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You're A Better
Man That I Am, Gunga Gin Sorry. On to the VODKA:
To the reascue have come a very few small distillers who are using old style methods of distillation (slower with greater detail to getting rid of the harsh first part of the distillation run as well as the weak end of the run. Then, they don't just toss it in a bottle and get it to the store in your neighborhood within a week or so, they actually mature the vodka for a short period of time. The brand I am most familiar with comes from Bendistillery and is called Crater Lake Vodka. Just looking at the bottle will show the difference. The liquid is not absolutely clear. It has just a hint of color taken from the oak it is aged in for a brief period of time. Then, it is filtered a whopping 10 times. All this imparts just the merest hint of taste and aroma that distinguishes Crater Lake Vodka from practically all of its counterparts.
But wait... there's more! At th 2004 Expo, the Shakers folks were back out here shaking and moving and shocking (pleasantly) a bunch of people. Not only did they brong their wheat vodka, but the now have a rye-based vodka with even more character and 'body' to it. So, one is their wheat vodka, two is their rye vodka, and three is what's in the bottle to the right. Rose. Not rosé as in wine, but rose as in fragrant rose petals softly caressing your lips and tongue and making your nostrils flare in almost orgasmic delight...oops. More about me than you want to know. Anyway, imagine the best roses you have ever smelled with a touch of honey sweetness. This is pink and pretty and soft and delicate and so absolutely unique that I image the big corporate vodka mills will be trying to copy (steal) it any day. GIVE IT A TRY!!!!! And don't you love that bottle? And that is all I have to say about Vodka. GIN: There are four gins that break the mold. These are small batch gins that aren't just grain neutral spirits (read that: vodka) with artificial juniper berry flavor and maybe a hint of blue coloring.
Another is Junipero Gin from Anchor Distilling (yes, the Anchor Steam beer people). It uses juniper with up to a dozen other botanicals for a gin that has real character. Then, and the most unique, is Hendricks Gin from, of all places, Scotland! It is a small batch hand-crafted gin that uses juniper, coriander, cirtus peel, rose petals and cucumber. Don't laugh. Dead serious about the rose petals and cucumber. And you can get the aromas of all the botanicals. Amazing. These gins could be used in martinis (see VYA Vermouth, below), sipped cold and straight, or even at room temperature. Give them a try if you have ever had gin from years ago and stopped because of what gin became in the 70's, 80's and 90's. One other "gin" note. Someone I met more than two years ago from Australia who was "studying" here in the US had been working on her own formula for a "gin" with a select group of herbs and spices. She was using a bit of cardamom as well as some flowers and herbs in her recipe. I watched it distilling. I tasted it still slightly warm right out of the condenser. It was amazing. The cardamom imparted a slight citris aroma to it and the herbals were perfectly balanced. She let me have a nice big taste of it and even gave me a miniarture bottle of it to treasure. If you are out there, contact me please. I assume you are back home now working away at distilling heaven's nectars. I want more. It was the best "gin" I have ever tasted. VYA VERMOUTH: Like all good things, greedy manufacturers both here and abroad, practically ruined vermouth. Vermouth started out as a botanically-flavored wine that mixed very well with gin or vodka at the — today — almost unheard of proportions of 3 parts gin/vodka to 1 part vermouth.
Flash forward to today and VYA Vermouth. Here is both a sweet and a dry vermouth made with botanicals and care. It is unlike vermouth that most of us have tasted. It is good. Take one of the fine gins (chilled) from the above list and mix in with a little VYA Vermouth for a martini that will surprise you. I hope, pleasantly. |
Here
is the reason I don't drink vodka. IT HAS NO TASTE! That's the
way it has been made recently and that is why, I suppose, that
some people drink it. Of course, they are the types that drink
for the buzz, not for the taste experience which is why I drink.
Now,
the surprise of a lifetime (or at least starting in March 2003)
came at that year's Worlds of Whiskies Expo where I was able to
sample a vodka produced in Minnesota. Shakers Vodka is a six-times
distilled wheat vodka in the most distinctive cocktail shaker-shaped
frosted glass bottle. And it has flavor. And character. And I
kicked myself for not asking them for an empty bottle at the Expo.
It took a few months after the Expo, but Beverages and More finally
started carrying it out here in California. Hurrah!
These
use botanicals in much the same way as the original gins were
distilled. Typically a batch of grain neutral spirits is distilled.
Then it is put back in the still with as much as 5-8 times purified
water along with the botanicals (including REAL juniper berries)
that give that particular gin its uniqueness. it is then distilled
slowly with the result... a fragrant and enjoyable liquor.
And
then the dinosaurs died and the manufacturers started making this
nasty flavored stuff they still called vermouth but was not! So,
martini drinkers began using less and less vermouth until today
a good martini includes gin in the glass to which a vermouth bottle
is waved over attempting to spill only a drop or so into the gin.