Simple Saffron vodka cocktail recipes - minimal ingredients

This is a collection of easy Saffron vodka cocktail recipes that you can make at home or in a bar with minimal ingredients. The bold spices of Sub Rosa Saffron vodka benefit from the addition of some sort of juice.  Mango is the best. Have fun.


Ginger Snap
1 1/2 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (just a pinch)
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. orange juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup

Shake vigorously in a mixing glass filled with ice. Pour over crushed ice in a short glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh Cilantro. Very gingery and on the tart side, but quite nice. "Spanking" the cilantro garnish between your palms releases some great aromatics for this drink.


Moscow [Mumbai] Mule
2 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
1/2 oz. lime juice
4 oz. ginger beer
lime wedge for garnish

Pour the vodka and lime juice into a highball glass with ice cubes.  Top off with the high quality ginger beer such as Stewarts or Cock 'n Bull, not the sweet ginger ales. Garnish with the lime wedge.   I've also dropped a Kaffir lime leaf in the drink that has been spanked between you fingers.  You can also muddles a Kaffir lime leaf in the ice before adding the ingredients. Our take on the famous Moscow Mule.


Mexican Standoff
1 1/2 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
3 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. Cointreau or Patron Citronge orange liqueur
Chipotle powder

Pour the Saffron vodka and pineapple juice into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes, and stir well. Drop the orange liqueur into the center of the drink, dust with chipotle powder and serve.


Saffron Martini
2 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz. Cointreau or other high quality orange liqueur

Chill in shaker filled with ice. Strain into martini glass or rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with long lime twist.


G-Spot Tornado
1 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
1 oz. Tequila
4 oz. orange juice
1 oz. grenadine
garnish with a lime wedge; or a orange slice wheel and a cherry.

Build the drink over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and serve with straw. This is our modified Tequila Sunrise, renamed after a Frank Zappa song that we like and an old girl friend that rocks my world to this day.


Golden Orb
2 oz. Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
1 oz. Cointreau [triple sec]
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice or less, to taste for balance
2 oz. mango juice [or orange juice]

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a long twist of lime. This is a quick take on the Hard Mango Lassi party drink below.


Hard Mango Lassi
This is basically an alcohol smoothie inspired by the classic Indian beverage. I love making this cocktail for a group of friends be it 4 people or 15. Scale this to your taste and the tools at hand. If the ice cream is soft, you can make it in a shaker, otherwise use a blender.

Mango ice cream - one pint. Start with a half pint.
Mango juice - Add appox. 6 oz. to make as thin or thick as you like.
Lime juice - the juice of one fresh lime in a half pint of ice cream is fine.
1 cup Saffron vodka

Add ingredients in a blender. Taste it. Add more juice or ice cream. Make it so you can just taste the alcohol. If you want to get fancy, add a touch of triple sec. The creaminess of the ice cream and the sweetness of the mango are the perfect foil to the spiciness of the Saffron vodka. Dust with a sprinkle of cardamom powder.