Okay - one more grilled bevvy before the sandwich drink I'd teased earlier (seriously -- it's worth the wait). Like so many of my mixology experiments, it was inspired by some fresh produce I had on hand. There was an untouched honeydew melon left over from a bridal shower I'd hosted the weekend before (luckily, they keep well), and I happened to be grilling/smoking a beer can chicken anyhow. It all just came together organically, and the grill's flames added a pleasing touch of caramelized sweetness. I've a feeling I'll be chilling with this fizzy, fruity cooler all summer long.


Grilled Honeydew Sorbet Sparkler


1 honeydew melon
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tbsp fresh lime juice (approx 2 limes)
2 tbsp vodka
Club soda, prosecco or cava
Lime rind


Split a honeydew melon in half, remove pulp and seeds, and grill face-down on the top rack until insides are softened and the surface is caramelized. Scoop out insides and chill in a bowl in the refrigerator.


Once chilled, use a food processor or immersion blender to combine the sugar, lime juice and vodka into the melon, and liquefy. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then transfer the sorbet into an airtight container and chill into the freezer until uniformly hardened.


Fill a goblet with several scoops of sorbet, and top with club soda, prosecco or cava. Garnish with lime rind twist and serve immediately.


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Advertising companies and politicians like to play with semantics for the purpose of changing images. Big soda companies seem to be heavily invested in changing their images this year - with Pepsi completely revamping their packaging and Coke teaming up witt Jay-Z to promote Coke Zero - so it isn't entirely shocking to hear that they no longer want soda to be thought of as "carbonated soft drinks." Instead, they're "sparkling beverages."

In what some might describe as a blending of advertising and politics, the name change represents some social climbing on the part of soda companies. They are trying to distance themselves from their high-calorie, junk food roots, which politicians and other people in positions of power continually hold against them. Unfortunately for the cola companies, soda is so popular that no matter what Coke and Pepsi executives decide to call it, changing the name for the product to "sparkling beverage" is like trying to change the word for "beer": it's just not going to happen.

The effervescence of sparkling wines and champagnes is what makes them so appealing, adding to their flavor in addition to simply providing a fun sensation on your tongue. What if there was a carbonated vodka that could provide the same bubbly experience for cocktail-lovers?

Vodka O2 will be released in the United States early next year. It is a sparkling vodka, made in Britain, that tastes like vodka and soda and can be used in any application where regular vodka is used. Similar in concept to how Zygo and Pink are caffeinated, saving drinkers from having to rely on calorie-laden energy drinks to get a buzz, Vodka O2 effectively eliminates a step from drink preparation, allowing more people to enjoy the spirit on its own.

The spirit is the only one in its category at the moment, although other distributors say that they have similar ones in the works, and has been in limited release in Canada and parts of Europe so far.