The man behind Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Tito Beveridge, wrote a piece for The New York Times on careers. It’s a nice snapshot of where he came from and what he did before he started making vodka. Any fan should give it a read, and don’t forget to check out our Tito’s Vodka review if you haven’t already.
The Daily Mail India has a short piece on a meeting with Markku Raittinen, Finlandia’s brand ambassador. The article brags about Finlandia’s water source, but does make the important point that the water that goes into vodka matters. Even subtle differences in the calcium concentration can make for inconsistent batches of vodka. It’s something we rarely consider when looking at a vodka as a brand.
The folks at Masters of Malt have one upped themselves since the Naga Chili Vodka coming in at 100,000 Scovilles. The Naga Jolokias, or ghost pepper, vodka rates at 250,000 Scoville. If you’re a masochist, you might be interested in reading Gizmodo’s review of the Naga Jolokia vodka. It’s quite likely that VodkaBuzz will never do a review, so get it while it’s *ahem* hot.
Infusing vodka is a great way to add some flavor, but it takes time to completely infuse. Things are looking up, though, with a new line of infusion bottles from ZingAnything. The Zinger infusers are double walled (so they don’t sweat) bottles with a chamber at the bottom to pulverize fruit. In 15 minutes, the vodka (or water) steeps in the fruit, infusing it with the fruit flavors. You can make up your own combinations
Continue Reading Easily Infuse Vodka with Aqua Zinger
It’s a real skill to be able to get to the beauty of the raw material through quite an aggressive distillation process. We’re talking about trying to get something up to 95% abv and still have echoes of the raw material and delicate nuances. The imperfections in vodka are the echoes of the raw materials. Much respect for Claire Smith, Belvedere’s head mixologist. More on her thoughts about vodka and New Orleans at NOLA Defender.
Trademark for two very popular brands of vodka, Moskovskaya and Stolichnaya, have been returned to Russian Federation control, Marques reports. The battle for control of the two brands had been going on for a decade. Yuri Shefler acquired the brands during the tumultuous period after the USSR was dissolved. During that period, many state-owned properties were illegally sold off. Shefler asserts that he rightfully acquired the brands from the state. The Court ruled that no
Continue Reading Stoli and Moskovskaya Returned to State Control
Alexander Nikishin understands the role vodka has played in the history of Russia. So much so that he has opened a museum in Kristall distillery, where Stolichnaya is made, with over 50,000 items connected to the history of Russian vodka. It’s not just the history of vodka that he finds impressive. The economic impact via agricultural, production, and distribution is tremendous to Russia. The museum gets some push back from the family of alcoholics, but
Continue Reading A Vodka Historian
Drink Spirits shared what I consider to be a great alternative to beer for vodka drinkers called Air, short for Alcohol Inspired Refresher. The down side of vodka is that it’s easy to go too far. Beer has a relatively low alcohol content, so it takes a fair amount to get a buzz going. Plus, vodka isn’t quite as portable as beer out of the box. Air is a 4% ABV “malt beverage” that is
Continue Reading A Beer Alternative for Vodka Drinkers
Over at Liquor.com, Dushan Zaric tells you how to drink vodka. He suggests the types of vodkas to use in different scenarios. The Yugoslavian-born writer does make another interesting point: However, the liquor was never created for mixing—it was intended to be a food spirit. Just as wine in southern Europe was developed to be enjoyed with meals, so were the vodkas of northern Europe, where grapes didn’t grow easily. In the US, it’s far
Continue Reading Liquor.com Tells You How To Drink Vodka
Over at Reuters, Kara Newman describes her experience with spicy vodka in Kiev, Ukraine. A long standing tradition in the Ukraine, she calls their hot vodka, such as honey pepper and horseradish, the first flavored vodka. Bartender Yuriy Sokiryan suggests that helps Ukrainians have more sophisticated tastes. We’ve reviewed National Vodka’s Horseradish and Pepparo, but couldn’t see ourselves drinking it straight all the time (well, maybe the Pepparo, which had a pepper in the bottle).