thoughts? comments? They seem to be all over the market lately. Personally I’m a fan. I like to drink but I’m not hard core enough to take my drink straight, nor am I skilled (or patient) enough to make a smart cocktail everytime I want something besides beer and wine. So the flavored vodkas are right up my alley. My current fave is Danzka’s grapefruit vodka. Its a fun flavor and counteracts the vodka taste to make it a nice, refreshing beverage.
Technically vodka should have no taste, but I digress.
I’m all for new booze of any type. I like the lemon flavored vodkas to cut corners on bloody marys personally.
However, and since I am that hardcore, many of those flavored vodkas taste awful when consumed straight (I’m thinking here of a bottle of Finlandia Lime flavor I bought on accident) so I see them as mixers at best. But if that’s your poison, cheers mate.
Can’t go wrong with a little Smirnoff Vanilla Twist and some cola. Or Raspberry Twist with some ginger ale.
Ryan, I agree with you on the poor tasting flavors if you buy the cheap-o stuff. But as a general rule the better the alochol quality, the better the taste (IMO anyway). The grapefruit danzka stuff is pretty easy to drink on the rocks though I’ve had trouble with other flavored vodkas since the really tarty stuff tends to be overpowering.
Favorite: Absolut Vanilia. The very best vanilla vodka, and I’ve tried 'em all. Buttery and silky, and a hint sweeter than Stoli Vanil, which is its closest competitor in my opinion. Mixed with ginger ale, or a splash of Coke…or in a White Russian…slurp
Vox makes a tasty raspberry vodka…and Grey Goose has the best orange vodka, IMO…and Stoli makes a lovely coffee vodka that goes really well with chocolate and butterscotch schnapps.
Smirnoff makes a crisp green apple vodka that makes tasty apple martinis, too. And I’ve tried the Danzka Grapefruit and I’m sure it would be very tasty if I liked grapefruit. 
Some of the flavored rums are good, too…Bacardi O is one of my favorites…and Cabana Boy makes a fun pineapple-coconut rum that tastes like suntan lotion. (But in a good way, strangely…)
The trick with flavored liquors is not to assume that you can buy a cheaper brand because it’s flavored…I’m not a huge fan of the Smirnoff flavors b/c they still taste grainy to me, b/c of the lesser vodka. And there’s plenty of even cheaper flavors, like McCormick’s, that are NASTY.
[sub]No, I’m really NOT an alcoholic…I’m a bartender, I swear…and my best friend is a liquor rep, so I get to try everything before it even hits the market. I just read over this and it sounds like all I do is drink, so I felt the need for a disclaimer. 
[/sub]
How about tequila? I had some peach tequila once that I’d bought in Mexico. Damn fine stuff - the same kick as regular tequila, only it’s masked by actual flavor. Which means you drink it, think it’s nice and smooth, and then WHAMMO!
I remember consuming far too much Absolut Kurant (a clear, blackcurrant-flavoured vodka) with some colleagues in a Copenhagen hotel room once - it is nice enough to drink straight, as long as you chill it a little (it was January and we just left it on the oustide window ledge for an hour or two).
Audrey, thats awesome you’ve tried Danzka. I was beginning to think I was the only one in the world who has. Bummer about the vodka but I’m still a fan overall. I also like the packaging a lot – the aluminum is a nice change from the typical glass. Especially since I tend to drop things after, erm, imbibing.
just give me plain old amaretto liquor and I’m happy. 
Zubrowka is damned good vodka. It 's a Polish vodka with a blade of bison grass in it to flavour it, and tastes absolutely fantastic neat after having been left in the freezer for a day or so.
San Tropique Rum.
Tastes like coconut, smells like suntan lotion, goes down like silk.
yea, danzka is the one with the aluminum bottle that looks like a martini shaker right? that stuff is pretty good, a freind of mine had that at his house the other day. I thought the bottle would work great for keeping the vodka chilled, like a vodka thermos… I had never heard of it until recently, is it new?
Yeah, Danzka’s the one in the aluminum bottle. Apparently it’s the “in” thing now for bars to shove it in ice, like a beer, to keep it ice-cold without diluting it with ice.
And yes, Frida’s_Boss, it is new; I’m not sure how new, but I tried it for the first time about three months ago. AFAIK, they make a plain, a grapefruit, and a citrus vodka, all in those groovy bottles. The bar I work at doesn’t even carry it yet. (It takes forever for a new liquor to make it to most ordinary bars, for some reason; bar managers hate adding new bottles to their inventory. sigh)
Mangetout, you’re the only person I’ve met who likes Absolut Kurant! It’s too much for me; I dunno, but I don’t like the intense blackberry flavor. Maybe I just don’t like blackberries; I’ve never actually had a real one. I don’t like any of the citrus vodkas either…Absolut Citron, Skyy Citrus, Smirnoff Citrus, etc…
But I don’t even like a twist of lime in my Absolut and 7, so maybe I just don’t like lime/lemon flavors. (And don’t even try to say that 7-Up or Sprite tastes like lemon/lime…cuz it doesn’t! ;)) Bartenders are always giving me a damn lime anyway, even when I say I don’t want one. And if they squeeze it, it’s all over. You can’t get rid of the flavor. sigh
Absolut Kurant is my favorite vodka, Audrey, so I guess you now know two people who like it.
I prefer to make my own booze, but it’s too much hassle to make actual liquor. I have been known to get a bottle of good tequila and steep things in it to flavor it; I recently finished a fifth of an almond tequila that was quite nice.
Kurant is loverly, specially mixed with 7-up.
I only drink stuff that tastes like sweeties, so that’s good for me.
Also Baileys. Mmm. Baileys.
Regular old Absolut is quite good for making your own flavoured vodkas with skittles, garlic, cola-bottles, or whatever takes your fancy.
Well, Finlandia lime isn’t all that good, but I highly reccomend its sister product, Finlandia cranberry. Keep it on ice and drink straight from the bottle. (Don’t worry- the booze kills any contaminants left by potentially unclean members of your drinking party.) It’s sort of like a premixed vodka/cran, but much, much better. I don’t suggest letting it warm up too much, though- loses some of its appeal.
M.
thats definitely true. Something about room temperature vodka is just no where near as good as the ice cold stuff. I’m eager to take the Danzka bottle out tailgating once it starts to get really cold. I think the aluminum bottle will help keep the vodka nice and chilled while we’re outside.
Frangelico. That bloody thing is liquid sex in a bottle. It tastes and smells exactly like hazelnuts, and isn’t sweet. Best flavoured liquor ever.
Madori is a green melon flavoured liquor. It’s too sweet to drink striaght, but useful in a number of cocktails.
Slight nitpick; there’s a huge difference between blackberries (which are related to raspberries) and blackcurrants (which are related to gooseberries) - Blackcurrant is the standard ‘purple’ flavour for confectionery and drinks in most of Northern Europe.
Blackcurrants have a peculiar aromatic taste with a pronounced bitter twang - I’ve always been a huge fan of them; so much so that I will eat them uncooked straight off the bush.
Has anyone else ever tried Cantons? It’s a ginger flavored liquer.
Mighty tasty, and not a thick as some of the cream based stuff.