How to make Skittles Flavored Vodka in less than an hour

Colin Joliat

 

St. Patrick’s Day is dominated by green beer, but this year let vodka get in on the action. Skittles Flavored Vodka is the best St. Paddy’s flair you could possible bring to a party, and it’s easier to make than ever before.

I made Skittles Flavored Vodka for St. Paddy’s Day back in 2009, and it was a major pain in the ass. Trying to get rid of the sugary film with coffee filters or paper towel takes forever and wastes a lot of vodka. By the time I was actually done I really care anymore. I was determined to find an easier way, and that’s exactly what I did. The solution is obvious, too.

Check out how to make Peeps-Infused Vodka for Easter.

Colin Joliat

 

All you need to make Skittles Flavored Vodka is Skittles, vodka, and a Brita pitcher. Pretty short grocery list, right? It doesn’t even matter what vodka you use because you’re going to be packing it with sugar and green apple. I could have sworn green Skittles used to be lime, but the newfangled bags are green apple. I’m disappointed, but I live on.

The toughest part about this is sorting the Skittles. If you have pledges, this would be a perfect team-building exercise for them to do voluntarily. You only need the green ones, so for the love of Christ don’t eat those while separating. If you’re color blind, I’m sorry. You probably shouldn’t have tried my moonshine recipe.

Colin Joliat

 

I funneled the green Skittles from 3 big bags into two water bottles using a makeshift paper funnel. The last thing you want to do after all that work sorting is waste precious Skittles.

Fill the water bottles with vodka and close them. Shake it like a salt shaker and/or Polaroid picture. Leave the bottle on its side and come back and vigorously shake it again every 10 minutes or so.

Colin Joliat

 

After a half hour all the color will be stripped from the Skittles and a decent amount of sugar will have dissolved. There’s absolutely no reason to let them dissolve entirely, so anyone saying you should let it soak for 24 hours is an asshole.

Now comes the part that caused all the problems when I first did this 5 years ago – filtering. I tried coffee filters, paper towel, and cheese cloth. None of them worked well. Meanwhile, a Brita pitcher had been sitting there the entire time. I don’t know why no one has used one before, but it was the answer to all my problems.

Colin Joliat

 

At first it looks like the filter is going to strip the color, but after the first ounce the green starts flowing like a river of clovers. You may need to adgitate the vodka up top a few times after a sugar wall forms on the filter, and it will run through slower than normal, but a little patience will yield a nearly full bottle of vodka without much effort.

WARNING: Because it’s green, your friends will think it’s a drink. They will most certainly poor the vodka on ice and take a sip, only to declare that it’s terrible. Well, they’re drinking straight vodka, so of course it is. Mix it with soda and you’ve got a whole new ball game. I’d also suggest mixing 2 oz cranberry, 1 oz. vodka, .5 oz. Canadian whiskey, .5 oz. sour mix.

Colin Joliat