Welcome to our series where we breakdown exactly what our pairings mean (aka the tags on our posts) and take you Behind the Bar.

Sam here to talk about our Vodka pairings. Man… Vodka. What a versatile liquor. You can mix it with mostly anything and it’ll be fine. It also has less sugar that most other liquors so depending on what you mix it with… the hangover is less. Looooove Vodka.

Here are some of my pairings for Vodka drinks

Vodka Cranberry

This was an intro drink for me. The smoothness of the cranberry covers the bite of the rail vodka. It’s also #basic. Makes you have to use the restroom far more often, but lines at the club (let’s face it… when you’re drinking Vodka Crans, you’re still at the club and not old like me) for the bathroom are crazytown. So it’s basically order at the bar, check in with friends, potty break, repeat.

There are two ways to slice this:

1. Intro-to-genre books like Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, or Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufmann, or Darker Shade of Magic series.
2. #BasicBitch books like There Once Were Stars or The Devil You Know.

Dirty Shirley (Shirley Temple + Vodka)

Guys I discovered this drink the day I turned 21. I was a sucker for Shirley Temples when I was a kid and then all of a sudden… we add vodka, and life was the best. I could PUNISH these things like they were candy. That wasn’t always the best though, they were very dangerous (for me). Books like Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, or Matt Mikalatos’s Sunlit Lands series are just candy and I love them.

Moscow Mule

This is a sweet, but not too sweet, vodka drink made with ginger beer, typically served in a copper mug. Not sure why they taste better in the copper mug but they absolutely do.  Sort of like space romance stories like Starbound and Starflight. Not sure WHY i only like romance when it’s in space but I absolutely do. I will always love kissy-time in space.

Vodka Soda

THIS IS MY FAVORITE LIQUOR BEVERAGE. They are easy to drink, add a lime, you get some tartness. There’s no sugar in soda so your hangover is already going to be less. I can drink them all day. I can drink them all night. I will be drunk AF but I will be very happy about it. Some of the books we’ve tagged as Vodka Sodas

• Oryx and Crake Probably my favorite book of all time.
• Nyxia Triad
• Riyria (Chronicles and Revelations)

Vodka Redbull

These are just what they sound like. They are really bad for you because it’s telling your heart to speed up and slow down at the same time, but, sometimes you gotta wake up. It’s sweet but will fuck you up, bad.

Books like Under Rose-Tainted Skies and Rose and the Dagger are sweet but FUCKED at the same time.

Sex on the Beach

I don’t think I’ve ever had one of these before, but I’ve seen them. They’re pink, and in theory, super sweet. Ginny paired Into the Drowning Deep with this… and I trust her judgement always.

Vodka SHOT

Look. Lots of books are basically vodka shots. Depending on the vodka, you can either gag or be like “mmmm, that was smooth”. So. Books like We Were Liars for the former, and Wicked Saints for the latter….

There you have it! Your mini-guide to what we mean when we pair a book with Vodka (or at least some mixed drinks). See more books we’d pair with and be on the lookout for more Behind the Bar features.

COMMENT DOWN BELOW: What’s your favorite vodka drink? Do you have any books that we should pair with it?