Thirsty Thursday: Sparkling Greyhound

I have really been on a sparkling water kick.  I'm trying to cut back on my soda consumption--I generally only drink diet soda's, but I noticed I don't feel great after drinking one.  But I still want carbonation.  So I've been trying out different sparkling water brands.  So far, my favorite has to be Hyvee's brand grapefruit sparkling water (which we can generally get on sale for like $2-2.50 per 12 pack).  However, I really like Perrier as well (it's just a little pricier).  It reminds me of our honeymoon in Europe--everywhere we ate, if we ordered water, the server would say "gas, no gas?"  "Gas" of course being carbonated water.

So, this is yet another one of those "what do we have in the house" cocktails.  And at the time, we had some lime flavored Perrier, some grapefruit juice (for a grapefruit blonde beer we were brewing), and of course, Missouri's own 360 Vodka.

While I'm not a cocktail connoisseur, I do know that a orange & vodka is a Screwdriver, orange/cran juice and vodka is a Madras, and a grapefruit and vodka is a Greyhound. So, by adding in the Perrier, we have a delicious and refreshing Sparkling Greyhound!  BONUS: This is also relatively low calorie--only 173 calories per 12 oz glass! (For comparison, the same amount of red wine would be over 250 calories.)

INGREDIENTS (makes two cocktails, ~8% ABV each)

2 large glasses, half-full of crushed ice (man, I love our new ice dispenser on our fridge)

2 oz vodka

4 oz grapefruit juice

4-6 oz sparkling water (whatever flavor, or unflavored, that you like)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine vodka and juice in the glass with the ice and stir, then top with the sparkling water.  Garnish with lime or grapefruit wedge (if you have it).  

Cheers!