Chasers are essential for a pleasurable drinking experience, especially if you’re into spirits as strong as vodka and you’re keen on blunting its taste and aroma.
If you’re using chasers for the first time or you’re looking to widen your horizons, you’ll be surprised at the options available to you. Here’s a list of the 15 best chasers for vodka!
Best Chasers For Vodka
1. Fruit Juice
Since vodka is a neutral spirit, almost every kind of fruit juice works as an excellent chaser because they have enough flavor to overpower the alcoholic taste of a vodka shot.
Fruit juices can either be fresh or store-bought, depending on your preference. Some of the most popular commercial juices include cranberry, pineapple, and orange juice.
These options can taste sweet, tangy, or acidic, depending on the fruit and the concentration of the juice. If you’re not used to drinking vodka, you might want a stronger-tasting fruit juice.
Additionally, you can use different fruit juices as a chaser for every shot. This can help enhance your drinking experience and make each shot more pleasurable.
2. Lemonade
Lemonade is among the most popular vodka chasers today thanks to the fine combination of sweet and citrusy flavors it has.
Conveniently, lemonade chasers can be homemade simply by infusing water with lemon juice. On the other hand, you can opt for a store-bought bottle if you prefer your lemonade to be stronger and sweeter.
However, if you’d like a more traditional use of lemon, forget the juice and simply cut a wedge. Use it as it is or coat it with sugar.
After taking a shot of vodka, take a bite of the wedge and enjoy its flavor.
3. Ginger Beer
Liquor enthusiasts first discovered the delicious combination of ginger beer and vodka at the advent of the Moscow Mule in 1941.
Since then, people have been making their own Moscow Mule by adding ginger beer, crème de cacao, lemon juice, and dry vermouth to their vodka.
This awesome cocktail also paved the way for ginger beer to become the go-to chaser of many vodka drinkers
If you want to give it a try, just make sure that you’re using high-quality ginger beer. Here are some of the most well-known brands today:
- Maine Root Ginger Brew
- Fever-Tree Premium Ginger Beer
- Q Ginger Beer
- Bundaberg Ginger Beer
- Barritt’s Ginger Beer
4. Soda
Sodas are probably the most popular vodka chasers, not only because they’re always available in convenience stores and supermarkets, but also because carbonated drinks blend well with the strong alcoholic taste of vodka.
Most people tend to favor citrus sodas like Mountain Dew, Sprite, and 7 Up because they don’t taste as strong as other sodas, but they provide enough fizz to conceal vodka’s burn.
Moreover, soda also goes well with flavored vodka, especially when you pair the flavors correctly.
Aside from Sprite, Mountain Dew, and 7 Up, here’s a list of the most recommended soda brands for chasing vodka :
- Coca-Cola (Cola)
- Pepsi (Cola)
- Sunkist (Orange)
- Mirinda (Orange)
- Crush (Pineapple)
- Old Jamaica (Pineapple)
- Schweppes (Lemonade)
- Fanta Lemon (Lemonade)
- San Pellegrino (Lemonade)
- Sierra Mist (Lemon & Lime)
5. Chai
Chai is an unusual chaser, but more and more vodka enthusiasts are finding it a pleasant deviation from the usual soda and fruit juice chasers.
Made with black tea, milk, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, and honey, chai can be served hot or cold. As a chaser, however, it’s best taken cold to prevent burns.
Moreover, chai has a pleasant combination of spiciness, sweetness, and creaminess that goes well with a shot of vodka.
Best of all, you can also mix chai with vodka to create an alcoholic chai latte that is tasty and has enough kick in it.
6. Iced Tea
Your iced tea chaser could be black or green tea, lemon, peach, or hibiscus. Regardless, expect that the sweet fruity or botanical flavors will complement your favorite vodka.
Like fruit juice, chai, and lemonade, you can make the iced tea yourself or buy one from the store.
If you opt to make the iced tea yourself to control your sugar intake, just steep your tea bags of choice in 1.5 liters of boiling water and add your desired amount of sugar or honey.
Once cool, place the tea in the jug, add lemon slices, lemon juice, and mint. Chill it in the fridge and serve with plenty of ice.
This should give you a more refreshing and natural-tasting chaser.
7. Pickle Brine
Pickle brine, which is the same as pickle juice, is a chaser commonly used in bars due to its efficiency in cutting the burn of distilled spirits like vodka.
You can order a vodka with a pickleback the next time you go out drinking, or you can buy pickle brine in stores if you plan to drink vodka with your pals at home.
8. Sparkling Mineral Water
Unlike soda, sparkling water is naturally carbonated and it contains tons of minerals that can give each brand its own distinct, bubbly taste.
Paired with a shot of vodka, you’ll enjoy a slightly bitter and salty taste that mimics the usual lime and salt chaser.
9. Tonic water
While tonic water is similar to sparkling water and soda in that they’re all carbonated drinks, its components are slightly different.
Tonic water contains quinine, which gives it a bitter taste to go with all the fizz you enjoy. It’s more likely, however, that the tonic water you’re used to is extra sweet due to the sugars and syrup added to it by commercial brands.
Regardless of how sweet or bitter your tonic water is, trust that it will do the job of disguising the burn that you experience with each shot of vodka.
10. Hard Seltzer
Hard seltzer is all the craze nowadays, thanks to the fine twist it gives alcoholic drinks. Moreover, it’s a great vodka chaser when you need something extra strong to do the job.
Also known as hard sparkling water and spiked seltzer, hard seltzer is just alcohol combined with carbonated water and fruit flavoring.
You can choose from tons of brands, but be sure to stick to those that don’t use added sugars and chemical additives.
11. Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is a cupboard staple in almost every home and it isn’t just good on pancakes and waffles. If you have a sweet tooth, you can also use it as a potent chaser for your vodka.
Additionally, maple syrups are so sticky that the sweetness remains in your mouth long after you’ve swallowed it, effectively reducing any aftertaste that comes with every vodka shot.
12. Lime Juice And Simple Syrup
Compared to buying tonic water or taking maple syrup out of your cupboard, making lime juice and simple syrup is harder work, but it’s totally worth it if you want a good chaser.
While it’s usually mixed with vodka, you can also make it separately to drink after every shot of vodka.
Furthermore, you can play around with the recipe for lime juice and simple syrup so that you’ll have a chaser that tickles your taste buds just right.
13. Tomato Sauce
Another cupboard staple you can resort to is tomato sauce. While it may not be on top of your list, there’s no doubt it can chase vodka well.
Tomato sauce is naturally sweet with herbal notes that give it a fine aftertaste. After taking a shot of vodka, take as little as a couple of drops or as much as a spoonful to savor its flavor.
Interestingly, tomato sauce is also scientifically proven to slow down alcohol absorption, which is ideal if you want to enjoy your vodka without getting intoxicated too soon.
14. Miso Soup
Miso soup is not your regular chaser. Apart from being tasty, the heavy salty flavor of this broth enhances the warmth that you feel after every shot of vodka.
In case you can’t find any miso soup in your supermarket, you can easily make one using dashi granules, miso paste, green onions, tofu, and water.
Furthermore, miso soup is a delicious way to hydrate and slow down the intoxicating effects of vodka, since most soups are made of 92% water.
15. Water
Fortunately, when you’re all out of bubbly drinks, maple syrups, and even tomato sauce, you can rely on plain old water to chase your vodka.
Granted, water may not suffice to disguise vodka’s aftertaste, but it does a great job in reducing the burn and keeping you hydrated.
Lastly, you won’t have to worry about sugar consumption and any possible side effects when you chase your vodka with water. It’s simple and effective, and that’s all that matters.
Take a look at our related articles to discover a list of the smoothest vodka brands, what Dixie vodka is, and vodka and orange juice.
Conclusion
When you want to neutralize the taste and burn of vodka shots, taking chasers is the ideal solution.
Some of the best chasers include soda, fruit juice, lemonade, and even some unusual cupboard staples like maple syrup and tomato sauce.
Using the chaser that suits your palate best will help you enjoy your vodka better, and even prolong intoxication and prevent dehydration.