Category Archives: Vodka

For its fifth city-themed, limited edition vodka, our friends at Absolut have brought us something awfully close to home: Absolut SF (because presumably “San Francisco” was too long for the bottle).

Three fruity infusions are added to this special bottling: grape, papaya, and dragon fruit. No huge explanation for the flavoring agents is offered; however, grape is obvious and the papaya and dragon fruit, I am guessing, are a nod to the city’s heavy Far East, Southeast Asian, and Hispanic population. I’d have gone with a little lychee in there, but that’s just my bias.

As for the spirit itself, the grape is hard to miss, but it’s dialed back quite a bit vs. the over-the-top jelly-like vodkas that dominate the liquor store shelves.  Papaya and dragon fruit are elusive but come across more clearly on the nose. The body unfortunately is a bit muddier than that, with the tropical notes at war with the powerful grape essence. Some inharmonious, woodsy flavors, common with all Absolut bottlings, are evident as you sip it.

While the cityscape motif on the front of the bottle is eye-catching, I’m less enamored of the day-glo protest signs that serve as a backdrop (etched on the reverse of the bottle so it’s seen through the glass). I know all too well our activist heritage here, but I don’t want to have to think about it while I’m drinking.

80 proof.

B+ / $20 / absolut.com

The folks at Sidney Frank — the company that made billions by giving us Grey Goose — is back at it. Its new vodka is a bit of a curiosity: It doesn’t actually say “vodka” on the label, it says “organic spirit.”

What is an “organic spirit?” It’s organic vodka (column distilled from organic winter wheat and cut with water from the Snake River aquifer and bottled in Rigby, Idaho), flavored with “a proprietary blend of organic ingredients.”

Those “organic ingredients” are not disclosed, but it’s pretty clear from sip one of American Spirit that they include sugar and plenty of it. American Spirit is silky and smooth, and that’s because it is incredibly sweet. Sugar up front and lasting — for a long time — on the finish. It’s a really tricky (and pretty intelligent) move, as the sweetness pummels your taste buds and latches on for good. You get some bite in the mid-palate, but it’s fleeting and fades in a flash.

I hate to use the term “panty peeler,” but those not in the know who try American Spirit will be amazed that vodka can be so exceedingly smooth. The rest of you, well, you’ll either appreciate what a little sugar (organic, of course!) can do for vodka… or you’ll lambast the thing as a dirty trick.

80 proof. Available May 2011.

B+ / $24 / americanharvestspirit.com

Holland’s Effen expands its line of flavored vodkas — the black cherry version is insanely popular — with this unlikely extension: Cucumber Vodka.

Effen isn’t the first cucumber flavored vodka on the market — Square One makes a good one — but this isn’t half bad. Read the fine print and you’ll see that Effen Cucumber is actually “cucumber and vanilla flavored vodka,” a smart move considering how sharply flavored cucumber can be.

That vanilla gives Effen Cucumber a temperament that it may not otherwise achieve: The cucumber nose and flavor — authentic and crisp — is cut with dessert-like sweetness: The vanilla is distinct but really quite mild, and it’s surprisingly complementary with the cucumber notes.

The finish needs work. It is earthy and bark-like, more evocative of the produce section than I’d like. Certainly worth a try as a mixer — maybe in a Bloody Mary? — as there’s on the whole something worthwhile and charming here.

75 proof.

B+ / $25 / effenvodka.com