We had a little added bonus to our traditional family pool day/crab boil to celebrate the 4th of July this year. Dixie Southern Vodka sent us a bottle of their Black Pepper Vodka to try along with their recipe for Crawdaddy Pinchers.

I was excited to try their vodka for a few reasons. Vodka is our preferred drink in general but Dixie Southern Vodka is a craft vodka made in Charleston, SC, where my father’s family is from. I love Charleston. I spent many summers visiting my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and I’d move there in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. So naturally, I thought it was awesome that this vodka hailed from a place so near and dear to my heart and could already see us converting to this brand before we even tried it!

We really love doing this annual crab boil whether it’s just our little family or if we invite friends. You can see some older 4th of July posts here and here. I feel like it’s such a perfect summer thing to do … wearing a swimsuit all day long, splashing around like a kid, sipping on cocktails like a grown-up and eating seafood with your hands while getting ridiculously messy.

This year, I picked up a bag of crawfish to add to our crab boil and to use for these fun little shooters. I’ll post the recipe at the bottom of the page.

I don’t drink vodka straight but I was dying to know what this black pepper flavored vodka actually tasted like. I took a tiny taste and was floored by the flavor. We loved it and couldn’t wait to mix up our drinks!

The shooters were fun starters to our pool day and since I happen to love a great Bloody Mary, I decided the Crawdaddy Pinchers were the perfect segue to making some big daddy Marys for our official 4th of July cocktail.

As luck would have it, I discovered Charleston Bloody Mary mix a few months ago and will never buy another brand. Ever. It’s truly the only mix I’ve ever had that didn’t need anything added to it. I love fun, tasty cocktails but I’m not a huge fan of buying a zillion ingredients and making a mess for a drink or two … or 10. 😉 This stuff is pour and go! I have only tried the bold and spicy and it’s gotten equally rave reviews from anyone I’ve served. I love my Bloody Marys with a pickle as the garnish so I used some homemade quick pickles I’ve recently started making. I like to pretend this is totally healthy. I probably should drink more of them. You know, to be super healthy.

The Crawdaddy Pinchers and Bloody Marys were a fantastic addition to our crab boil but the Dixie Southern Vodka stole the show by making the drinks so much better than plain vodka. I’m already trying to come up with other recipes for it! I’m thinking something with blackberries might be fun and exotic … and healthy… #justification Oyster shooters with this stuff also sounds pretty amazing.

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Have you tried Dixie Southern Vodka yet? Let me know if you’ve concocted any fun cocktails with their flavored vodkas!