Late last year, 33-year-old Justin Ruka of Orlando met a flight attendant at a gay bar. About a month later, Ruka saw a familiar face coming down the aisle during an Alaska Airlines flight to San Francisco.
The flight attendant needed only one guess to know what Ruka was drinking. In a flash, Ruka’s tray had two tiny bottles of Tito’s vodka, a can of seltzer water and a lime flavoring packet. Voila: vodka soda.
“It’s kind of cliche,” Ruka said of his drink, but “it was a really nice way to kick off that trip.”
The combination of soda water and vodka has long been a fixture of boozy LGBTQ+ life, particularly among gay men. Over time, it has become a cultural touchpoint and somewhat of an inside joke within the community.
The so-called “gay water” has created business opportunities for entrepreneurs ranging from local bar owners to canned cocktail makers.
Multiple gay-identifying men told CNBC that the drink is their go-to because it’s low in sugar and calories. It can also lead to less of a hangover compared with alternatives, such as tequila or gin, they said. Some add a lime wedge or a splash of cranberry juice to their vodka soda for extra flavor.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Paul Bedard
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.offthepress.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.