Vodka can be made from a number of source ingredients, but my two favorite are corn and potatoes. Corn vodkas are typically sweet in flavor and versatile for drinking straight or mixing. The grain seems relatively easy to work with based on the vast amount of very good corn vodkas on the market. In fact, I’ve never rated a corn vodka under 4 stars. Potatoes, on the other hand, can vary. I’ve never had a
Continue Reading Gunnar’s American Series Shootout
Birmingham local bartender fav Feizal Valli at The Atomic Lounge got a shout out in Playboy for bringing the Cosmopolitan into the modern era. Check out Atomic if you’re ever in town. The Atomic Lounge is the most unique bar in all of Birmingham. As best as I could describe, it makes me feel like being in a Fiona Apple music video.
I’m working on a lot of things here at VodkaBuzz. A redesign is well underway, which will accompany a rewrite of the backend, including user accounts to help with authorship and community. The new site is at least year off, maybe more depending on life. It’s hard to tell. I want a platform for the future and I want you to join me along the way. In the meantime, I’m making efforts to do more
Continue Reading The Next VodkaBuzz
Kevin Pilley at the New Zealand Herald had an opportunity to drink with Viktor Korheev, “Russia’s only full-time professional vodka sommelier,” which sounds like the greatest job in the world. Pilley was late to the meeting and forced to drink the penalty shot, a Russian custom dating back to the time of the Tsars. Korheev imparts so many short quips about Russian and vodka history, and how vodka is intrinsically tied to Russa, that I
Continue Reading Drinking With A Vodka Sommelier
Yahoo! News reports that Glazovskiy spirits factory bosses in Glazov, Russia removed a vodka sculpture, considered to be a landmark, due to concerns that it could be interpreted as a vodka advertisement under Vladimir Putin’s strict ban on alcohol advertisements. Oddly, the worry over the ban extends not only to alcohol, but items that are only remotely related to alcohol. Russian media suggested anti-drinking campaigners might have more work left to do in the region.
Continue Reading Russians Remove Vodka Sculpture
Sobieski spokesman Bruce Willis will vote to restructure Sobieski’s parent company Belvedere in the wake of bankruptcy protection, according to the Global Post. Bruce Willis apparently became the top individual shareholder due to his promotion of Sobieski. I expected a top shareholder to support the company, but I didn’t know Bruce Willis was the top individual shareholder. You learn something new every day.
Well Preserved did a vodka infusion over the holidays. Unfortunately, they left the infusion in too long and the infusion went bitter. They didn’t want to throw it away, so they tried to revive the bitter infusion. The found the following to work: Don`t panic. Don`t throw it out. Keep calm. Carry on. Strain the entire lot through several layers of cheesecloth to remove any solids. This worked well and lowered the bitterness from battery
Continue Reading Saving a Bad Infusion
According to The Voice Of Russia, January 31st is the birthdate of vodka. On Jan 31, the famous Russian vodka marks its unofficial B-Day. Back in 1865, the prominent chemist Dmitry Mendeleev revealed a groundbreaking formula for perfect vodka – 40 percent alcohol – in his doctoral thesis “On the Combinations of Water with Alcohol”. So, happy birthday, vodka!
There’s a cool new company making spirits for bartenders. Via Forbes, 86 Co is making vodka, rum, gin, and tequila. Based on Larry Olmsted’s reviews, the gin is good and the rum is perfect for mixing, which is what a bartender would be doing. Unfortunately he didn’t try the vodka. The cool part about 86 Co is the attention they paid to the bottle design. With multiple gripping points and fluid measurements imprinted on the
Continue Reading 86 Co’s Spirits Are Designed For Bartenders
Check out Skyy Vodka’s new TV ad called “Rise.”