Vodka

the_rook

Do you drink Vodka? Which brand? Do you mix? Mix it with what? Is it a staple in your cocktails?

My favourite Vodka is Finlandia which I haven't been able to source in Ireland. It's quite popular in Finland funnily enough. If you watch American Psycho there's a couples of scenes with it. I like it, I can't explain why I like it, I just do.

There is a polish vodka I got a bottle of once in the duty free, call Belvedere, also, a nice vodka.

The typical Smirnoff you get here, No 21, is also very nice. Some people love Absolut, I'm not a big fan.

Sometimes I drink Vodka with water, because it keeps the taste of vodka well but also dilutes it's concentration so you don't drink too much too quickly. But then I also love to mix it with Oceanspray Cranberry juice. I don't like it with orange juice, but find it ok with cola, but never, ever with Red bull.

I have to admit I don't mix it with other spirits, I'm not a vodka martini guy. But I'd be interested to experiment responsibliy if someone has something exceptional to enlighten me about....

Also, Irish vodka, Boru is ok. :-)

Kinetic^

the_rook wrote:

Do you drink Vodka? Which brand? Do you mix? Mix it with what? Is it a stapple in your cocktails?

My favourite Vodka is Finlandia which I haven't been able to source in Ireland. It's quite popular in Finland funnily enough. If you watch American Psycho there's a couples of scenes with it. I like it, I can't explain why I like it, I just do.

There is a polish vodka I got a bottle of once in the duty free, call Belvedere, also, a nice vodka.

The typical Smirnoff you get here, No 21, is also very nice. Some people love Absolut, I'm not a big fan.

Sometimes I drink Vodka with water, because it keeps the taste of vodka well but also dilutes it's concentration so you don't drink too much too quickly. But then I also love to mix it with Oceanspray Cranberry juice. I don't like it with orange juice, but find it ok with cola, but never, ever with Red bull.

I have to admit I don't mix it with other spirits, I'm not a vodka martini guy. But I'd be interested to experiment responsibliy if someone has something exceptional to enlighten me about....

Also, Irish vodka, Boru is ok. :-)

Blue label smirnoff be my fav, mixed with any of the following - Red bull, 7up, smirnoff ice, WKD (blue), rock shandy, coca cola, OJ.

Zaph

Chilled Absolut vodka, some ice, a little Schweppes tonic and a wedge of lime squeezed into the glass before dropping it in. A little stir before drinking and I'm a happy man.

The Bollox

you passed the absolute muck that is Huzzar, avoid at all costs

The Sweeper

Ketel one, stolichnaya, smirnoff. And yes vodka is a staple in my cocktails. As are bacardi, vermouth, triple sec, peach schnapps, bourbon, whiskey, cointreau, gin, cherry brandy, amaretto, baileys, and a few others.

...just not all at the same time.

the_rook

what would you mix vodka with ?

The Sweeper

Lordie... how long is a piece of string?

I'd mix vodka with many things. Depending on my mood.

On it's own, I'd mix it, in order of preference, with white lemonade, or diet coke, or cranberry juice, or lime cordial. I'm not mad about orange or pineapple but they're feasible.

One of the classic drinks of all time is a bloody mary, which is vodka, tomato juice, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, celery salt, lime or lemon juice (and optional horseradish, which I don't like because I don't think it ever mixes in well) served with a stick of celery. Fab drink but I have to be in the mood for it.

After that, the sky's the limit - let's put it this way, if I had a limited cocktail cabinet, I'd make sure it had vodka, bacardi white rum and gin in it, in that order of preference.

If you want something sweet and easy drinking, shake vodka with peach schnapps and serve over ice for a drink called silk panties, or vodka and peach schnapps and a mixer of choice - orange juice for a fuzzy screw, cranberry for a woo-woo, orange and cranberry for a tight snatch (honestly, I don't make these up), vodka and orange juice is a classic screwdriver...

I could go on all evening - is there something specific you had in mind?

Blub2k4

If I'm drinking it in long drinks then I buy the litre bottle of Imperial vodka from Tescos for 21 euroish, you cant beat it, it's being mixed anyway so quality is not an issue and as it's a clear white spirit there's very little they can get wrong.
If I am drinking it classic and neat (from freezer) then I like an absolut or sometimes a zybrowka (from Poland) but Zybrowka I normally drink Polish style with some good apple juice. Absolut Zitron is also something special if drunk classic style straight from the freezer into a frozen shot glass.
I have another trick with the Imperial vodka that I will keep for a drink of the week shortly.

Beruthiel

my stable diet while partaking of a beverage in a pub is
vodka + diet coke + ice + lemon slice

Gilgamesh

the only vodka I can actually say I prefer to all other ones is Danska (sp?).
Never had any better than tha sofar, is a biatch to find in this country though.
Otherwise, I enjoy drinking people under the table by doing extreme mixes of completely different alcoholic beverages

rubadub

Finlandia is available in o'briens. I got it for US$6 on holidays for a litre! lovely stuff
Stoli is nice straight or mixed.
Skyy is my absolute favourite when mixed, but bland on its own.
grey goose, gorgeous straight, wouldnt waste it in a mixer.
smirnoff red- good for cleaning windows and old boots
boru- better than smirnoff, use it to clean newer boots
smirnoff black- amazingly smooth, perfect neat or mixed
wyborowa- nice polish vodka
absolut- drinkable straight. get teh 50% red bottle if you can
absolut citron- lovely mixed,they do not put the flavoursome heads back into it like they do with normal absolut, so less off flavours and no hangovers.
ab kurant- ok
ab vanilla- lovely, mix with some 7-up or soda water
tesco finest vodka- great value, decent %

fave mixer apple juice, freshly juiced. The pressed juice in cartons is good. marks & spencer do fresh pressed pineapple juice too.
never coke.

or make your own
www.homedistiller.org

StickyMcGinty

vodka + red bull has to be the most lethal drink ever. the next day you get withdrawel symptoms... but your abs wired the night you drink it!

merlinsmerryman

Smirnoff, Boru, Huzzar and the ultimate 42Below..mix it with whatever is at hand 7Up normally(great for a double) coke to but last time I did I had about 15 vodka and cokes and was in a heap for about 2 days.

RE*AC*TOR

zubrowka, otherwise known as bison grass vodka - nothing comes close to this.

Blisterman

I can't tell the difference between any vodka's ive tasted.

doonothing

the qorst vodka has to be zara. at €6 per naggin, you almost get what you pay for.

i find vodka and coke to be delicious, especially that lemon flavoured diet coke.
if you're looking to completely cover the taste of the vodka, id say try 7up tropical splash, perfect mixer for those who dislike the taste of vodka.

finlandia eh? im guessing its available in duty frees yeah?

o, and that lidl vodka, rachiminikoff or whatever it is! €15 for 750ml, not too bad actully. while you're there, grab the ultra cheap 2l lemonade for a cheap tasting drink! ok mixer, ok vodka...

airetam_storm

Aye the diet coke and lemon is a fine mixer

Nothing to add that hasent been said :rolleyes:

Oh except dont touch mirrors vodka, terrible overpowering taste that cant be masked by anything

And Huzzar isnt as bad as its made out to be by some

Attol

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=629

It's an English site. Never tried Finlandia myself but I've had Koskenkorva. I find it to have quite the kick to it even when mixed down. I'm not sure If I had the 40%, 60% or 80% though.

I drink any crappy vodka. I'm a poor student.

Rb

I've only tasted a few different vodkas, but out of them my favourite has to be plain old Smirnoff No21.
Vodka & blackcurrent in a glass with some ice is always nice when chilling out, have always found vodka&lime too sweet for my own liking though.
Also partial to a vodka(or double ) & redbull on a night out.

Don't like Huzzar one bit, can't put my finger on what was wrong with the taste, but I've tasted it once and won't again.

biko

Absolut is the nicest methinks, with or without extras. Lemon is veeery nice

Note - Mandarin is absolutely disgusting !! I haven't been able to mix this horrendous potion with anything, even OJ, and come up with something that's even close to drinkable...

rubadub

rb_ie wrote:

vodka&lime too sweet for my own liking though.

Use proper lime juice, not that miwadi crap.

Aboslut citron is citrus fruits, not just lemon, the yellow label makes everybody think it is just lemon. I dont like kurant much, I remember polishing a bottle of citron with C&C lemon & lime in about 1/2 an hour with my mate, we were not even trying to drink quickly, just went down so easily
They now have raspberri which has the liquid coloured red, I have only seen it in holland so far.

Zaph

Haven't seen it in a long time, but Smirnoff did a citrus flavour, the bottle had a green label. Was absolutely outstanding with tonic.

Roddy23

I've a bottle of that up in my room.
Wait that doesn't sound too good.

tea

42 Below Feijoa with fresh lime juice and cranberry or freshly-pressed apple juice.

I wouldn't turn down Grey Goose Citron over ice either.

Kolodny

Gilgamesh wrote:

the only vodka I can actually say I prefer to all other ones is Danska (sp?).
Never had any better than tha sofar, is a biatch to find in this country though.

I'm a Dankza fan too. It's lovely. Got hooked on it when I shared a flat with a mad Danish guy about 10 years ago. He always used to stock up when visiting his family but when he moved home I could never find anywhere that sells it. Finally managed to pick up a litre bottle a couple of weeks ago in Ibiza Airport, of all places!

rubadub

tea wrote:

Grey Goose Citron over ice either.

didnt know they did that. I have had ketel one citron, lovely stuff.

That dankza is the stuff in the metal bottle right?

Photi

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

zubrowka, otherwise known as bison grass vodka - nothing comes close to this.

I concur. A beautiful drink.

Tazz T

Always pick up a bottle of Absolut whenever I'm in a the duty free (obviously not the Dublin duty free).

Hot summer day, large vodka on ice, cover with a good splash of grapefruit juice and another good splash of cranberry.

Only problem is taste so good you can't drink anything else for the rest of the night.

Kolodny

rubadub wrote:

That dankza is the stuff in the metal bottle right?

Aye. Sort of silver flask type bottle. I don't just like it for the packaging though

DaisyDuke

rubadub wrote:

Use proper lime juice, not that miwadi crap.

Aboslut citron is citrus fruits, not just lemon, the yellow label makes everybody think it is just lemon. I dont like kurant much, I remember polishing a bottle of citron with C&C lemon & lime in about 1/2 an hour with my mate, we were not even trying to drink quickly, just went down so easily
They now have raspberri which has the liquid coloured red, I have only seen it in holland so far.

Raspberri is clear as well, believe it or not. I thought it would be rather cool to have a glass of red vodka, but it was not to be. Flavour is quite strong on that one as well, but is good with schweppes white lemonade - TK and the like are too sweet for it.

Vanilla is fantastic on it's own, with coke, or in cocktails with vanilla Haagen Daz.
Grey goose is wonderful.
Has anyone else been to the Vodka bar in the Mardyke in Cork? It has incredible varieties from the bad (Huzzar) to the very good ( 6 flavours of grey goose).

Worst voddie award goes to Grant's. Feckin' paint stripper in a glass.
*shudders at the thought*

AARRRGH

rubadub wrote:

or make your own
www.homedistiller.org

GREAT LINK!!!

I'm actually gonna do this. I'll let you know when I have some vodka. Bring along to a boards beers?

rubadub

DaisyDuke wrote:

Raspberri is clear as well, believe it or not.

Is it nice?
I saw it in schipol airport, amazing duty free there, I was skipping around like a kid in a candy store trying to decide what to get (1.5litre of cointreau for €18...). I thought it was a coloured bottle but thought I shook it and the bottle was clear but liquid wasnt? is the bottle only partially coloured, up to the neck? I was jetlagged and a bit tipsy at the time.

rubadub

dublindude wrote:

GREAT LINK!!!

I'm actually gonna do this. I'll let you know when I have some vodka. Bring along to a boards beers?

that would be illegal...

DaisyDuke

rubadub wrote:

Is it nice?
I saw it in schipol airport, amazing duty free there, I was skipping around like a kid in a candy store trying to decide what to get (1.5litre of cointreau for €18...). I thought it was a coloured bottle but thought I shook it and the bottle was clear but liquid wasnt? is the bottle only partially coloured, up to the neck? I was jetlagged and a bit tipsy at the time.

The bottle is coloured most of the way to the top - I only noticed it going clear when I took the cap off. Very nice bottle though. As for the drink...personally, I'd prefer either citron or Vanilla as the flavoured ones go. (I got a litre of vanilla and raspberri there for 35 euro! Vanilla is nearly gone already...) It seems a little...sweetie. I've only tried it with white so far (schweppes slimline - everything else was too sweet with it). Quite strong in flavour; you wouldn't want to be going for a double with a dribble of mixer!

That said, I can see it being pretty kick ass in cocktails. Just need to find a few recipes is all

rubadub

The absolut in holland duty free was going 2 litre bottles for €22, yes 11 each including flavoured and the red 50%!. The vanilla goes nice with cream, I mixed pressed apple juice, cream and abs vanilla. M&S do fresh squeezed pineapple juice which is also nice with it.

The Sweeper

Less of the drunk, more of the flavour appreciation please.

Enii

Anyone know where Grey Goose can be purchased for a reasonable price. Is is 50 euro in my local Molloys. It is only $26 in duty free for a litre when coming home from the states.

Thraktor

Grey Goose is €45 in O'Brien's, you're not going to find it much cheaper in Ireland (bar duty-free).

rubadub

grey goose is not worth the price here. smirnoff black is a decent enough vodka if you want to try out a reasonably price premium vodka.
Skyy is about €35 here for 700ml. I got 1litre for €11 duty free

Zebra3

Was in Moscow a few years ago and got this beautiful vodka in the duty-free for US$7. Cant remember the name of it and don't ever expect to taste it again.

Have to agree with the comments re Finlandia. Excellent stuff. First got it in a Norwegian duty-free shop three years ago. About €10 for a litre bottle which wasn't bad considering it's about €9 for a pint of beer in a Norwegian pub . :eek:

Alkers

Speaking of home distilling and what not, has anyone heard or seen of the home-brew vodka kits? They don't involve distillation and produce vodka etc... to a maximum strength of 37.5%. It's perfectly safe and legal and I think it cost around €25 to make a galon! I can't remember where I saw this but I'd be well up for doing it now after brewing my own beer a couple of times. Anyone know where to buy this?

rubadub

You wont brew up to 37.5%, it was probably 37.5 degrees proof which is 18.75% (if using the newer proof system).
I have turbo yeasts that get to 18% in 5 days, sometimes less. You can filter or fine the resulting brew and charcoal filter it to make real cheap hooch. Sugar based brews have few cogeners in them so the hangover would be less than wine or beer, esp. if you used charcoal.

But distilling will remove the majority of cogeners. Well distilled vodka needs no charcoal filtering, all these vodka ads about filtering etc are really just admitting what a poor quality product they have produced. Many cheap vodkas are made from the stuff whiskey/rum/brandy makers throw out. They sell it cheap and the smell is removed but not the hangover causing cogeners.

Downtime

Photi wrote:

I concur. A beautiful drink.

If its this little fellow I agree

bluedolphin

vodka + peach schnapps + orange juice....

doesn't matter what brands, i personally (being the cheap one on a student's budget) find that tesco vodka and Olsens peach schnapps (cheaper version of Archers, no diff in taste imho)...plus, what i definitely consider to be the nicest OJ, St Bernard's...
goes down so smoothly...
too smoothly, perhaps....
yum yum yum
im thirsty!

dubmick

I got bottle of Absolut Raspberri in the Algarve last month for €12.95. Looking forward to opening this!

FoxyChild

The nicest vodka around I think is Boru vodka. Huzzar vodka is just nasty!! Smirnoff Vodka's not too bad. I hate vodka and coke, love vodka and miwadi orange. I've also tried vodka and red bull and vodka and lucozade. But to be honest I don't drink vodka much anymore since my drink got spiked last year and it reminds me of that.

Enii

rubadub wrote:

Use proper lime juice, not that miwadi crap.

Lime juice + vodka + sugar = Caipiroska - which is beautiful. They make very good Caipiroskas in TGI's and The Mint Bar in the Westin

Enii

Thraktor wrote:

Grey Goose is €45 in O'Brien's, you're not going to find it much cheaper in Ireland (bar duty-free).

Found Grey Goose for 40 euro in the Off-licence in Tyrrelstown, dublin 15.

tovalee

has anyone tried the Blavod Black Vodka? I'm wondering if the taste is any different than other vodkas.