Vodka Gummi Bears
by Jen
When you soak gummi bears in vodka, they absorb the alcohol and turn into a yummy fruity treat with a kick. The how-to part of this is pretty simple, so I decided to make things a little more interesting. In addition to regular vodka gummi bears, I made vodka sugar-free gummi bears, vodka gummi worms (purely to see if they turned out any cooler looking than the bears) and vodka Red Fish (these were disgusting, but in the interest of science I will share my mistakes as well as my triumphs).
For those of you who like really detailed instructions, first up is a tutorial. Those of you who already know how to do it, skip ahead to the “Results” heading.
How to make Vodka Gummi Bears
You’ll need:
- Vodka
- Gummi bears or worms, sugar-free or regular
- A glass container (a glass with plastic wrap over it will do – rumor has it plastic does bad things to vodka, so be sure there’s no plastic actually touching the vodka). I used some Anchor Hocking glass storage containers I use for leftovers.
I put the bears/worms/fish into the glass dishes. Then I poured in vodka until it reached the top of the candy. Using that much vodka makes the candy swell and take on a noticeable but not unpleasant “burning” alcohol sensation. If you don’t want the alcohol that strong, use less vodka. (The amount of time you let the bears soak has no impact on how alcoholic they are. They will suck up nearly every drop of vodka you put in, so the trick is to use the right amount for your taste. You can always add more if you taste them after a day or so and think they’re not alcoholic enough.)
Then I put the dishes in the fridge. (The purple stuff is plastic wrap I tucked under the glass lids as extra insurance against the fruity smell leaking out into the whole fridge, but I’m not sure it was necessary.) I left the bears soaking for a total of five days, but after three they had absorbed about all the vodka they could. Give yourself time to leave them in at least a couple of days, if possible. This picture was taken about twelve hours after they started soaking – you can see they’ve absorbed some of the vodka because the level of liquid is lower relative to the bears:
I was told gummi treats would swell up “huge.” The bears did get noticeably bigger, but what really got big was the worms. Here’s a before and after picture (the red bear is sugar free, the green one is regular):
You’ll also find some liquid at the bottom of the dish. This is fruity vodka. It doesn’t look gorgeous or anything (kind of cloudy, may contain a gooey lump or two), so you may not want to serve it at a party, but it’s perfectly drinkable for you.
The Results
The regular gummi bears turned out very yummy, but surprisingly, I liked the sugar free gummi bears better. They had a more refreshing taste than the ones with sugar, stayed a little firmer, and the alcohol kick was a bit stronger. If you’re watching your carbs, this is a really fun way to feel like you’re not.
The gummi worms also came out a little more exciting than the regular bears, in my opinion, but they were messier. I liked these because they got very big and… well, that was it, really. Big huge vodka worms. But they were a little more slippery to grasp than the bears, hence a little messier. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – depends what kind of party you’re having! 
The Red Fish were these gummi-ish, waxy-ish things I found in the candy aisle and thought, why not see if other candies will soak up vodka nicely? The answer, in hindsight: because it’s a waste of vodka. The vodka softened about a 16th of an inch of the outside of the candy into goo, left the interior part hard, and didn’t really penetrate the candy at all. There was still a lot of vodka floating around in that dish. Also, the candies themselves aren’t very tasty. So you really need truly gummi stuff for this. But I have to admit, the candy-flavored vodka in the dish was pretty tasty.
The alcohol content in each vodka gummi isn’t very high, but if you eat many of them, you’ll feel the effects. Be forewarned and plan accordingly.
Posted in Featured, How To, Orange Juice, Vodka on March 22, 2009
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March 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 am
[...] by Mediamst on Mar.23, 2009, under Alcohol, Creative, Food Link here. [...]
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Apple ring and Peach ring gummis would be delicious too!! I am picturing an appletini with gummi apple rings in it… mmmmm….
http://www.candywarehouse.com/gummyrings.html
mmmmm….
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
I’m imagining a bottle of tequila with a giant worm in the bottom. Hmmm,,,
March 24th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Now I need to try this.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:41 am
[...] What’s better than gummy bears? Vodka gummy bears! [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 8:55 am
[...] food #1: Spaghetti tacos (via a guy I met at a party) Wacky food #2: Vodka gummy bears (via [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 11:38 am
[...] Vodka gummy bears? Gross or brilliant? Mix That Drink [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
[...] friend sent me a link to Mix That Drink. They have detailed instructions and pictures on how to kick up your Gummi bears a notch or two. [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I’ve been doing this for years and its great. Also try peach rings in peachtree schnapps. They don’t soak it up quite as well but they are a refreshing delicious treat.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Awesome article. I am going to try this and puke out rainbow gummi bear bits. http://www.thedrunkcanuck.com
March 24th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
[...] If you like vodka and gummi bears, you will love making your own vodka gummi bears. You could also just buy a huge bag of gummi bears and a bottle of [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
[...] Vodka Gummy Bears FTW! Come and get your love! [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
[...] benefits of working in a college town Making vodka gummi bears 7 terrifying creatures you never see coming The Feres twins make synch swimming the top sport [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 9:40 am
[...] Recipe via MixThatDrink [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
There’s a gummy version of the Swedish fish that you can find at the 99 Cent Store sold under the label All Gummies Gourmet. I bet that would work really well.
http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/all_gummies_gourmet_fruity_fish/
The other suggestions sound good too … like the grapefruit slices from Haribo.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:27 am
[...] me ha hecho gracia la idea así que aquí lo dejo por si alguen quiere experimentar. La gente de MixThatDrink.com explican como preparar ositos de goma de vodka. En resumidas cuentas consiste en poner en un [...]
March 30th, 2009 at 4:28 am
If you’re watching your carbs, you shouldn’t be drinking vodka at all
March 30th, 2009 at 9:00 am
is there a drink that can be made with reese’s peanut butter cups?
March 30th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Tomas, vodka has no carbs:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_carbs_in_vodka
Colin, I thought of that, but I think they would just turn into goop that wouldn’t filter well in vodka. However… hmm. Let me work on that, and if I come up with something I’ll post it.
March 30th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Vodka is sold in plastic bottles as well as glass. I can’t imagine a plastic container being a problem for vodka gummies.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
The vodka sold in plastic bottles is very poor quality and is very harsh. Unless your mixing it with lots of juice, I recommend spending a little more and getting smoother vodka in a glass bottle.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:37 am
[...] gummi bears?! You can check out the entire how to over on Mix That Drink. There are an array of different variations on the alcoholic gummi, thanks to these folks. The [...]
April 10th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
[...] source Share and Enjoy: [...]
April 13th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Have you tried those gummy cherries? Do you think those would work? Love to try this for my bday party next weekend… Great idea!
April 13th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Aby, I haven’t tried that myself, but it should work! If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
April 27th, 2009 at 11:28 am
My gummies were in the vodka for a night and are all stuck together. Does this happen to every batch or will they come unglued if i keep them soaking longer?
April 28th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Alex, they’ll come apart if you leave them soaking longer.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:25 am
try doing it with jelly babies aswell =]
May 31st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
[...] interesting [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 8:23 am
[...] for the gummy bears my friend Gillian told me about them and while the instructions over at again mixthatdrink.com…it left out the fact that I would have to air out the gummy bears to let them firm up a [...]
July 16th, 2009 at 7:30 am
can u use black haus
August 28th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
These are the greatest little things ever MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM………………….
September 14th, 2009 at 6:32 am
If you want them to be a little fruitier, use flavored vodla. We did ours with Raspberry, but any flavor will work.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
How many Oz. of vodka do you need per Gummyworm? I was thinking about preparing these for an upcoming party and I’m not sure how much vodka or how many worms to buy.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Vern, it depends. If you want them to get big, you need more vodka – maybe 6 ounces to one little bag of gummiworms. If you don’t care about them swelling up, then just about 3 oz will get a small bag thoroughly vodka-infused. Hope that helps!
October 14th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for this!! Im trying Gummy Savers. Im using a regular tall glass cup. I just barely filled it with the Gummy Savers and vodka. So, hopefully it will work out.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:19 am
GUMMY BEARS R GOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!q!!!!!!!!!
October 26th, 2009 at 8:16 am
[...] get gummi candies in the shape of worms or anything gross or spooky and follow the Vodka Gummi Bears tutorial. Works great with rum, [...]
October 27th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Try doing this with the sour gummies. They are the best.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
to the people wondering about the reeces… you could probably put chunks of peanut butter cups in a blended mudslide or some other kind of drink like that… that’s be good. Not as “cool” as the gummi bears, but still a way to mix chocolate and booze!