Enjoy Gluten-Free Cocktails with Lakeview Vodka (and These Tasty Recipes)
We all have gluten-free friends. And while we might pity them just a bit for not being able to safely enjoy a slice of the Main Grain Bakery’s delicious Asiago Thyme bread, we always say we’re lucky to live in Wisconsin since most cheese is gluten-free! But try as we might, we can’t live on cheese alone. That’s why we vary our diet with amazing cocktails!
When we mix drinks, we want all our friends to be able to enjoy themselves. That’s what drinks are for, after all! So here are a few ideas for making tasty cocktails that everybody can enjoy.
First, we’ll start with Lakeview Vodka. Our ever-so-slightly sweet corn vodka is naturally gluten-free, which also makes it the guilt-free choice when preparing a great cocktail! Just like cheese, we can’t guarantee it’s health food, but also like cheese, we promise it’ll be really tasty!
Next, we get our core ingredients together:
V8 vegetable juice is gluten-free, except for their Bloody Mary Mix. So if you’re going to make bloodies, you’ll have to blaze your own trail!
Sprite is gluten-free if you’re looking for some carbonation and sugar.
Fresh fruit
Simple syrup, which is really just sugar. You can make your own simple syrup to take control of your ingredients. It’s easy to do and while it’s still plenty sweet, it’s way less calories than any non-diet soda.
“Lakeview Vodka…
…the guilt-free choice when preparing a great cocktail!”
How To Make Your Own Simple Syrup
Boil a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar enough so the sugar dissolves. It’s easy to add some extra flavor to your simple syrup if you want—a cup of chopped strawberries (or other flavorful fruit) boiled right along with the sugar does wonders! Just remember to strain out the fruit before you bottle & store your simple syrup.
Freshly-squeezed fruit is another great gluten-free sweetener, so fresh lemon juice and lime juice are safe. If they’re out of season, True Lemon Crystallized Lemon Wedge packets are just what the name suggests—about a lemon wedge per packet. It has no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, it’s gluten free, stores well, and it’s practically made for baking, drink mixes, and of course, cocktails!
Finally, let’s get some recipes going. We’ll start with our most complex recipe: a gluten-free Bloody Mary! This one requires a little bit of research, since some ingredients may have traces of gluten. We did some digging, and the brands we recommend below are all listed as gluten-free. A good rule of thumb is to check the ingredients—avoid anything with “malt” (like malt vinegar) or wheat, rye, or barley.
Gluten-Free Bloody Mary
1 ½ oz. Lakeview Vodka
¾ cup of V8 (not their Bloody Mary mix, though!)
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce (Heinz and French’s are listed gluten-free)
1 dash Tabasco sauce (if you like—it’s also GF AF)
1 pinch of salt and pepper
Strain into your glass and garnish with a stalk of celery.
Now, that’s just the basic Bloody Mary recipe. From there, you can add your favorite spices and ingredients, but make sure they’re gluten-free. When in doubt, leave it out!
Next up is another vodka classic, the Lakeview Mule! Most ginger beer is gluten-free, but it all depends on the ingredients they use. Reed’s, Old Jamaica, Bundaberg, and Fentiman’s are all 100% gluten-free, so we’ll use Bundaberg. It’s a solid, all-purpose ginger beer. Again, using freshly-squeezed lime will save you the time of checking the ingredients of bottled lime juice, and we just prefer fresh-squeezed taste anyway!
Lakeview Mule
1 1/2 oz. Lakeview Vodka
4 oz. Bundaberg Ginger Beer
1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime
Build in a copper mug over ice
Garnish with a lime
For a fun fall variation on the classic mule, might we also suggest the slightly higher-octane…
Cranberry Mule
3 oz. Lakeview Vodka
1 ½ oz. Cranberry Juice (Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice is gluten-free)
Top with Bundaberg Ginger Beer
Add a twist of lime.
We have room for one more recipe to anticipate the upcoming holiday season:
Home for the Holidays
1 oz. Lakeview Vodka
2 1/2 oz. Gold Peak Raspberry Black Tea (listed as gluten-free)
Grapefruit White Claw (guess what? White Claw is also gluten-free!)
Lime for garnish
Shake Lakeview Vodka and Gold Peak Raspberry Tea in a cocktail shaker and strain into serving glass with crushed ice. Top with White Claw Grapefruit and garnish with a Lime Peel petal.
We’re firm believers that if you have a gluten sensitivity or know someone who does, there’s no reason you (and they) can’t enjoy the same delicious cocktails! Since Lakeview Vodka is naturally gluten-free, you can rest easy when you use it for mixing, entertaining, or even relaxing at home.