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| Don't over think your choice of vodka for your infusion! Tip: buy what you'd normally buy or downgrade a bit. |
The other day, he asked me if it matters what kind of vodka one
infuses. It’s a great question, and one that deserves an answer.
Huge disclaimer here: I sucked at science classes. I’m not a mixologist, I’m not a bartender and
I’m not a scientist. The closest I’ve ever gotten to the alcohol industry is a
barstool at one of my favorite two Madison bars, the Argus and Genna’s.
So please, allow me to give you vodka advice based on nothing more than what I've learned on the street... er... at the pub. Hey, what I lack in formal training, I more than make up for with personal experience!
Q:
Does it matter what brand of vodka to infuse?
A:
It depends. Here are my vodka rules:
1. I’m
a cheap bastard (but you already knew that). I'm a public worker and thus, I buy what I can afford.
Note: I am for sale. If Stoli wants to sponsor this blog, I’ll only buy Stoli.
If Smirnoff wants a piece of me, they can have me. If someone wants to ship me
a case of vodka, please do. If… you get the picture.
2.
I don’t buy infused vodka. Why buy what you can make yourself? It’s much more
fun to infuse your own. And, I know I’m making mine with the freshest of ingredients. Although,
I’m almost certain the alcohol will kill anything that isn’t fresh. Not to mention infusing infused vodka will seriously mess with your flavors. Finally, infusing infused vodka just seems…dumb. No offense to any big strong (wo)men
out there who infuse already infused vodka. Please don’t beat me up!
3. My
dad always told me you get what you pay for. While this isn’t a rule with
vodka, he’s not that far off. Plus, my dad’s pretty wise and thus, I try to
invoke his wisdom whenever I can.
4.
Don’t ruin the good stuff. Please don’t waste your money by experimenting with
really expensive vodka. Just because you can afford it doesn’t me doesn’t mean
you should waste it. Seriously, I'll turn you in for alcohol abuse!
5.
Vodka absorbs each infusion differently. With some infusions, the fruit, herbs
or candy really flavor the vodka (i.e. marshmallows). Yet in others, the
infusion just accents the vodka (i.e. cucumber).
So, you too can be a cheap bastard like me if you are infusing the right stuff!
6.
Buy what you would normally buy and if anything, downgrade a tad. You’re not
drinking this vodka straight up, so the quality of the vodka matters less in
infused vodka. And it matters even less if you don’t plan to drink your
infusion straight up. If you plan to cut it with soda, etc, the quality matters
even less (I guess this is debatable).
7.
Bacon makes everything better. This is one of life’s maxims. It is really
irrelevant to this conversation, but think about it for a minute… hmmm….
8.
Still thinking about bacon? Yeah, me too! Mmmmmmmm.
9.
When in doubt, buy the one with the funniest label/name. This isn’t my rule,
it’s my lady-friend’s rule. And let’s be honest, which matters more? What I
think, or what she thinks?
10.
A friend once told me an old college trick of his was to buy cheap vodka and
run it through his water filter (Britta, Pur, etc). His claim is that the
charcoal filters help purify the vodka and make it taste better. Then he
infuses it. I’ll admit, I’ve tried this before. What do I know? I suck at
science! But in addition to being a cheap bastard, I can’t argue with my
friend. He drinks like a champ. So I admit, I’ve filtered my cheap vodka a time
or two in the past. I’m not sure it helps, but the placebo affect is amazing!
Cheers,
Craig
Try Tito's vodka. Not horribly expensive but quite decent. Even just over rocks with a twist.
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