Mix That Drink Kitschy Drink Recipes
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.
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.
That is because alcohol evaporates.
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
I think your fridge temp may be up too high. Try turning it down a notch or maybe putting the container closer to the door – the back is normally colder than closer to the door.
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 tried this & advise you not to try it
I did it with worms & bears & they get hard in the Jello & hince really hurt your throat if you try them as shots .
I am definitely gonna try the Drunken gummy bears they sound yummy!
I did it and after I took the bear out, it started to shrink, It is in the fridge for 2 days.
Alcohol evaporates….that’s why it is shrinking.
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 can’t speak from personal experience but I’d imagine it’s not a good idea, as the main point is to have something as colourless, odourless and flavourless as possible so as not to interfere with the bears…
My boyfriend and i are gonna try the gummy coke bottles with rum.. yummm
friend of mine did these with gin-it was really nice
Apple pucker or malibu red work BEST…I make these ever week …vodka makes them taste like medicine….also try sour patch kids….my customers love them too….if you like peach…use the peach gummy treats/peach schnapps…they got the best ratings…
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:-)
great idea
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??????
its cause your using everclear. this calls for VODKA
I’m guessing the alcohol content is too high and it’s causing the bears to actually lose the moisture inside of them because the external environment has so much ethanol and so little water. In vodka-bears, i’d imagine the ratio is roughly equal, which is why the bears soak it up, but the vodka also gets flavored. Check and see if your everclear has taken any of the gummi bear flavor.
Also, don’t forget to leave things soaking for a few days – it’s necessary for all infusions and the like.
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?
Infusions can be done at room temperature, and will actually be faster at room temp. Be careful with this one, though – the cooler temperatures should help the bears stay a little firmer and if the ambient temperature is too high, you may wind up with jelly.
Can you put the vodka gummy bares in the freezer?
i also want to know this—im sure its the same considering alcohol doesnt freeze but i was wondering this too
I haven’t tried it!
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
I make them with rum and put them in fridge in a plastic screw top container. I call them rumgums. Vodka is sold in plastic containers all the time. So not sure what is supposed to happen with plastic. i keep them in a cooler for days while camping.
Ok, so once they’re soaked and everything, it is alright to transport them in room temperature or more? I plan on taking these camping and just need to know if I should keep them cold or not. Thanks!! I love all the comments, its helped figure out what will work or not! Gonna try this next weekend!
They don’t really need to be kept chilled. The worst that can happen is they might get slightly gooey, but that can happen over the course of a party when you’re leaving them out for guests to help themselves.
Ok, thanks so much! I put my “test-run” batch in when I got home. Can’t wait to try them out!!
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
i made these on rugby tour and you dont have to leave them for that long we made them in about 2 hours they just dont soke up as much vodka
do you need to refrigerate them while its absorbing?i was hoping i could just leave them in my room for a few days
Do not leave them out!! I did the same thing and the gummy bears dissolved in the vodka. Second time I made them I placed them straight in the fridge and they came out perfect
I was thinking will the Gummy bears work well with London Dry Gin or other hard liquor?
I do believe on the note up top it says to iffor you refridgerate them, and i do believe it says this is for 21 and up. So alexis why not include why your needing them them in your room….
Why not try to sound less like a total douche?
Would gummy lifesavers work also?? And how about different flavors vodka?? I can’t wait to try these! Having a party in a couple weeks, I better get them started!!
Sure! gummi lifesavers should do just fine. Flavored vodkas should also work well, but it will be different – flavored vodkas often come at a lower alcohol percentage, so the result may be very sweet and not as strong. If that’s what you want though, cheers!
if you put these in the freezer would it speed the process up?
A freezer would probably slow things down… in theory, leaving them at room temperature should speed things up and work just fine. I know I’ve done it to make fruit infused vodkas.
i was just wondering if it speeds up the process or not to put them in the freezer? im hoping to have these ready by tomorrow
ok, heres the medium term storage scoop. after almost two weeks of gummies soaking up vodka, they were very sticky and still a little moist. the bowl ( food grade plastic) was left out overnight due to cleaning the fridge. so everything kind of melted, and when we put them back into the fridge for a night. the next day they were solidified like a giant jello shot, but chewier like gummies, pretty much half and half. at this point they could be cut into squares. still sticky, this aint no finger food. LOL. but toothpicks work like a charm. you could definately taste the Vodka, but not so much unless you had a really big piece, think 1 inch square. I recomend 1/2″ square pieces, or SMALLER, it all depends how thick they are. mine were about 1/2″ thick.
I have to try this thanks for sharing, I tried something similar with sour cherry blasters and vodka, which made for a great drink for shots with an incredible hangover to boot.
Does it only work if you use vodka or can you use rum??
Rum will carry a different flavour, but it should work essentially the same. Personally, I prefer vodka, as it’s taste profile seems disappears behind the gummi bear flavor a little more. Both would be good though, so go for it!
can i put them in a ziploc bag after they are done or do they have to stay in a glass.
and airtight, liquid-bearing (hah, pun) vessel will work. It’s just a little easier in a glass. I also don’t know how alcohol interacts with the plastics of a ziploc, though probably nothing to worry about there. Personally, I like to use mason jars.
Awesome! I will try this soon.
Also, enough with the questions people. It says “Comments”, not “Bug the poor girl”.
Thanks, dear!
I put my gummt bears in whipped cream flavored vodka about 6pm. This am, 7:00 they were all stuck together like one bug gummy. They were kinda hard in the middle (as expected) and w some effort seemed to be able to separate. I was running late to woro I didn’t have much time to sit and mess w em very long. What went wrong? Should I add more vodka?
I’d just give them more time. From the comments, it sounds like different brands don’t all work at the same speed, so it might take longer.
Have thesame issue they are all stuck togheter although the party is in 12 more hours, if they dont separate ill just kut them with a knife ahahaha
*gummy
Lol oops please excuse all my misspellings, riding to work typing on my phone.
I am curious I am making in a few days i have 1/2 gallon glass pickle jars and was wondering how much room i need to leave at the top for them to expand? Thanks
could you use sour gummy bears? or gummy worms
Avoid sour things… the sour flavoring on the outside will come off in the alcohol and leave an unpleasant, bitter taste. It may depend on which ones you use, but I’ve never had any luck with it.
If you use a really good vodka, pour the vodka in a tall glass filled with gummy anything. Keep your bag too, do not throw it away you’ll need it later. Put the tall glass of gummy(whatever) and vodka in the freezer overnight or for a couple days. When you take them out of the freezer each gummy will have a middle filled with vodka balls if bears/ tubes if worms. Put them pack in the same bag or a zip lock baggy and take them wherever you go, eat them and it will not show up on a breathalyzer me and my cousin and sisters do it a lot and it works. Used to anyways, it’s a great snack for parties.
The only way it wouldn’t show up on a breathalyzer is if you were not consuming that many of them or if they were very weak. Just because they are in a gummy bear doesn’t mean it hides the alcohol on your breathe for the same reason gum doesn’t. Everytime you exhale it comes up from your bloodstream, hence the reason you can’t hide it. So either your just saying that to sound cool or your not getting any alcohol consumption in your gummys.
Could you just put them in a bottle of vodka and just drink the bottle? After letting them sit for a week of course. Then at the end of the bottle you have gummies?
It’ll take plenty of gummies to fill it up and you may need to make some room for them by drinking or pouring off a little, but it should work. You should end with some nicely flavored, weaker vodka and some tasty alcohol bears.
I just started a batch of these yesterday and after I put them in the fridge they solidified into this like jello goop and it seems like this isn’t supposed to happen? I have almost 2 pounds of Great Value (Walmart’s brand) bears split into 3 jars with lids soaked in almost an entire 750 ml bottle of Wolfschmidt 100 proof vodka. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea of why this is happening or what to do stop them from turning into jello? When I woke up today I stirred them up and my mom started to just shake the bottle and that seems to have made the jello-ness go away but I figure once I put them back in the fridge they’ll go back to jello. So any ideas? Is it because of a brand? or maybe that I have them in a jar with a lid? My fridge is too cold? I really have no idea what the problem is so any help would be awesome.
They serve these at Applebees for $1.00 a container of about 10-12. They were not bad, but we were having a family dinner and the young one with us commented that if she saw those out camping or at a get together she would not hesitate to eat a gummy bear/worm – maybe a childs goody is not the best choice for a new alcohol treat for adults??!! Just my opinion.
Surely people aren’t going to make a batch of vodka gummy bears and then leave them where unsupervised kids could get at them? That would be incredibly irresponsible. Candy is hardly the only place where an unsupervised kid might get hold of alcohol.
obviously, you just don’t let the kid get to them? lol
I want to make the vodka gummy bears for an event tonight, but I just read the instructions and realized that they have to sit for a few days… If I make them and let them refrigerate for a few hours will they absorb enough vodka to have a kick to them?
Errrr…. possibly. I wouldn’t bet on it, though.
Great recipe/article/whatever. Thanks
I made this & the gummy bears ALL stick together.. How can I get them to not stick together? Or is that just how it is? I used Strawberry Pucker! They taste GREAT!
Making for graduation party..on aug 19th..can I jus put the vodka in plastic container or is glass Better? HELP! THANKS!
How long do they last (ie. stay relatively fresh) if you keep them refrigerated?
i tried this with peach rings from the dollar store. it did the same thing as the red fish.
We had some toasted marshmallow vodka in vegas a few months ago… do you think if i roasted these (in the oven, or otherwise) and then steeped, i would get that carmelized toasted flavor?
Haribo Gummi Bears & Absolut Vodka is what I use. In a glad bowl with any kind of lid. Stir once daily.
I’ve made these with regular gummy bears bought in the bulk aisle at the grocery store. I leave them in the plastic container and use enough vodka (I like raspberry) to cover them. I put them in a dark cupboard for three days then use them. The store bought container is relatively shallow. A coworker used a deeper container and ended up with a mess. I haven’t tried sugar-free or other gummy shapes. I wonder how the sour gummies would turn out?
i made tequila gummi worms – and let me just say – DO NOT PUT THEM IN A PLASTIC ZIPLOC BAG WHEN YOU ARE DONE MAKING THEM. they will melt. for whatever reason plastic is bad news so use glass or metal or something. glass is probably best.