For most of my life I’ve been able to maintain a relatively good physique by eating and drinking whatever I wanted just as long as I made a concerted effort to go to the gym at least twice a week. Most of my life.

As my early twenties became my late twenties, I began to notice I was buying my pants and shorts on different racks than before. 32’s gave way to 34’s and by the time I was 30 I was in a 36″ waist. WTF? I hadn’t changed the way I did anything in more than 10 years.

Several months ago – at nearly 32-years-old -  I had what most alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity. My body was changing the way it processed everything I put into it as my metabolism began to slow. It had also begun to view my half-hearted attempts in the gym with a  general malaise matched only by Stephen Hawking if he were to watch a 5th-grade algebra lecture.

It was time for me to take care of myself and get back into shape.

I started by cutting out a lot of processed foods and soda. Gone were the sour cream and chive Lays potato chips and in were the 100 percent corn Santitas. I even went so far as buying a calf and feeding it organic grain until it was nearly 700lbs. After butchering I had 400 lbs of lean, organic beef that cost me less than $.99 lb when it was all said and done. I was living the healthy lifestyle.

Between mountain biking on the awesome trails behind my house, going to the gym twice a week and changing my eating habits, I went from 215 lbs of out of shape 31-year-old to a 205 lb 31-year-old in moderate shape. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t look good naked like Brad Pitt or anything, but it was a vast improvement. But I felt great, and was stronger than I had ever been.

The problem was that I kept hovering around that 205 lb mark. I did have the foresight to check my body fat percentage before and after and found that it had actually gone down several percentage points. But nonetheless i still had a bit of a gut and some very manly love handles.

What the hell? I was exercising, eating better and drinking almost a gallon of water a day but still looked like I was a lazy bum. Then it hit me. My Achilles heel was indeed my favorite past time…Drinking.

The numbers don’t lie.

I sat down with a calculator and figured out that during any given week I was consuming an extra 10,000+ calories in liquid form. Trust me, its not hard to do. If you buy a 1.75L of Platinum 7x Vodka and enough 120 calorie per serving Simply Orange orange juice to mix with it and polish both off over the course of 7 days, you’ve essentially consumed an extra 5 days of calories. Here’s a handy little calorie chart if you don’t believe me.

Now I’m not saying I drank a 1.75L of liquor every week. Some weeks I just drank beer. (Don’t get me started on how Steel Reserve has 225+ calories per 12oz) And some weeks I didn’t drink much at all. I just wanted to illustrate how drinking on a regular basis can lay waste to the best laid plans of living a healthy lifestyle. Specifically drinking liquor with any type of mixer.

With this new knowledge in hand I knew it was time to make some changes to my drinking habits. It was time to trim the fat. I decided I would cut out those fattening, sugary and calorie laden mixers like orange juice and coke and start drinking my liquor straight.

I knew this was a firm decision. A decision similar to the one the first guy who had sex with a monkey and contacted AIDS made, and would take some conviction on my part. It takes one of two things to be able to drink straight liquor on a regular basis. Either a fat wallet to be able to afford the finer spirits that were meant to be enjoyed all on their own, or a strong will with an equally strong gut to be able to tolerate the alcohol I could actually afford. Did I mention this gig doesn’t pay that well?

I eventually ventured into Spring Hill Liquors to see if I could catch something on one of their famous half-off discounts when I happened upon the Scotch section of the store. It was at that precise moment I remembered a cheap Scotch called Speyburn, that years ago, I had drank on a regular basis.

I remembered it was something like $13 the last time I had it. Unfortunately, by this time Speyburn had obviously developed a following and was now selling in the mid $30 and up range. Then on the second shelf from the bottom, right above the generics I saw a sign that read “John Barr Blended Scotch Whiskey, Reg. $17.99 Now $10,99!” We have a winner.

I scooped up my bargain find, paid the man and headed home.

John Barr is another great example that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get good booze. I would take the Pepsi challenge with just about any scotch on the market with the exception of the ultra smooth scotches like Johnny Walker Black. It’s great by itself over ice or with just a splash of water to tone it down. It’s nice and sweet and I’ve never gotten a headache of any kind while drinking it.

The funny thing about drinking scotch is that not only am I cutting out calories by not using mixers, I’m actually cutting calories because I just don’t drink as much as I would if it were say, Jack and Coke.

I stuck with the John Barr for quite a while and it was the boost I needed. I dropped into the 198-200 lb range and can actually wear some clothes I haven’t been able to wear in a while. I still throw in other liquors and beer for the sake of having things to write about, but I can say that John Barr Blended Scotch Whiskey is definitely worth trying if you’re looking to shed a few pounds without giving up one of your favorite past times. Plus it will probably offset all the food you’re going to eat this holiday season.

It was a Saturday in late September 2008. I had several people over to watch Florida stomp the shit out of whom ever they were playing as usual, and Nathan and Rachel were two hours late. As usual. I think there was an issue with Rachel’s jeans or something. I cant really recall.

What I can recall is when Nathan finally arrived, we made our way to Springhill Liquors – My favorite liquor store in the whole world. The reason it’s my favorite, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, is because the owner will mark really expensive bottles of whatever down by as much as 50 percent just to move them or get people to try them. This is how I found jewels like Zaya Gran Reserva Rum and Sonnema Herb Vodka.

As we walked down the isles we discussed the possibilities each bargain-priced bottle of affluence held for the night. We were looking for something unique. Something neither of us had ever tried before. Then we saw it.

Awkwardly nestled on the top shelf of an isle between the Jager and the After Shock was a tillish, slenderish, green box with a brass spoon looking thing attached, and gold and green writing that looked as if it had been scribed by some ancient sect of alcoholic yet artistic monks thousands of years ago.

In large letters it read: “Grande Absente.” Under that the words, “Absinthe Originale – 138 Proof,” glowed like a bug zapper in a trailer park and Nathan and I were the bugs. The coup de gras was the bright yellow sunburst label that had been attached with a liberal helping of scotch tape that read, “Absinthe! Only $69.95!” (It was originally priced at $85.99)

I had two flashbacks almost instantaneously.

The first was of a story I read years ago in the very first issue of Maxim magazine. It was an account of the editors experience with some illegal absinthe he had purchased from a guy out of the trunk of his car. I remembered how he described the night and also remembered thinking that one day I absolutely HAD to try absinthe for myself.

The second was of an article I had read a few months earlier talking about how Absinthe had been made legal in the U.S. and how we were actually getting better (and safer) stuff than you could in Europe because of the stricter FDA regulations.

So there it was in front of us. The very spirit that made Van Gough thing cutting off his ear and sending it to a girl was a pretty good idea. After about thirty seconds of deliberation we decided to split the cost to see just how twisted this stuff was.

After making our purchase we went next door to the Publix supermarket and bought sugar cubes along with all the other football-party cookout stuff we were supposed to get. Then we headed home so that everyone else could bask in the glory of our discovery…and to not tell my wife and Nathan’s girlfriend that we just spent more on a bottle of alcohol than we did on either of their birthday presents.

We decided to hold off on the big reveal until after the game was over and we had everyone’s undivided attention. That and we figured it would be easier to get drunk people to drink something that was supposed to make you hallucinate and also tasted like licorice made from dirty socks.

Everyone gathered around the big pub table in my kitchen and took turns smelling and otherwise thoroughly examining the bottle of bright green fairy juice while I gathered everything I needed to make enough traditional absinthe drinks for everyone.

I had everything I needed. Sugar cubes, filtered water, martini glasses and the brass spoon that came with bottle. It was time to get weird.

It’s All In The Mix

If you’ve never made or seen someone make a traditional absinthe drink, it’s actually quite simple:

First you need a clean glass. I prefer a martini glass just for aesthetic reasons but any type will do. Pour two ounces of Absinthe in the bottom of the glass. Place the Absinthe spoon over the glass and place a sugar cube on the spoon. Next SLOWLY drip chilled water over the sugar cube. (If you pour too fast the sugar won’t dissolve properly.) The amount you use depends on how strong you want your drink to be. I prefer a 1 to 1 ratio. Finally stir the mix until it turns milky-white and the sugar has dissolved.

If you don’t have a fancy absinthe spoon or time for tradition,  you can combine the Absinthe and water along with granulated sugar and ice in a shaker just like you would a traditional cocktail.

Now as far as I can remember, back in the day if I told my friends eating a horse turd would get them totally whacked out of their gourde, they would have found a way to get past the taste. My how times have changed.

Don’t get me wrong, I HATE licorice. Of all the candies in the world, licorice is the most vile and disgusting one ever dreamed up by some half-cocked candy fiend. But for the sake of science, a good post and the possibility of having a mind-altering experience, I’m willing to put aside my differences towards licorice.

My friends, in the now older, married and wiser states were not ready to concede their palettes’ proclivities toward things that didn’t taste like the sweat from a licorice makers ass crack. . I could see the girls turning their noses up due to the sheer fact that I had given each of them a 4oz drink with 2 of those ounces being 69 percent alcohol. However, I wasn’t going to let the guys off that easy. I made each of them have at lest two and of course I made Nathan have three or four.

Nathan and Rachel would later tell me that after they left they were on a completely different level than everyone else at the birthday party they went to. Oops… I forgot they told me they had to go to a birthday party afterward. My bad. I bet the party was waaayyy more fun though.

Talking In Circles

One by one everyone said their goodbyes and made their ways to whatever other late-night obligations they had. By then it was late and Laura headed off to bed leaving me alone and wide awake with more than 3/4 of a bottle of Grande Absente and a pyramid of sugar cubes.

I made myself another drink and and began to look around my kitchen for other liquids that might mix well with Absinthe as to mask the taste of licorice. A taste I had quickly grown tired of but as mentioned earlier was enduring in the name of some half-ass journalistic doctrine I feel the need to adhere to. That and of course, in the name of the science of getting hammered.

I looked everywhere. I sorted through the various jars of pickle juice, jalapenos and pickled okra and decided it would be a waste of good booze to try any of those. I continued my search and finally came across a bottle of orange juice when I remembered the time I mixed cheap tequila with orange juice and it had completely masked the taste of the tequila.

By this point I had finished my drink I mentioned earlier and made another with equal parts Absinthe and OJ. Heaven. Although there was indeed a licorice aftertaste, the initial taste that once dominated the glass was all but gone.

I continued drinking my new discovery and began coming up with some of the most profound insights and thoughts. I had the foresight to write them down but when I finally came across the notepad several days later, even I couldn’t make much sense of the alcoholic shorthand i had scribbled all over the pages. I had even drawn diagrams of what looked like a hammock similar in design to those chairs that fold up and fit into bags.

There was also a rudimentary drawing of a computer with a mouse plugged into it  that looked like a CB radio mic with the words “Trucker Mouse” scrawled across the top. (I actually still think that one was a good idea)

I was definitely playing a different sport than usual when my wife came out of the room and said, “How much longer are you going to be walking around the house talking to yourself?”

I remember being confused. According to her I had been walking in a circle from the kitchen to the living room to the dining room and back to the kitchen while talking to myself for more than 2 hours about all the ideas that were flooding my brain. I can’t say for certain what I was talking about, but I’m pretty sure I solved one or two of the world’s problems. I just wish I could remember any of it.

After that I decided to slam as much Gatorade as I could and then call it a night.

Conclusion

So did I see green fairies and have an out of body experience? No. But I will tell you this; not ever before, nor ever since, have I had such an inspiring drunken experience as I did that night or have as good of a time as I did that night all by myself. That night, my thoughts were all the entertainment I needed. I could have worked out problems and thought up cool shit until the sun came up if I had been left to my own devices.

So would I recommend trying Absinthe? Absolutely. If not for the strange and entertaining drunk, go in with your buddies and buy a good bottle just to say you’ve done it. Because no matter how much the bottle costs, the story about the time you drank Absinthe will be priceless.

Now I’ve never really been a fan of mint in general because with most mint-flavored affairs the only thing you taste is the mint. I don’t even like those little mints they leave on your pillows at hotels. My utter disdain for mint made me extremely skeptical of Firefly Vodka’s mint-flavored sweet tea vodka.

I fully expected the mint to completely overpower the sweet tea flavor of the vodka leaving me with something that resembled the bastard child of a Mint Julep and a Mojito. Not wanting to throw another variable into the experiment I strayed away from my normal Spiked Arnold Palmer of half Simply Lemonade and half Firefly and opted to replace the lemonade with plain water.

I was very surprised to find that the folks at Firefly had opted to hold back on the mint so it didn’t seem as if I had shoved a mint candy cane up my nose. To the contrary the aroma was present, but not overpowering, and the was really no initial mint taste. Instead it left a nice clean after taste. One could describe it as being a little more of a mature and sophisticated drinking experience.

After playing with my mixers a little more I found the best combination was to use crushed ice with half Simply Lemonade and half Mint Firefly Vodka. You get the great sweet tea taste with a fresh minty after taste that actually clears your head quite nicely.

Like the raspberry-flavored version, this flavor is perfect for after dinner or just lounging around on the back porch. And as with the original Firefly Vodka and the raspberry flavor, the mint definitely has a place in my cabinet.

Like most great bourbons I’ve sampled, Eagle Rare comes in a very simple bottle with a cork. The smooth aroma when I first opened the bottle made me want to wear the stuff as cologne. Or drink it straight. Which I did.

Eagle Rare is the bourbon equivalent of Pyrat Rum or Zaya Gran Reserva Rum. Not too expensive, but willing to take the Pepsi challenge with any of the “ultra premium” brands on the market. Even after I emptied the bottle I looked like a glue-sniffing addict taking long, slow smells out of the bottle. Seriously, they should bottle this and market it as aftershave you could drink.

I also tried Eagle Rare with several different mixers with whom it did great with. Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, etc. However, this is definitely a bourbon you could drink on the rocks, thus making you look like a total bourbon connoisseur to your friends or coworkers.

This is definitely one of my top bourbons now and am counting the days until football season gets here so I can tell these dog days of summer to go to hell and leave me and my bourbon be to watch football till we pass out.

A bottle of Eagle Rare 10-year-old will set you back about $29-$39 depending where you buy it. The company also has a 17-year-old version that I can’t wait to try.

I’m pretty sure that this is a first for the alcohol industry. An infused, infused vodka. I don’t even know the proper way to write that. Is it infused-infused vodka?

although I usually leave the flavored vodkas to the sorority girls, my instincts told me I needed to try the new Firefly flavors in the name of The South, journalism and science.

Would it be a complete abomination like all the other flavor infused vodkas? Would it tarnish the reputation of a brand destined for greatness? Or would it be the proverbial icing on the cake?

Firefly released four flavors. Raspberry (which until now I never realized there was a P in raspberry), Mint, Lemon and Peach. First up to bat was the raspberry.

The first thing I found was there’s really no discernible raspberry smell to the vodka. Now I knew from experience original Firefly wasn’t really a vodka to drink straight. It’s kind of like drinking a shot of actual sweet tea before you add water and sugar to dilute it. This version was no different. The strong undiluted tea flavor was to overpowering for me to make out even the slightest nuance of raspberries.

I decided to try adding some water but it just didn’t seem to do the trick like with regular firefly. I then decided it was time to go Spiked Arnold Palmer on its ass and mixed it half and half with some Simply Orange Lemonade.

Jackpot.

The taste hearkened me back to my days at Applebee’s when the raspberry tea flowed like wine when northerners who flocked to Disneyland like the salmon of Capistrano ordered it by the gallons.

It tasted as good, if not better, than the original Firefly Spiked Arnold Palmer. The thing is the raspberry isn’t overpowering. The fact that this is sweet tea vodka still takes center stage in the taste. The raspberry comes into play more in the aftertaste than anything else. The one thing I wish I would have tried was making a Daily Palmer.

It’s like your drinking it and thinking, “Man this is good sweet tea,” then after you swallow and exhale you get just a hint of the raspberry that almost seems to cleanse your palette for the next sip.

The funny thing is this flavored vodka makes a great digestif. Which for those of you who are drunk means, ” Is a great after dinner drink.” The first night I tried it was after I had a great grilled rib eye and was full as a tick. This is actually one of the few liquors that are good to drink on these hot and humid Florida nights.

The Verdict

Unlike all the other infused vodkas, Firefly Raspberry definitely has a place in my collection. Since my first taste I’ve spent several afternoons on my back porch watching the sun settle behind the trees while drinking Raspberry Firefly Vodka. Firefly also has a pretty cool new site that you can check out to get stuff like recipes and cool gear.

Take Grey Goose for example:

On more than one occasion I’ve witnessed so called “ballers” throw down $150 for a bottle of Grey Goose at a club because they equate expensive with being a good vodka. I mean it does claim the be “The Worlds Best Tasting Vodka”  right on the label.

Truth is Grey Goose consistently places near the bottom of every blind taste test it is entered into. Funny thing is it’s usually brands like $16-dollar-a-bottle Smirnoff that win.

But don’t tell that to the Guido’s in Jersey who eagerly flash Grey Goose and cheesy Zoolander poses around in order to draw attention away from their horrible hair and spray-on tans.

Grey goose also makes for a good example of another vodka myth which is all good vodkas have to be made in a certain place. Like Russia. According to Grey Goose, its vodka is made in the “Vodka Region” of France. Seriuosly? The truth is that there is no “Vodka Region” of France or any other country for that matter. That’s like saying Hampsters come from the “Hampster Region” of Rhode Island. Actually I have no idea where Hampsters come from, but you get the idea.

“I thought this was a review about Platinum 7x Vodka?”

This is a review about Platinum 7x. I just had to set the stage before I tell you how it tastes, how much it cost and where it’s made. Platinum 7x is touted as a “premium vodka.” However, it doesn’t carry a premium price tag. I’ve seen it sell anywhere from $11 for a 750ml to $16 for a 1.75L depending on where you buy it.  (In case you’re either slow or drunk or both, I’m in the process of supporting the “good vodkas don’t have to be expensive,” argument.)

Platinum 7x has a very smooth taste and makes one mean screwdriver. It doesn’t have that strong “I just drank rubbing alcohol,” aftertaste like most inexpensive vodkas do. One would venture to say it’s even on the light side despite it being a normal 80 proof spirit.

And as with my perennial favorite, Smirnoff, you can drink quite a bit of this stuff in one sitting without even the slightest tinge of a hangover the next day. Anyone who’s been drinking for any amount of time will bear testament that no hangover from a bottle of hooch costing less than $40 is rare.

So what about the last myth we talked about? What “Vodka Region” does Platinum 7x come from? Would you believe me if I told you this great little vodka came all the way from Franklin County, Kentucky? You know, the “Bourbon Region” of America. Well it does. And I would take the Pepsi Challenge with it against Grey Goose any day of the week.

According to the website Platinum 7X is distilled seven times from American corn.That’s right, not potatoes, wheat or whatever else you can make vodka out of.  Four distillations are carried out in column stills with the remaining three distillations being made in a special pot still at Buffalo Trace Distillery. Again for those of you who are slow and/or drunk that makes 7 distillations, hence the name Platinum 7x.

As usual when it come to good cheap booze I encourage you to be your own judge. Who knows, you might end up like me and have a new vodka for your top 5. But I will guarantee you’ll definitely NOT end up looking like a New Jersey Guido flashing an overpriced bottle of shitty vodka. You’ll look like a person who knows good vodka doesn’t have to be expensive.

When it’s cold outside, I make like the Russians and drink vodka by the gallons. Ok maybe not gallons, but I drink a lot of it. Last night I went to the “Spirit Shoppe Fine Wine and Spirits,” store down from my house here in Gainesville. It was pretty cold outside so I knew I wanted vodka. I just didn’t know what kind.

When I got to the store I made my way to the vodka section only to realize I had had just about every type of vodka that didn’t cost a fortune. Finally after about 15 minutes, the owner, Yogi said I should try Fris Vodka. It fit all the criteria. It was something new, it came recommended by the owner and at $19 for a liter, it was cheap.

The first thing I noticed when I uncapped the bottle to make a screwdriver was how thick the bottle was. It was substantial in exactly the way Richard Simmons isn’t. I did the usual half and half mix with Simply Orange like I do with any new vodka. Wow. This is one of the smoothest vodkas ever. Up until trying Fris, Kettle One was my favorite vodka because of the fact no matter how strong you make the drink, you can barely taste the alcohol. Fris is equally matched with kettle one in that aspect.

However, because Fris is nearly half the cost of Kettle One I hereby crown Fris as my new favorite vodka. It’s basically Kettle One taste at the Smirnoff price. God I love those crafty Danish people.

Today is Nathan’s 23rd birthday. For those of you who are thinking to yourselves, “Who the hell is Nathan?” Nathan is the co-founder and guy who fixes all my tyos when I do some epic drinking and blogging. You may also know him from Drunk Pirate hits like, “15 Ways To Save Money When Going Out,” and “Amarula Cream: It’s Sexy Time.” Because it’s kinda crappy to have your birthday on a Sunday, we all celebrated Nathan’s birthday Friday night. Kudos to His girlfriend Rachel for pulling off a surprise party BTW.

We started out at Las Margaritas where I drank my weight in Dos XX Amber on draft. I mean seriously, what was I supposed to do? They were 36oz mugs for $3.50. We all drank and had a great time. At one point a trio of shot girls, one of which had no business wearing the tight, shiny, sequined dress she was crammed into, came around giving out free samples of Jose Cuervo Silver which could only be described as bizarrely smooth. I expected the usual nose clearing burn that required a lime and beer chaser afterwards, but this stuff was nice and smooth with no harsh aftertaste. If I were allowed to drink tequila, Cuervo Silver would definitely be my go-to tequila.

Once we’d had our fill of Dos XX, tacos and shots from fat shot girls, we decided to check out the new bowling center that just opened. The place is called Strikes and it is ginormous. It has your typical lanes and arcade, but the bar area looks like the sports bet at the Las Vegas Hilton. Dozens of high top tables with high ceilings and massive T.V. screens playing a different sporting event on each one.

As impressive as the huge bar area was, it didn’t hold a candle to the private room (pictured) that you can rent out for parties. It has 4 private lanes, couches, several small plasma screens and two giant plasmas at the end of the lanes. Oddly enough we didn’t even bowl. We drank $5 pitchers of beer and played a little pool.

After last call we headed to my house and well, played Wii bowling. I housed everybody until the Steel Reserve took hold and I got my ass kicked relentlessly by Nathan at both Facebreakers and regular ping pong in the garage. So all in all it was a great and fun night, and I spent most of yesterday trying out differend hangover remedies.

The past few years have seen explosive growth in the infused vodka category. Every manufacturer from Smirnoff to Stoli has gotten into the game by infusing their vodkas with all types of fruits and berries. But leave it to the Dutch to infuse vodka with “herbs.”

As usual I bought a bottle of Sonnema VodkaHerb because it was something I had never tried and it was on sale. The original MSRP is usually around $30. I got a bottle for $14.99 because the owner of the store said it wasn’t moving very well. I was actually the first person to buy a bottle from him. I wasn’t sure at the time if that me brave, adventurous, crazy or just stupid.

I went home and made my usual vodka test drink of vodka and Simply Orange. Mixed half and half. The first thing I noticed was the smell. Light and airy with a hint of…well, herbs. I wouldn’t say it goes great with orange juice, but the pairing doesn’t taste bad. However, Sonnema is probably one of the best martini candidates I’ve ever come across. So the taste is kinda cool as is the smell, but it’s what this mysterious herb infused vodka did to me that was strange.

I did my usual bit of enjoying my drink while sitting in my recliner and doing various things on the computer while getting my daily fill of HD DIRECTV. I usually have 2-3 drinks and stay up until around midnight or 1 a.m. But this night was different. I drank my first Sonema and orange juice and then made myself another around 9:30p.m. I took a few sips and sat it beside me on the end table and put my feet up to watch Fringe. I woke up at 2 a.m. fully reclined with a full glass of watered down Sonnema and orange juice on the end table. I wrote it off as being too tired and not knowing it.

The next night I followed the same routine and got the same results. one and a half drinks and out. “Just a weird coincidence,” I thought to myself. The exact same thing happened each night until the bottle was gone, which didn’t take long considering I was wasting as much as I was drinking every night.

I went on the Sonnema website to find out what kind of herb they use in their vodka. I read every page of every document they had on the site. Nothing. Not a single word about what types of “herbs” they put in Sonnema.

With no real documentation to go on, I can only make assumptions based on my own experiences about what’s in Sonnema. That being said, I only know of one “herb” that puts me out like a light, and I don’t think that it’s a mere coincidence that Sonnema is imported from Holland. You gotta love the Dutch.

Punxsutawney Phil is full of crap. That’s right, I said it. Groundhogs have no business predicting the weather. This little self righteous butt hole comes out of his little house, looks around and then tells everybody we’re going to have 6 more weeks of Winter. Granted, it was 17 degrees here in Florida on Groundhog Day, but it’s been in the 70’s and 80’s all week and the trees are blooming. Spring is well on it’s way here in Florida, and that means it’s time to break out the Firefly Vodka and spend some lazy afternoons on my back porch watching the sun go down.

I was introduced to Firefly last summer and have since done a few posts on the unique tasting vodka from South Carolina. Today I pulled down a bottle from my shelf and decided to try a new Firefly recipe. I’ve had it straight up. I’ve had it with water and lemon. And I’ve made a Spiked Arnold Palmer. All were very good and tasted just like sweet tea with a twist.

Most of the recipes I have for Firefly call for things like Gran Mariner and Cointreau. I didn’t have any of those, nor was I up to going to the store. I dug around until I found all the ingredients to make a variation of the Spiked Arnold Palmer called The Daily Palmer. And luckily it only has two ingredients. Firefly Vodka and Pink Lemonade. Fortunately I had some Country Time Pink Lemonade mix that wasn’t too far out of date.

I made the pink lemonade according the the instructions on the can. Once I had a gallon of sweet, pink lemonade I made The Everyday Palmer according to the instructions on my recipe card. 1/2 Firefly Vodka, 1/2 pink lemonade over ice. God I love these guys

I took my Daily Palmer to the back porch, propped my feet up, enjoyed the squirrels and drank one of the best tasting alcoholic drinks I’ve ever had. As with the other Firefly drinks I’ve tried, this one tasted just like sweet tea, but with a kick. However, I don’t think I’d drink this in public because last time I checked manly men don’t drink pink drinks. So if you’re a dude who wants to try a Daily Palmer, be sure to have a red Solo cup handy.