A Matter of Taste
What in the hell does one do with a bottle of whipped cream flavored vodka? I ask because one’s been lying in my freezer for a couple of weeks now. It was a gag gift, pun intended.
Fruit flavors I understand. Espresso and ginger vodkas, I can fathom. But there’s something disturbing about whipped cream vodka.
It is produced by Pinnacle, a French company known for its kaleidoscopic vodkas in flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum, and root beer. As unappealing as this sounds to me, the company sold a million cases last year, making it the world’s fastest growing premium spirit.
Who drinks the stuff? Americans do. Vodka is the most popular liquor in the country and more and more distilleries are chasing the market with an endless number of flavors suited for every pallet. Heck, there’s even bacon vodka. And just this spring, a company in Wasilla, Alaska, announced the creation of a smoked salmon infused vodka for the emerging “carnivorous cocktail” demographic.
o make the fish vodka, they smoke the salmon, remove the skin, grind up the meat, and then mix it with highly concentrated ethanol. The result is an essence de salmon of sorts, which is strained, filtered, and bottled.
Another revolting export from that town.
Flavored vodkas, however, are nothing new. Scandinavians and Russians have been mixing herbs, spices, and honey with their liquor for centuries. It wasn’t until 1986 that flavored vodkas went commercial. That’s when Absolut began marketing Peppar vodka for the Bloody Mary market. It was followed shortly thereafter by Absolut Citron and Absolut Mandarin, and the flavor floodgates opened.
Absolut is still the iconic leader, even as other brands cut into its market share. Their newest creation—Absolut Brooklyn—is a collaboration with movie director Spike Lee. Red apple and ginger flavors evoke the spice and flavor that Brooklyn brings to the Big Apple. It’s a limited edition, one of Absolut’s city vodka series, an effort to keep the brand on the cutting edge. The New Orleans version is infused with mango and black pepper.
As I explored the world of flavored vodkas, I soon discovered that a lot of guys don’t particularly care for ‘em. At least that’s what they say in public. When you get them alone and really press, however, you hear a different story.
One close friend admitted a fondness for raspberry vodka. A very continental gentleman confided that yes he occasionally sips a little ruby red grapefruit vodka. Then there’s the hunky Baltimore Avenue bartender who surprised me one night by whispering, “Try the blueberry” as he handed me a drink. The secrets we men keep.
Personally, I favor classic unflavored vodkas like Gordon’s and Ketel One, mixed quite simply with club soda and garnished with a wedge slice of real lemon. Every now and then, though, I’ll confess I get a taste for some of that Firefly Sweet Tea vodka, and I’ll chill up a bottle for the beach.
I know it’s girly, tawdry even, the kind of drink you’d expect more from a blonde in a pair of Daisy Duke shorts and a straw cowboy hat on the Alabama Redneck Riviera than from an aging fabby boy in a Vilebrequin bathing suit on Poodle Beach. But, hey, I’m comfortable in my masculinity. I like it straight, by the way, with just some ice. And it’s damn good with fried chicken.
Yet, I was still reluctant to try the whipped cream vodka. That is, until the 4th of July, when seven drag queens pulled up in front of my cottage in an orange, 70s-style van to deliver a peach pie. It is a Rehoboth Independence day tradition of sorts, and all that running around in high heels, wigs, and duck tape in the heat had taken its toll. The pie ladies were thirsty, and I don’t mean for water.
I brought out the blue bottle from the freezer. What goes better with peach pie, I asked, than a little whipped cream? It was the moment of truth. Would they or wouldn’t they.
Oh yes they did. And within five minutes almost three quarters of the vodka had been drained. You know what? It’s not too bad.…
Reach Rich Barnett and read more of his stories on Rehoboth at www.rehobothwithrich.blogspot.com.