A friend of mine brought over a bottle of the most obscenely pink drink to my house the other day, Nuvo, and asked me to try it because the bottle very clearly says "For Her" (my friend is a "he"). I was very very very (very!) skeptical because though I have this problem with squealing like a teeny little Hello Kitty of a girl when I see anything pink, I am wary of cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. They almost always taste like...cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. In other words, I'd rather drink Alka-seltzer on the rocks.

The drink is called Nuvo, is from France, and is supposed to be a sparkling vodka. The cocktail is a blend of vodka and Champagne, which is what gives Nuvo it's "sparkle." If the pink doesn't tip you off to the fact that the drink is "fem," then the shape of the bottle will. You can't tell from the photo I took, but when I first saw the bottle, I thought it was something a little more naughty than what I eventually realized it was. It's shaped like a giant tube of lipstick.


I am not quite sure what makes this drink "created expressly for her," or what is in it that will give a woman a "whole new array of sensations." It almost sounds like, well, hormone pills. Nonetheless, I tasted it. The drink is supposed to be enjoyed over ice in a Champagne flute, but I took my first taste straight from the bottle. Classy, I know. The problem is that the bottle is very slender and really is about the size of a very large water bottle.

As pink as Nuvo is, it was much less sweet than what I was bracing myself for. However, it was still too sweet for me, since I tend to drink vodka straight, or at the very most, with a splash of club soda. There was a strange waxy aftertaste that I can't explain in more detail, other than that it has the same sort of aftertaste of cheap grocery store chocolate. It also left a weird residue on my tongue.

I wouldn't buy Nuvo off the shelf, especially since it costs about $30 for a single bottle! My friend brought it to my house, which is the only reason why I tried it. However, in the future, if someone were actually serving Nuvo at some bridal shower of bachelorette party (these are the only occasions I can think for which women would drink the stuff), I'd pass and make a sparkling vodka cocktail myself.