Vodka history anyone?

Given that I was 13 when the soviet union fell and that I had my first cocktail in 2000 (incredibly late I agree), I do not feel embarrased to ask this apparently naive question of the more distinguished members of this forum...
Please inform me... if while going out in the eighties, vodka was... disparaged in any way in particular because it was russian... now "russian" is proudly identified on the bottle of Stoli.. perhaps it was then as well. but Vodka has always been identified with russia... while it was our mortal enemy, what did that mean for martinis... how did you feel sipping a vodka martini in a club in the eighties ... or could you? Do you feel that its lack of popularity had to do with the cold war?

I look forward to your memories!

Even the most confirmed anti-communists still drank vodka. Sure, Stoli and other Russian vodkas were less commonly available during the cold war, but there were plenty of good old American vodkas with Russian sounding names like Kamchatka and Smirnoff. Vodka is not exclusively Russian, either. The Japanese make it, the Swedes make it, the Austrians and the Polish and even the Irish make it. We are just blessed to have a better class of Vodka today for our martinis, and we still don't need the Russian stuff. Ever had Skyy? Myself, I prefer my martinis with gin. Bombay Sapphire. Plymouth. Who really needs vodka anyway?

Kahukini,

A very insightful question you ask indeed!

As one who was in the club scene during the '80's I can confidently tell you that ordering a drink with vodka did not summon an inquiry from the House sub-committee on UnAmerican Activities.

HOWEVER! Anyone ordering borscht was immediately hauled off by the CIA and questioned with cattle prods (ouch).

I think the most insightful question about vodka is the following: This is a spirit that is DESIGNED to be absolutely flavor neutral. This is how it is defined by the ABC. While there is no question that there is a definite difference between something off the bottom shelf from San Jose that tastes like molten lava, and something from the top that is quite smooth, what does the smooth taste like? As far as I can tell, nothing. Smooth nothing. Can anyone tell the difference between potato and grain vodka?

I guess my point is that, worrying about all the different top shelf brands (Ketel, Chopin, Grey Goose, Belvedere, etc.) seems a bit silly. Just pick a half decent one and run with it.

Thoughts?

-martin

I don't have vodka very often, but there was one outstanding drink I thought I'd mention here. I had this at the Encounter at the LAX airport, and it's called a Milky Way. I think it was just two ingredients, in a martini glass:

• vanilla Stoli
• white creme de cacao

HOO HAH! Crystal clear, icy, and delicious. I don't know the proportions they use at the Encounter, but there's a similar drink called String of Pearls or something like that, which I think is 2 parts vodka to 1 part c-de-c, and which also includes some cream.

Speaking of booze places of origin, I always wondered why "authentic" polynesian drinks use mostly caribbean rum. Why would rum be any more authentic than tequila, bourbon, or any other non-polynesian alcohol? Maybe because authentic is really in light of the choices of post-war bartenders and drink wizards like Donn Beach, as opposed to what original hawaiians drank to feel tipsy? Just like the pop tiki bonanza is really more about mainland fantasy and escapism, than polynesian spirituality?

-Randy

Speaking of booze places of origin, I always wondered why "authentic" polynesian drinks use mostly caribbean rum. Why would rum be any more authentic than tequila, bourbon, or any other non-polynesian alcohol?

Just like the pop tiki bonanza is really more about mainland fantasy and escapism, than polynesian spirituality?

-Randy

Good question, I think the reason is simply that rum is basically an island spirit. A palm tree is a palm tree.

-martin

Actually, Polynesian authenticity had nothing to do with it. Rum is a by-product of sugar cane, which was mass produced and a big industry in the Carribean at the time. Hence, it was was the cheapest liquer to mix drinks with. Over time, Hawaiian sugar cane factories began producing rum as well. As the lore of Polynesian culture grew in the 50's & 60's, I think the lines of authenticity blurred and an irony was born: Authentic polynesian cocktails must be made with Carribean rum!

A polynesian cocktail is in itself a bit of an oxymoron. The natives of ancient Hawaii and other South Pacific islands did not consume alcohol. Their elixir of choice was kava.

Getting back to the discussion on vodka: It was practically nonexistent in the U.S. until the 50's, when a fella named Smirnoff wanted to import it from the Soviet Union so he invented a drink called the Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice) to increase it's popularity. In the 60s James Bond films increased the popularity of the vodka martini. And in the 70s boring mixed drinks like the screwdriver pratically killed off the classic cocktail. By then rich gourmands were discovering that high-quality vodkas served ice cold were good with caviar, which led to the popularity of Stoli and others.

I would say that for mixing any vodka will do, but for vodka martinis, a good one like Ketel One does the trick. I agree with the ABC that vodkas should have no flavor. That is what the better vodkas do well - a clean flavorless drink. Cheaper vodkas generally impart bad flavors or oiliness. Still, I don't understand the popularity of top shelf vodka. To me a cocktail should have some flavor, and I like the taste of gin (regular Bombay please).

Everyone have a happy new year! I unfortunately will be staying at home with the chicken pox (no, I never had it as a child).

Are you sure it's not smallpox?

[email protected]
http://www.tikigardens.com

On 2002-12-31 15:50, thejab wrote:
Everyone have a happy new year! I unfortunately will be staying at home with the chicken pox (no, I never had it as a child).

i recall a scene from the '87 movie "no way out" w/ kevin costner ordering a shot of stolis at some military function. this was the eighties and he was dressed in navy whites and was an intelligence officer.

granted this was a remake of "the big clock", it should provide a point that if you ordered a russian vodka drink in the eighties i don't think you would be deported. also i bet coke was what was ordered at a bar and consumed in the bathroom. heh heh

thankyoudon'tdrivethru

Remember a movie called Red Heat. Arnold Schwarzinegger plays a Russian cop come to Chicago in search of an escaped convict. He remarks about the aquarium in the American police chief's office, he tells him that's what he uses to relieve stress then asked Arnold "what do Russian cops use to relieve stress" to wit Arnold replies: "VODKA"

And he opened a lockfast place, and took out a round-bellied bottle with a long neck; the glass of it was white like milk, with changing rainbow colours in the grain. Withinsides something obscurely moved, like a shadow and a fire. -The Bottle Imp

[ Edited by: DaneTiki 2009-08-30 19:28 ]

On 2003-01-03 17:13, DaneTiki wrote:

As for rum, much of it is made from molasses. I'm not sure I'd call that a "by-product" of sugar production, as you have to do a lot of boiling to get from cane juice to molasses.

Yes however, molasses is the final by-product in the manufacture of raw sugar from sugar cane. In much of the Carribean, rum distillers are legally required to primarily be sugar refiners. Here's an interesting website that talks about the process:

http://www.nepaldistilleries.com/making_of_rum.html

Regarding the vodka purity issue...
I had the opportunity to bartend at a restaurant for the rich (and people who think they are) this summer called the "Standard Bistro" inside a weird neighborhood development in a county bordering Birmingham called Mt. Laurel
http://www.mtlaurel.com/

• whenever I had patrons sucking down the Grey Goose I felt the sadist need to inform them that I didn't really think the stuff was vodka. It's good, but vodka, come on? There's just too much flavor... it's somewhere between gin and vodka don't you think?
  Several people got very defensive about their choice of vodka, seemed to feel that I was somehow insulting them by suggesting that they were drinking something "fake" - although this was not my point. It's quite real. It's just not vodka :)

Hey Jab
I,m with you on the Bombay. That sh*t's da kine. Like my martini real dry. I poor about a half shot of vermouth in the glass and then swish it around and pour it out. Next comes the chilled Bombay & 2 olives (I like these olives I got from Gilroy, CA stuffed with a clove of garlic).There good for ya too!

On 2002-12-31 15:50, thejab wrote:
when a fella named Smirnoff wanted to import it from the Soviet Union so he invented a drink called the Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice) to increase it's popularity. In the 60s James Bond films

Recently I saw a TV show about the origins of drinks, on FoodTV or A&E or History, and they said that Smirnoff also paid the movie studio to switch James Bond's Martini from a Gin to a Vodka one. I think the show claimed that that was how the Vodka Martini was invented, and it was James Bond was drinking it purely to boost sales of Vodka.

~Hanford

Good article about history of vodka in the U.S., and especially its fairly recent soaring popularity and proliferation of brands and varieties. Also, towards the end, comments about vodka by craft bartenders.
Vodka Nation - How the flavorless, colorless, odorless spirit became a billion-dollar business

Vodka Martini isn't a drink, its gibberish, like "cat hairspray monkey", or "honest politician". :)

The article rather agrees:
"But perhaps the greatest marketing coup for [Smirnoff owner] Heublein was a product placement in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No (1962). Dr. No serves Agent 007 a vodka martini, famously “shaken, not stirred,” and the vodka of preference is Smirnoff. It’s a strange way to make the cocktail, according to Jason Wilson, drinks columnist for the Washington Post: “A martini should always be stirred,” he writes. “That’s the only way you can achieve that silky smooth texture and dry martini clearness . . . a shaken martini is a weaker drink.” And don’t get him started on vodka substituting for gin: “There simply is no such thing as a vodka martini. The martini is certainly more of a broad concept than a specific recipe, but the one constant must be gin and vermouth. Beyond correctness, vodka and vermouth is just a terrible match.”

Best quote from the story:

But it is the chicken breast of cocktails. It is the most boring, least thoughtful, sort of one that you can mix with. For a craft bartender—someone who believes in humanity—this stuff is just a joke and will fade away.

On 2011-08-15 20:20, Limbo Lizard wrote:
“A martini should always be stirred,” he writes. “That’s the only way you can achieve that silky smooth texture and dry martini clearness . . . a shaken martini is a weaker drink.” And don’t get him started on vodka substituting for gin: “There simply is no such thing as a vodka martini. The martini is certainly more of a broad concept than a specific recipe, but the one constant must be gin and vermouth. Beyond correctness, vodka and vermouth is just a terrible match.”

I think that's why there's the trend for martinis to be as dry as possible: because what's popular is VODKA martinis, and vermouth and vodka DON'T go together. As for shaking, let's assume we're working with what passes for a martini made with vodka: vodka and ice and nothing else. Shaken, you get ice chips and a frosty effect.

Why are they still CALLED martinis when they're NOT martinis? Because martinis are trendy. Have been for a few decades. They are supposed to be the drink of class. Vodka martinis are called that for the same reason that thousands of bars made appletinis, or anything else-tinis: it's a nice cocktail, it tastes good, but stick it in a martini-style glass, tack on the suffix 'tini, and suddenly it isn't just a tasty drink, it's a tasty HIGH-CLASS drink! BECAUSE it's "a martini".

A "vodka martini" is just a method to quickly get vodka cold. Put it in a glass with ice, and by the time it gets cold, it's diluted. Me, I like vodka neat and ice cold, so if a really basic bar doesn't have vodka in the freezer or fridge, I can ask for that and get a basic drink they can't screw up. But, correct, it is still not a martini. A martini consists of gin, vermouth, and a garnish of some sort; WHAT garnish is up to you, and can and will influence the flavor. Olives of various kinds, citrus twist, cocktail onion (though technically, that's a Gibson - several probably false stories claim someone named Gibson, who was not a hard drinker, would pay servers to fill his glasses with water, and the onion made them identifiable among all the real martinis).

TornadoTiki specifically ordered a GIN martini this weekend at a local place and the bartender made it with gin and a little bit of olive juice only! You could see her debating back and forth on calling the guy out on it and she finally gave in and asked where the vermouth was. He told her that "everyone drinks it that way"! She pressed him for vermouth, which he couldn't find, and he finally disappeared downstairs for about 10 minutes before he came back with a bottle.

And this isn't the only time this has happened. I've had two bars in downtown Melbourne (FL) and a large nightclub in downtown Orlando that contained 3 bar areas and they all failed to have a bottle of vermouth.

Unfortunately, what has happened is that the term "martini" is now used interchangeably with "cocktail", although we, and especially the cocktail bar owners, should know better. To me, it shows a lack of professionalism. What would you think of an Italian restaurant that called every type of pasta "spaghetti"? You'd think they don't what they're talking about. The same here.

It's always interesting, as well as refreshing, to leave the hinterlands and attend Tales of the Cocktail, where for a solid week, you can hear people talk about cocktails and never once use the word "martini" unless they are referring to the actual drink made with gin and vermouth!

And while I'm ranting -- menus! Check out your local menu and see what they call "cocktails" and what they call "martinis" and try to discover any logical connection between them. It's mystifying to me to see half the drinks at a place called one thing and the other half called something else.

Yeah, I don’t know what the answer is. I blame “ultralounges.” I blame “Sex in the City.” I blame disco. I blame liquor company conglomerates. I blame Hollywood. I blame Vegas. I blame Miami.

When I complain about a bar’s version of a Mai Tai that consists of orange and pineapple juice, dash of grenadine and rum, I get the response of “Well, that’s how we make it.” And I’d be in the minority of complainers. But if you asked for a Screwdriver and received pineapple juice and tequila, everyone would complain.

I will say that I think a lot of the ‘tini bars are slowly going out of fashion. I’m seeing a lot more bars (New York, LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, etc.) that focus on quality craft cocktails and getting them right. It will take awhile for it to trickle down to smaller cities, but I think it will eventually.

I say, patronize good places and encourage others to do the same. Only when it’s “not cool” to go to ‘tini bars will they die. And then 15 years from now someone will come up with a retro-style bar with fake martinis and it will start all over again.

Don't know if this would be of any help, but sharing. Seems to me it might be just cheaper to buy better vodka...LOL

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cheap-Vodka-Taste-Better

Vamp, will that turn Bacardi into Appleton's? :D

To note: The original Bond cocktail, in "Casino Royale," the first Bond novel, does include vodka though it isn't a vodka martini per se, and is shaken. Specifically, it consists of three parts gin, one part vodka, 1/2 part Lillet (the now-defunct Kina Lillet), with a lemon twist.

Traditionally, it's true that the proper martini uses gin. Gin martinis are usually stirred; not only does this leave a crystal-clear drink in this case, but nearly all drinks using entirely transparent ingredients are stirred with ice so as to keep them very clear. Shaking a drink is a good way to get it much colder, much faster (and is often done with anything involving juices or semi-opaque ingredients). However, it'll put bubbles and ice chips in the drink - see below.

The vodka martini came in during the early Bond era and, yes, Smirnoff paid to be put into the films. At that time, we hadn't gotten to the "as little vermouth as possible" school of martini making, and vermouth probably went in those, though vermouth and vodka may not complement each other as well as gin and vermouth. Incidentally, the "as little vermouth as possible" idea may have come from an aversion to vermouth by drinkers (and bartenders) who don't know that vermouth goes stale!

These days, a "vodka martini" isn't a martini - a martini must include vermouth. "Vodka martini" is a classy way (remember, martinis are soooo hip and chic!!*) of ordering vodka neat, and shaking it with ice is the way to go as it makes the drink freezing cold and puts a nice frost on top from the tiny chips of ice. Whereas gin martinis should always be stirred, not because "you'll bruise the gin" but because part of the elegance of the true (gin) martini is the fact that it looks like crystal-clear glacier water! I see no problem with Bond's formula of 3-to-1 gin with vodka if you, like Bond, liked a big, stiff drink!

If you want a really classic vodka drink, though, grab that Moscow Mule. Better yet, hit some thrift stores and find some copper mugs with handles; that's what Moscow Mules (originally developed at the Cock'n'Bull Tavern to both bring in Smirnoff and boost sales of their homemade ginger beer) are properly served in.

*P.S. A huge pet peeve of mine, but off-topic. Bars, those many cocktails you call something-tinis are NOT martinis, even if you put 'em in a martini glass. An appletini is a fine, simple, light, fruity drink, but a martini it isn't!

Nice post Torch!!! I know that all those flavored drinks are not Martinis but at some restaurants those are the only drinks worth sipping. I usually go for a Pear Martini...or in real life "Pear Cocktail."

a vodka gimlet is also a very refreshing cocktail.

I never thought about it before- but a vodka martini is the only shaken drink i can think of that doesnt turn out foamy. i wonder why that is?

The foam in shaken drinks usually comes from either fruit juices or egg whites. A "pure" liquor drink like a martini or a Manhattan, will not get "foamy" no matter how much you shake it. You will, however, get the little ice pieces and opaque finished product mentioned above.

Personally, my only use for vodka is to make infusions. Can't even remember the last time I made a vodka drink for someone.

Potato vodka is much better than grain vodka. My wife is Polish and drinks it like I drink coffee! I prefer it straight, she mixes with mineral water and ice.

In the US, Monopolowa is THE BEST! and very cheap price for the quality. Luskowaskya (sp?) is really good also. But we can't get potato vodka here in Mexico, so we always bring back as much as we can sneak in when we go to the US.

We have been making pineapple infused vodka lately. It makes for some decent evenings.

On 2012-03-26 18:44, TorchGuy wrote:
To note: The original Bond cocktail, in "Casino Royale," the first Bond novel, does include vodka though it isn't a vodka martini per se, and is shaken. Specifically, it consists of three parts gin, one part vodka, 1/2 part Lillet (the now-defunct Kina Lillet), with a lemon twist.

...I see no problem with Bond's formula of 3-to-1 gin with vodka if you, like Bond, liked a big, stiff drink...

It's actually a pretty tasty drink. Cocchi Americano does a great job standing in for the Kina Lillet.