Vodka — the cool ingredient going beyond bloody mary

Would you be surprised to discover that vodka, the traditional spirit of the countries from around the Baltic Sea and from the Eastern Europe, has an official history dating back since 1405?  When you hear this word, can you think of anything else than the frightening tasteful bloody mary recipe? If not, it would really help you to change your perspective.

 

Taking things one at a time, we are talking about a strong distilled beverage that can have different foundations, from grains to potatoes, and always a minimum of strength set at 40%. If you allow us to make an etymological parenthesis, we shall state that the name can be translated as “little water”. This translation is said to indicate how pure this spirit really is, as even specialists agree that it has the lowest level of fusel oils from all the other alcoholic beverages.

 

Without a doubt, the best way to serve vodka is when it has a temperature of 8, maximum 10 Celsius degrees. Given the fact that its alcohol levels can go up to 60%, and that alcohol has a low freezing point, this spirit can be easily stored in the freezer or at ice. The only thing you should worry however is when the shot served to you is too cold! When you drink this spirit at temperatures lower than 8-Celsius degrees, the bad taste and the low quality become undetectable — your tongue simply does not feel it! Many sellers use this trick, so pay attention to it!

 

The fact that the spirit has no color and no odor makes it an ideal ingredient for different cocktails. Probably the most popular of them all is the bloody mary recipe, made from a base of 1 oz of vodka combined with 3 oz of tomato juice, 2 red hot sauces, 2 green hot sauces, 0.5 doz of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and one of pepper plus optionally a stalk of celery.

 

But what about Long Island Iced Tea, Cosmopolitan, Se x on the Beach, White Russian, Tokyo Tea, Dirty Vodka Martini, Blue Lagoon and many other cocktails? While the spirit can be obtained from the fermentation of almost any ingredient, the combination of fruits and juices is overwhelming, so one can prep various drinks starting from this vodka base!

 

Let us take the popular Cosmopolitan as an example. Aside from the standard alcohol, it includes the triple sec, the cranberry juice and the lime juice mandatory freshly squeezed. This is the traditional recipe, served with a small orange slice flamed on top of glass, to let its oil drop in. The veritable Cosmo has a shy shade of pink and a tart taste, yet it is never too sweet! However, did you know that there are literally tens of alternatives to this recipe? Have you thought about using blue curacao instead of the triple sec, limoncello instead of lime juice, watermelon, white peach or pomegranate instead of cranberry?

 

 

The next time when you will look for a bloody mary recipe, remember that you can do a lot more with a few drops of vodka!