Five Miami Cocktails Worth Ordering for National Vodka Day

National Vodka Day on October 4 is the excuse you did not know you needed to order something a little more considered than your usual. Five of Miami’s most celebrated restaurants are offering cocktails that go well beyond the expected, from a Japanese-inspired take on the classic gimlet to a strawberry and hibiscus serve inspired by Edgar Degas, a bright French citrus cocktail, a gold-flake martini at The Setai, and an oyster-finished vodka martini at the Four Seasons. Here is what to order.

Cucumber Shiso Gimlet | ZZ’s Club Miami

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Major Food Group

ZZ’s Club Miami, Major Food Group’s two-story Japanese restaurant and private membership club in the Miami Design District designed by Ken Fulk, runs a cocktail program that reinterprets familiar classics through Japanese ingredients and botanicals. The Cucumber Shiso Gimlet is the most elegant example. Grey Goose Vodka is shaken with fresh cucumber, green shiso, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, lime, cane syrup, and a touch of saline, then fine-strained into a rocks glass over a single large ice cube. The shiso lends subtle notes of anise and mint. The cucumber and lime keep everything crisp. It arrives garnished with a green shiso leaf and a lime wheel, and it is the most refreshing vodka drink currently available in the Design District.

Recipe: 2 oz Grey Goose Vodka, 0.5 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, 0.75 oz fresh lime juice, 0.5 oz cane syrup, 4 dashes saline solution, 3 cucumber slices, 1 green shiso leaf. Shake all ingredients with ice. Fine strain into a rocks glass over a 2×2 inch ice cube. Garnish with a green shiso leaf and lime wheel.

Orangina | Le Jardinier

Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Bastion Collection

At Michelin-starred Le Jardinier in the Miami Design District, Head Bartender and Beverage Innovation Mario Baez created the Orangina as a French citrus riff that is exactly what the name promises. Grey Goose L’Orange is shaken with tangerine purée, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon, and a touch of simple syrup, producing a bright, citrus-forward cocktail with subtle floral notes that sit just behind the fruit. Served over crushed ice and finished with a dehydrated orange slice, it is the lightest and most summery of the three and the one most likely to disappear quickly.

Recipe: 1.5 oz Grey Goose L’Orange, 0.75 oz tangerine purée, 0.5 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, 0.25 oz simple syrup, 1 oz fresh lemon juice. Shake with ice. Strain over crushed ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice.

Degas’ Ballerina | L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Bastion Collection

The most theatrical and the most ambitious of the three. At L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, the only two-Michelin-starred restaurant in South Florida, Head Bartender and Beverage Innovation Mario Baez drew on Edgar Degas’ celebrated paintings of dancers to create a cocktail that reflects both the elegance and the precision of its inspiration. UNA Vodka is combined with a house-made strawberry, hibiscus, and rhubarb cordial, layered with vanilla syrup and fresh lemon. The result balances red fruit and floral notes with tart rhubarb and a bright citrus finish, double-strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass and finished with a single edible microflower. It is the kind of cocktail that arrives looking like it belongs in a museum and drinks like something considerably more approachable.

Recipe: 2 oz UNA Vodka, 0.75 oz house-made strawberry-hibiscus-rhubarb cordial, 0.5 oz vanilla syrup, 0.25 oz fresh lemon juice. Shake vigorously with ice. Double strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with an edible microflower.

Five-Star Gold Martini | The Setai, Miami Beach

The most ostentatious cocktail on this list and the one that makes the clearest statement about what luxury looks like in a glass. The Setai’s Five-Star Gold Martini is built on Russian Standard Gold Vodka and layered with Louis XIII Cognac, Grand Marnier Cuvée 1880, and Riesling ice wine, then finished with edible 24-karat gold flakes that settle across the surface of the coupe. At $100 to $125, it is the most expensive cocktail on this list and one of the most dramatic in Miami.

Recipe: Russian Standard Gold Vodka, Louis XIII Cognac, Grand Marnier Cuvée 1880, Riesling ice wine, edible 24-karat gold flakes. Strained into a Riedel crystal coupe glass and finished with gold flakes.

Altamura Vodka Martini | Séptimo, Four Seasons Hotel Miami

Séptimo, the intimate seventh-floor cocktail destination at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami in Brickell, is built around a contemporary revival of the golden age of mixology. Its vodka martini uses Altamura Vodka, a premium Italian vodka distilled from Altamura durum wheat in Puglia, combined with Séptimo’s house vermouth blend and finished with Mignotte and a fresh oyster. The result is a martini that operates at the intersection of Italian craftsmanship and classic bartending technique, in one of the most refined cocktail rooms currently open in Brickell. For National Vodka Day, this is the most considered pour in the city.

Recipe: Altamura Vodka, Séptimo house vermouth blend, Mignotte, fresh oyster.

For more of Haute Living’s Miami coverage, see From Escargot to Steak Frites: The Best French Restaurants in Miami Right Now and The Best Miami Wine Bars for a By-the-Glass Splurge.