When you soak gummy 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 gummy bears, I made vodka sugar-free gummy bears, vodka gummy 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.
[Update: there's been a lot of concern in the news recently about kids doing this to sneak drinking past their parents. Mix That Drink tutorials are strictly intended for people of legal drinking age. Vodka gummy bears are especially tricky because you never know how much vodka you're actually consuming with each bear. Even adults need to self-monitor their level of buzz to avoid getting more intoxicated than intended with this treat. So please, be careful and responsible!]
How to make Vodka Gummy Bears
You’ll need:
- Vodka
- Gummy 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 gummy 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.
Drunken Gummy Bears
The regular gummy bears turned out very yummy, but surprisingly, I liked the sugar free gummy bears better. They had a more zingy 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 gummy 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’s 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 gummy-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 true gummy stuff for this. I have to admit, the candy-flavored vodka in the dish was pretty tasty.
The alcohol content in each vodka gummy isn’t very predictable, but they definitely sneak up on you – big time. Be forewarned and plan accordingly – designated drivers and so on.
Find more in How To
Updated: October 13, 2011
Copyright: March 22, 2009
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Oh holy delicious. I want.
I just made some of these.. I came to find out if I needed to refrigerate them or not…
I heard about a bar serving these and wanted to try it out. Sounds kinda like Jello shots, which I love! I didn’t know you had to soak them for that long though. I’m having a get together tomorrow night. I guess we’ll see what 24 hours does for them!
Thanks for the tutorial. Very interesting and answered a lot of my questions!
~Les : )
Hey, so I definitely want to make these. A few questions though: do the bears dry out afterwards, so you can put them in a plastic bag without stickiness? Also, do they smell of vodka? Thanks!!
They don’t smell like vodka. They don’t really get dry – mine stay moist, but not slimy. I think you could put them in a plastic bag, though – they don’t really stick to each other, so I think they wouldn’t stick to the bag. But I’m not sure – just my best guess.
Just curious if they turn out sort of sticky and wet? Or if they end up somewhat like normal gummy bears. I mean, I assume they start out wet, but if they ever get dry.. I don’t know. I’m sure you get what I’m asking, haha. I don’t want to eat them with chopsticks but that could be awesome, if I need to.
Mine stayed a little moist, but not really slimy – hope that makes sense?
I made some and they were slimy put I just left them out uncovered and they dried out .U can always sit then in a strainer and leave them out to Air Dry
I made these and read you can also add some fruit juice into the Vodka mix. This reliving some of the burning and more of a fruity taste in the end. I left them in the Gummie Bear container they came in and covered to the top. Mine got huge and were very noticeable but mine were also very fresh. They tuned out slimy like trying to pick up a fish. I found this very unplensent so I placed them with out a cover in the fridge and a few hours later they went back to feeling like a regular gummie bear and shrank a bit in size.
I tried making these for the first time last night. Followed the recipe and everything … Well when i woke up this morning and checked them they had somehow turned to jello. So now i have a gummy worm and gummy bear jello. Cuz the worms and bears are still intact inside the hard casing of jello
Ive made these a couple times and they always turn out pretty nice. This time I’m dropping them in jello and making vodka soaked gummi jello shots. Should be good. I’ll let you know!
I did it and after I took the bear out, it started to shrink, It is in the fridge for 2 days.
Will they go bad ? Is there a limit to how long they can be stored if made properly ? I’m hoping to make now and serve in 2 weeks…
Does it have to be vodka or can it be any type of acohol?
I’ve made mine with cake flavored vodka and it is GREAT! Gives it a different zing and taste. I would recommend experimenting with different sweet vodka flavors (ie whipped cream, frosting, fruit flavors) to see the impact it makes. But drunk bears are a great addition to any party:-)
Does is matter what type of vodka you use? For example would a cheaper vodka be equally as good as a more pricey one? Or does it not make too big of a difference?
My friend made these for me and he only let them sit for a day and they still absorbed a lot of the vodka. He used 99 apples so they tasted delicious. Still not sure how many you have to eat to get drunk though.
Did I do something wrong? I used 190 proof EVERCLEAR and gummy beat brand. I put them in a jar and the first night I put the lid on it and left them out. The next day I still had the same amount of alcohol in there and the gummy bears didn’t soak up the EVERCLEAR. I then read to use like plastic wrap over the top and to refrigerate them do I took off the lid and put the plastic wrap over te top and refridgerated them. This morning still the same thing. The same alcohol in there and the gummy bears are smaller then the ones in the bag that haven’t been soaked just cause the liquid it’s deminishing them.
What am I doing wrong??????
What gummy bear brand did you use?
any will work I personally got starburst gummies
can you use bacardi too? or does it have to be vodka? && do you HAVE to refrigerate them?
I just wanted to say these rock i never would have thought of something like that so good but i have a some questions does the drink have to be vodka because i would love to try Barbera but i dont want to wast perfectly good wine if it does not work
Can you put the vodka gummy bares in the freezer?
do i have to refridgerate them??
It helps
Want WANT WANT!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi,
Want to make these for a party, can anyone tell me if it would be okay to put them in a tupaware container and transport them for about an hour…. Would they survive??? Thanks
So I saw this on facebook about the vodka gummies. I wanted to make them for mothers day but it says to wait five days …… Is there anything I can do to speed up the process ???? Please help me I already have them placed in the refrigerator. Sincearly, Kathy Lopez
do you need to refrigerate them while its absorbing?i was hoping i could just leave them in my room for a few days
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