My folks went to the duty-frees this weekend while I was out of town and welcomed me back with three litres of Absolut vodka - one plain, one Mandarin and one Peppar. (I’m really more of a gin guy, but I just bought a bottle of that, so…)
I’m familiar with the uses for regular vodka, and I absolutely love Mandarin and tonic as well as a few other drinks (but the Mandarin will definitely last longer than the plain). I haven’t a clue what to do with Peppar, though.
I’m a martini drinker, but I can’t see pepper vodka going well with vermouth. I also can’t imagine it would taste good with tonic or 7Up. It would probably be good in a Bloody Mary, or a Caesar if I drank Clamato, but other than that I’m pretty much lost.
Actually, I think it makes a dandy martini, but if that’s not to your taste, you can also drink it straight – ice cold, sipping slowly. It’ll also give a snappy kick to a sweet or sugary cocktail (I’ve never tried it in a Black Russian, but I’m thinking about it). Bartending sites will give you any number of recipes containing pepper vodka, although most are variations on regular vodka drinks, especially Bloody Marys.
go to absolut.com. They have various drink recipes for each of the vodkas, including several for absolut pepper. I don’t know what they would taste like, but it’s worth a look.
I’m no fan of Bloody Marys, but that is the drink that springs to mind first. Oh, don’t forget a Moscow Mule, which is vodka, lime juice and ginger ale or ginger beer. Peppar would probably be seriously sneezeworthy if you used it in that.
But don’t forget the cooking possibilities - I’m thinking along the lines of shrimp sauteed in garlic with a vodka-cream-tomato sauce over pasta. Or peppercorn-encrusted steak with a vodka cream sauce.
Absolut Pepper Vodka is hard to use well. I finally finished off the last bottle I will ever buy in a Chilli Con Carne. Still it is good for Bloody Marys if you like Bloody Marys.
I just ran a quick Google search for “vodka cream sauce”, and the first page alone would make you gain 10 pounds. For example: Porcini Mushroom Ravioli in a Vodka Cream Sauce. Oh my.
jjimm, you’ve made me laugh so hard in some Pit threads that I probably owe you a nice dinner.
And sorry, Jenny, I’m taken - and the wrong gender.
For some reason, this struck me as one of the funniest things I have read in quite some time…(maybe it was picturing someone pouring the vodka onto a plate of fries)???
Vodka Sauce for pasta, definitely. Its good for that.
I make a version of Shrimp Fra Diavolo (diabolo?) where I deglaze the pan with pepper vodka and then set it on fire. The recipe i have calls for brandy but I use the pepper vodka instead and it makes a nice dish. Its fun setting alcohol on fire too.
I’ve YET to have a good drink with it – and I’ve tried a few, but I haven’t tried it in a bloody mary. I suspect it would go fine in one, though.
IN whole, I think its a bad product. It doesn’t really improve those dishes a lot over other alcohols and I doubt it even improves a regular bloody mary much (I mean, was anyone really sitting around thinking a bloody mary had to be improved?).
Then, if you factor in how many times I’ve used it and been disgusted by it (straight up, in a martini, in a Vod & Tonic) I’d say its definitely been a product I could do without.
