Cocktail Thought of the Day- National Vodka Day

Welp, its here. October 4th is National Vodka Day. So to all you Vodka lovers out there I raise my glass to all of you. Let's celebrate early, and celebrate often today. For some of my readers that are just discovering Vodka, I'll share with you a few tidbits and Vodka facts that you might not have known. I know  you probably thinking Vodka is easy, Vodka is a spirit that isn't that complex, but its the opposite. Vodka is labeled as a neutral grain spirit because the process of making it is fermenting and distilling grain which could be a myriad of things including Potato, Rye,  and Wheat. One of the most popular Vodka's today, Ciroc, is distilled from Grapes which makes its taste very distinct. Vodka is usually distilled a minimum of 3 times, and in some cases I've seen Vodka's distilled 10 times and more. Now once its distilled, the filtration process begins, most of the time thru Charcoal. Now Vodka requires no aging process and is ready to drink, BUT you still have to add water to bring it down to a bottling  proof. Most vodkas are bottled at 80 proof, which translates to 40% ABV, or Alcohol by Volume.


Now the fun thing about Vodka is, while it really doesn't have a certain taste( I tend to joke with my clients that  Vodka is the cocktail world's whore, it just goes with everything.. hahaha... but I digress) but each brand of Vodka has some little nuisances and subtleties about them. Here are some of the tastes I got from some of the most popular vodkas on the market today, and while I'm not a big Vodka guy I own all of these in my home bar/lab....Needless to say its been a great day in the lab tasting spirits. I must say this, when you taste you might get some different flavors. I learned from the great Steve Olsen, that when you are tasting spirits, there really isn't a wrong answer. Everyone's palate is different, some mature, some not, and everyone will pull something different out of what we are tasting.

• Belvedere- Citrus, a little Vanilla, Melon, Cherry
• Hangar One- I get all citrus.. Orange, Lime, Lemon. But a smooth clean taste
• Absolut- Dried fruit, and very Floral. 
• Square One- 1 word.. Delicious. Made from organic Rye so very rich and full, spicy,dried fruit, and earthy
• Ciroc- Smooth clean taste,  and grape

Vodka is still the worlds most popular spirit, with over 200 different brands and more and more popping up everyday. And we haven't even touched on the countless flavored vodkas that are on the market. But for today we are just going to celebrate the essence of pure Vodka. So go out today and get yourself a Martini, Moscow Mule, or a Vodka/Tonic and enjoy what truly is a great spirit...

Cheers,

Until Next Time

Mr.Mixologist

Mixing it up Mondays!

Alot of times when I work, people ask me how I come up with recipes. Or can they have my recipes so they can make my drinks at home. Usually its during the busiest time of the shift so I can't ever get right to it.. So since I'm back writing, on Monday's Ill post one of my recipes for a cocktail, whether it was something I was playing around with at home, or submitted it in a competition...

So the 1st one I can only lay claim to 50% of the brainstorming to come up with the recipe, but its a good one. Late last year Effen Vodka brought the Art of Design competition to the Hard Rock Hotel here in Chicago. It was an iron chef type of event, and we were randomly selected into pairs to come up with a cocktail and present it to the audience and judges. Note we only had about 30 mins tops to get everything together. I was paired with my main man Orlando( A Great bartender from the Underground Lounge here in Chicago) who we had never met before the event and we went to work. Funny part about the story was that we had a game plan, but all the ingredients that we wanted to use were taken before we could grab them. So we took mix and match approach and we created the WINNING cocktail called the "Abstract".

THE ABSTRACT

1.5oz Effen Black Cherry Vodka

1oz Red Pepper Infused Simple Syrup

.5 Thatchers Apple Ginger Liqueur

.5 Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

Egg white

Garish with Thyme

Place all ingredients in a shaker. Shake Vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Place the Thyme right in the middle and enjoy. And then it should look a little something like this.......

 It sounds like it shouldn't go together, but when you taste it an array or flavors explode into your mouth. Hence the name the "Abstract" The premise of the competition was the Art of design, and well sometimes abstract art is the best type of art. Its what the artist saw and conveyed to you. Well this cocktail is what we saw, and we conveyed it to everyone at the event. Try it at home and let me know how it tuned out..

Until Next Time

Mr. Mixologist