LYTE

1/2 oz Elderflower syrup or liqueur

4 chunks cucumber (inch thick)

8 fresh mint leaves

Ginger beer

Muddle cucumber and mint. Add Voli and elderflower.

Shake and strain then top with ginger beer.

Garnish with cucumber wheel and mint

Glass: Martini

Approximate Calories: 178 calories

 

Get Lucky

1 1/2 oz Voli LYTE or Voli Lemon

1/2 fresh lime

8 mint leaves

1 packet sweetener

Club soda

Muddle lime, mint and sweetener. Add Voli, shake lightly and pour all ingredients in a glass. Top with club soda.

Mint sprig for garnish

Glass: Highball

Approximate Calories: 85 calories

(can also add fruits to this such as blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, red berries or mango)