It’s exactly the same as what 40% alcohol/60% water tastes like.
What I don’t get is the love of flavored vodkas. I mean, if you want vodka that tastes like pineapples, infuse some pineapple chunks in it. Or mix it with whatever it is that has that flavor- if you want root beer flavored vodka, mix some root beer with some vodka, for example. Obviously the more novelty flavors like “birthday cake” or “bubble gum” wouldn’t work like that, but for the rest, hook it up right, and don’t go with the artificial flavors.
I have yet to see a real* cocktail book that uses any flavored vodka other than the citron kind, and that only for cosmopolitans and lemon drops.
(* Real meaning written by a real mixologist or cocktail guru like Dale DeGroff, Tony Abou-Ganim, Dale Wondrich, Jeff “Beach Bum” Berry, “Dr Cocktail” Ted Haigh or the like)
There are some really wonderful interesting delicious drinks out there- don’t waste your time or money drinking vodka, and especially flavored vodka!
What Bond was drinking is called a “Vesper”, named after Vesper Lynd in “Casino Royale” (played by Eva Green).
Shaking or stirring is more an aesthetic thing; stirring and straining the ice out will leave the your martini crystal clear, while shaking will give it a little bit of a cloudy look and have a lot of little air bubbles for a little while, giving it a different mouth feel.
Bruising the gin is idiotic; the worst you might do is liberate a little bit of the aromatics, but that’s debatable. There are LOTS of shaken gin drinks out there. The general rule that a lot of books call for is that if the drink is primarily spirits, meaning something like a Martini, Sazerac, or classic Cocktail, then you stir. If it’s a drink that’s not primarily spirits, you shake. I’m guessing clarity is the reason.
Also, between shaking and stirring is agitating. You gently shake it almost like you are rocking a baby and you know you’re done when the shaker is too cold to hold onto without hurting your hand. That’s how I like to use a shaker.
Pardon me, but I must announce a call of BULLSHIT! to this last statement. I direct your attention to the signature cocktail at Parasol Up in Las Vegas - The Pearasol. A divine creation made with Absolut Pear vodka, pear liqueur, Luxardo, simple syrup, sweet & sour mix and pear puree, all shaken over ice and served in a martini glass.
I won’t argue with people who say vodka has no taste, to each their own. But there is at least a world of difference in how you feel in the morning if you’ve spent all night drinking Silver Wolf vs Stoli.
Bond doesn’t ask for a Vesper. He asks for a dry martini. Then he clarifies what he wants, but doesn’t give the impression that he’s asking for a different drink. And anyway, everybody today knows that Bond drinks martinis, when at least in the source material he did not.
Yeah, the only vodkas I actually enjoy are the ones with some flavor other than ethanol. Yeah, yeah, I know some vodkas have vanilla notes and others are more buttery or whatever, but I’m talking unrefined palate obvious types of flavors. (I like Zubrowka, a vodka flavored with bison grass, as well as hot pepper vodka [pertsovka]). Otherwise, I agree with the OP. Vodka is just kind of pointless to me. Being Polish, I should love it, but it’s always been just a way to add alcohol to a non-alcoholic drink to me. Yeah, I’ll enjoy shots of chilled vodka with pickled herring chasers, sure, but outside of that kind of celebratory, cultural situation, it’s not a drink for me.
I doubt anyone could tell the difference between regular and pear vodka in that drink- there’s enough powerful pear flavor from the liqueur and puree, and some other fairly powerful flavor from the sweet/sour mix and maraschino (I’m assuming that’s what you mean by Luxardo) liqueur.
Anyway, that kind of thing wasn’t my point; I’m saying that people who go drink vodka and tonics and shots of stuff like caramel flavored or grape flavored vodka ought to forego that stuff in favor of better drinks… like the one you mention. It’s pretty clear from the marketing that the flavored vodkas (and light rums) aren’t really meant as mixological ingredients, but shot drinks.
I drink Stoli Citros (lemon), but for kind of a specific reason. Being diabetic I only drink diet sodas, and when possible I used to only drink vodka & diet 7up or Sprite (I know, the vodka turns into sugar so I shouldn’t be drinking it at all). I find the flavors of vodka and sweet lemon/lime soda mix very well. Thing is, no bar or restaurant is going to offer diet Sprite (or equivalent) in its bar mixers, but for the last 20 years or so they *have *all offered diet Coke (cola). Thing is I despised vodka & coke, diet or otherwise. The two tastes simply do not co-mingle, I’d take a sip and it’s “Ok there’s the sweet diet Coke and, cough!, there’s the alcohol…” It’s odd, because I used to like screwdrivers (vodka & orange juice). In those, for some reason, the sweet & bitter do mix perfectly. But there’s no such thing as diet OJ (tried using diet Orange soda once, worse than diet cola!)
Anyway, at some point I tried a flavored vodka & diet Coke, vanilla initially I think. I was amazed that the flavoring of the vodka caused it to blend perfectly with diet Coke. The vanilla was a little, ah, gay, so eventually I settled on the lemon. And I know what you’re thinking, why not just drink vodka, diet Coke and (a piece of an actual) lemon? Well I tried that too and, again, the flavors just didn’t mix (Sweet, tart, bitter!!).
I think it all depends on your individual blood chemistry in terms of liking/tolerating cheap vs non-cheap vodka (or spirits in general). There’s so many variables some people (like me) not only don’t like the taste of the cheap stuff but also the ‘bad’ drunk and, even more so, the terrible hangovers it gives them. Others can pound the rot-gut all day and feel fine.
