So my husband Keith is a fairly adventuresome eater. He won’t touch peanut butter (but loves the peanut sauce that comes with satay) and claims to hate mayo (but loves hot creamy artichoke dip and blue cheese dressing, both of which contain a fair amount of mayo). So a few culinary contradictions aside — he’s my biggest fan and is eager to eat anything I cook. Even when I trip up a bit, he will manfully chow down and even eat the leftovers for the next couple of days. He’s a good sport.

So for fun, he’s been known to bring a new-to-me item home and challenge me to make him something tasty. Usually this is a new cut of meat, or an unusual condiment, or something one of his co-workers brought home from abroad. But one day he proudly offered me a bottle of Smirnoff Root Beer Vodka. I don’t usually buy flavored vodkas, so I was curious. This is 100 proof — so pretty potent stuff. I took a quick sip straight up — NOT a fan of it like that. But I do like root beer, so I could smell the potential.

So I roll up my sleeves, determined to develop a couple of cocktails using this intriguing spirit. The first one is just a take on a rum-and-coke. The second one was a no-brainer since root beer floats were a huge treat in my childhood. And yes, in the pic above, I’m drinking it with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Root Beer^2
Serves 1

1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) root beer vodka
1/2 to 1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice
Splash of lime
Root beer (1/3 to 1/2 of a 12 oz bottle)
Maraschino cherry

Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the root beer vodka, cherry juice, and the splash of lime. Fill slowly with root beer. Stir gently. Garnish with the cherry and a colorful straw.

Root Beer Float Gone Wild
Serves 1

Vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) root beer vodka
Root beer (1/3 to 1/2 of a 12 oz bottle)
Maraschino cherry

Fill a tall glass with 2 – 3 scoops of ice cream. Add the root beer vodka. Fill slowly with root beer. Stir gently. Garnish with the cherry and a colorful straw.