Fruit and alcohol? Always a winning combo (proof: sangria, mimosas, fruity cocktails, etc). There’s no way you can go wrong with spiked sweetness, but if you’re going to do it, go all in. You want to use fruit that can absorb a solid amount of booze and get you buzzed ASAP, so I did a test to see which ones you should be using. After soaking a bunch of different fruits in a shot of Smirnoff for 24 hours, I ranked them based on taste, texture, and absorption. Here are the results:
Pineapple (10/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
Solid amount of absorption, and the sweetness of the pineapple masked the vodka taste without sacrificing the concentration of alcohol. Freeze the infused pineapple chunks to make boozy sangria ice cubes, or try a different pineapple-y drink with this spicy jalapeño margarita.
Peaches (8/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
The peach started to look a lil nasty after a day of soaking in Smirnoff, but the flavor stayed the same. The fruit is absorptive enough to get you buzzed after a few bites, but the alcohol flavor was a little more noticeable than in the pineapple. See for yourself how delish peach and booze can taste with this peaches and cream shot.
Strawberries (7/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
The strawberries grayed a little bit, but for the most part kept their flavor and shape. The sweetness was still there, but a distinct vodka flavor was noticeable on the skin of the strawberry. Try soaking them in red wine for a boozy berry with better flavor.
Grapes (4/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
The non-porous skin of the grapes kept them from really absorbing much, so the alcohol mostly stayed on the skin of the fruit. Not bad, but not great—there’s a reason why wine is the most popular alcoholic grape drink.
Kiwi (3/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
The kiwi barely absorbed anything, but it still managed to get mushy and have a strong vodka taste. This kiwi mojito is a better way to mix the two.
Would Not Recommend – Watermelon (2/10)
Photo by Hailey Maher
With drinks like watermelon margaritas and watermelon shots, it’s surprising that the summery food wasn’t the top draft pick for fruits to mix with booze. But after a day soaking, the watermelon was mushy, kind of slimy, and tasted like a weirdly-flavored vodka shot.
With fresh options like this for booze-infusion, you’ll never want to soak a gummy bear again. From this experiment, it’s clear that fleshier fruits tend to hold their flavors and textures best while still retaining a good amount of alcohol. Use basic soaked fruit for a twist on basic shots, or go for something a little fancier, like these brunch drinks, to get a high-class fruit and alcohol combo.