How To Make A Black Cherry Summer Cocktail With Just 2 Ingredients

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Many cocktails come intimidatingly intricate, calling for obscure ingredients mixed in precise proportions. Sometimes, though, all you need is a tasty mixer and a bottle of vodka. Consider a can of bubbly black cherry water for the task. Grab a brand like the Sparkling Ice Black Cherry Sparkling Water online, and you'll have the perfect cocktail base.

Slightly bitter, lightly sweet, and full of cherry taste, it's a complex mixer conveniently available in bottled form. With five calories per bottle, Sparkling Ice doesn't make a heavy drink, especially when mixed with vodka. The resultant cocktail essentially comes out as a riff on a vodka soda, the least dehydrating cocktail, making it a perfect tipple for summer. Plus, carbonation plays an important role, too. Bubbles up the refreshment factor, and many believe carbon dioxide quickens alcohol absorption – although there's no definitive proof for the claim.

What's assured, though, is that a carbonated black cherry vodka soda tastes good, all while being easy to make. Simply pour a shot of your preferred vodka into an ice-filled glass, top it with the sparkling mixer, stir, and then enjoy. Just like that, you'll have an easy two-ingredient vodka beverage at your disposal.

A black cherry vodka soda tastes good and all, but don't sleep on using the sparkling water in other tasty tipples, too. The sparkling water's bitter and a touch medicinal flavors go especially well with bourbon — the spirit's mixture of sweet and spice welcomes the black cherry palate.

Consider whipping up a refreshing spin on a bourbon sour cocktail, for instance. Mix a shot of the liquor with a squeeze of lemon juice, then pour into an ice-filled glass, and top with the black cherry water. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a few cherries, and you'll have a playful yet easy-to-make cherry sipper.

Such a cocktail build welcomes other fruit additions, too. You could swap the lemon juice for blood orange, thereby incorporating a more floral note. Or imbue a stronger dose of cherry flavors by muddling a fresh batch of fruit alongside the lemon and bourbon, then topping with the bubble water. Want something a touch sweeter? Replace the lemon juice with grenadine. The pomegranate-based syrup lends a richness that also melds with the cherry flavors, showcasing the many directions you can spin a black cherry bourbon drink.