This one will definitely catch you by surprise. I’m not talking flavor, I’m not talking looks, I’m saying it will literally catch you by surprise.

If you haven’t had a Smirnoff Ice before, you’re missing out. Not because of the taste, but because of the legendary college tradition known to us as Icing.

From pop culture and Urban Dictionary, Icing is defined as a drinking game: “The rules are simple: if a person sees a Smirnoff Ice, he or she must get down on one knee and chug it … In order to dupe people into stumbling across the beverage, participants have devised creative ways of presenting them with Ices, like strapping the bottles to the backs of dogs or burying them in vats of protein powder.”

Throughout my college career, I’ve chugged my fair share of Smirnoff Ices. But for the sake of this column, I decided to take my time drinking it, really taking in the sugary beverage. There are a variety of flavors — from mango to strawberry acai, wild grape to pomegranate fusion — but I wanted to evaluate the original flavor.

Smirnoff Ice looks like a bottle of lemonade and has a cloudy, misty, whitish color. It smells like candy and is as fizzy as a bottle of pop. As for the oral experience, it tastes like a flat 7-Up, Sprite, Sierra Mist or any lemon-lime soda really. It’s not quite as sweet, and the sour aftertaste reminds you that there is a bit of alcohol in the drink (4.5% ABV).

There are a lot of creative ways to Ice your friends. Some of the funnier ways I’ve been Iced include finding one in my washing machine, in my backpack, outside the shower curtain and in my jacket pocket.

So if you want to find some ways to make your friends bend their knee and chug that sour, sugary, Smirnoff Ice, here are some of my recommendations.

Anywhere in the kitchen is a go. There are so many places in the kitchen that can hide a Smirnoff Ice — the microwave, the fridge, freezer, dishwasher, cabinets — the list goes on. Laundry machines and dryers are always a solid spot as well.

If you’re feeling gutsy, try to bring one into the situation while talking to someone. Maybe hide one in your sleeve and shake a friend’s hand. I’ll let you figure out some fun ways to play the game.

But remember: always play responsibly. The excitement comes from the surprise, not from your friend deciding to actually chug the drink or not.

Published on February 3, 2016 at 8:59 pm