Liquorists

Yet another aluminium bottle this time. And besides a fasion reason, it's also because this way this vodka will get chilled quicker. And we all know you should drink your vodka chilled. With the wide plastic cap on top it does remind me a little bit of a vacuum flask.

I don't think i really have to go into how this stuff looks, since, well, it's vodka. So that means i can start off right at the nose.
Which impressed me a bit. Since it's vodka you won't get all kinds of aroma's going on, but the alcohol scent on this one isn't very strong.
I could tell it has a very hint of fruitiness, but that would probably because it says so on their website and i am imagining it, so that would be almost non existant. You could call it a bit crisp instead.

Now, the taste is simular to the smell. You get a bit bitter alcohol taste right away, and it will numb the tongue rather quick. But the bitterness seems to be in the taste itself and only lasts seconds, and then the warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. No direct vodka burn in the throat itself though, it's more the slight bitterness of the taste.

But that is ofcourse when drinking pure, and i don't recall anyone drinking vodka for it's taste. It's either shots, or cocktails. And in cocktails this danzka vodka will blend right in.
A little more on the bitter side (like i mentioned allot by now) then i am used to, but less of the normal vodka taste. On stronger tasting cocktails, for example a white russian, the vodka taste will be even less prominent and almost gone.
All in all a really good deal for the pricerange we are talking about (around €14,-/15,- for a 75CL bottle). Especially when you aren't really focussing on tasting the vodka, you won't notice much of it, besides the effect of the alcohol later in the evening.
I can say it could compete with some brands priced a little higher perfectly well.

For more information visit their website: Danzka vodka (or just click on the picture above)

To fit in with the post below, i thought i'd give this particular brand of vodka a closer look.
First off, Grey Goose is a french brand, the vodka is 40% (80 proof) and it has a fancy looking bottle (i like the frozen look to it).

On to the liquid itself. It's obviously a clear blank liquid, like all vodka's seem to be. It has a tiny bit of a alcohol smell going on, but it's surprisingly little. Other then that, no smell at all.
When drinking it, that changes very rapidly though. Not that you will get a insane alcohol taste, but you do feel the tongue numbing right away, and the famous vodka burn down the throat.

On to mixing it into drinks, since that is probably what everyone is doing with vodka anyway. When mixing it with regular coke, the alcohol smell vanished, no where to be seen. Unless you really dig into it nose deep.
No harsh alcohol taste going on either, it really seems to vanish into the drink, like a good vodka should do. No nasty burn, no harsh alcohol flavour ( admitted, you do keep a little bit of alcohol taste to the drink ofcourse, but compaired with my personal other vodka experiences, it's very tolerable). One of the finest vodka's i've had so far, but also one of the most expensive ones. (looking at €33,- ish for a 100cl bottle). Personally, i think its worth it.
If you're into vodka, this is your thing.

Find more info about Grey Goose, here!

Just a bit of general information about vodka, such as:

What is vodka?
Where does it come from?
What's it made from?


What is vodka.

First off, vodka is a very clear spirit, with very little smell or taste, and between 38% and 40% alcohol in general. There are different laws and rules on how much alcohol a vodka should have to carry the label vodka. In the EU it's 37.5%, while the classic Russian standard was rounded at 40% (80 proof). Due to beeing filtered allot to remove inpurities, it's a very popular liquor to use in cocktails. Since besides adding alcohol it will not change the flavour of the drink dramaticly.


Where does vodka originate from.

This is an ongoing discussion, but it would be in the region of Russia or Poland where the vodka was invented. Currently allot of countries have vodka producing distilleries.


Ingredients.

Like all spirits, there isn't a single ingredient that makes a vodka. Most vodka's seem to be distilled out of grain (often wheat), but some are also distilled out of potatoes.
Since after the distillation finishes, the vodka will contain almost completely out of alcohol, it will be deluted with water.
That's the reason some vodka's may taste watery.
The main difference between vodka and the other spirits is that after the distillation process, it doesn't go in barrels to age, but it gets filtered a few times. The more, the better, to remove all possible impurities.
This also means most of the original smell and taste goes lost in this phase, but since most spirits get a great part of their taste due aging in specific types of wooden barrels, this isn't an issue.

Since the vodka will end up as a very neutral spirit, it will prefectly blend into allot of cocktails, and thats why allot of distilleries made allot of different flavoured verions that will go well in all sorts of drinks.
From all the stronger liquors, vodka is the best selling one.

A few of the bigger vodka brands:

Absolut
Smirnoff
Grey Goose