(Based on the Bloody Mary thread) I’ve got a good repetior with Tequila and beer…I love’s my Ginnans and Gin Martinis. But I have a blind spot for vodka.
Short of Bloody Mary’s, Screwdrives (never have OJ on hand) and Vodka Tonics (taste’s like drinking WATER, man!) What do you do with your vodka?
Vodka Martini. Shaken, not stirred.
Vodka gimlet. (vodka & lime juice & simple syrup).
Vodka on the rocks.
Depends on how good it is. Anything above Absolut/Skyy is kind of a waste of your money unless you’re
a.) drinking it straight/rocks or
b.) you don’t really care b/c you don’t normally drink vodka.
I drink mine with Red Bull or a splash of 7 or soda if it’s a plain vodka.
If it’s a flavored vodka…cherry or vanilla…I drink it with Diet Coke. And enjoy a low-cal ever-so-tasty Cherry or Vanilla Coke. (Three Olives makes a fabulous cherry vodka, as does Smirnoff, and Absolut Vanilia is a very buttery smooth vanilla dream.)
As a bartender I can tell ya that a lot of people drink it with various fruit juices…cranberry, OJ, pineapple, or a combo, etc…
And if you’re at home it also mixes well with lemonade, iced tea, or Crystal Light/Kool-Aid, etc.
Vodka is popular b/c it doesn’t have a flavor of its own, other than the bite of the grain alcohol itself. So you can mix it with just about anything. (Except Coke or Pepsi. Dunno why, but this tastes awful. FTR though, Canadians and South Americans drink vodka with Coke, so maybe it’s my American taste-buds.)
Like I mentioned in my “Ask The Bartender” thread…too lazy to link…you can also infuse vodka if you’re feeling creative.
Infuse your vodka with flavored candies or fresh/canned fruits. The longer you let it “soak” the more intense the flavor. Personally I’ve enjoyed infused Jolly Rancher vodka…whatever flavor Jolly Rancher you like, dump into your vodka for a few days/weeks.
There are no limits to your vodka fun. Get creative. 
Gotta tell ya though, Aud, that Grey Goose stuff is just smooooth.
Papa Doug used to make his own Italian aperitif (imitation Liquore Strega) with cheap vodka and a whole buncha lemons:
Liquore Douga
1 L. Popov, Georgi, Mohawk or other rotgut à la russe
I dunno, about 6 lemons
Too much sugar
Combine ingredients in a big jug with a lid. Infuse for 3-4 days. Chill.
That thred actually got us playing around with vodka and Jolly Ranchers…unfortuantely, my wife like MAKING it more than Drinking it…we pitched it after it took up freezer space for a couple of years.
I’ve got some peach tea Crystal light…hmmmmm.
Good vodka + fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice is my favorite drink. The stuff from the supermarket that isn’t from concentrate is a pretty good too, but the concentrate stuff isn’t worth it.
Keep it in the freezer and drink shots of it. Particularly nice if you can afford some caviar to go with it.
Do what the Russians do: Get it ice cold and drink it straight. Fill a water glass and gulp it down like water.
Odd OP. Vodka is probably the most versitile spirit for making drinks. My favs are vodka and tonic, vodka and 7UP/sprite, vodka and crystal light, etc. Also, flavored vodka’s are great. Smirnov twisters and Stoli vanilla or rasberry are great to mix with.
I think I’d like Russia. I’ve always been a huge martini fan and that’s basically just drinking very cold vodka with some salt and flavor from the olives and possibly vermouth.
My new fav is Kettle one. The price is about the same as Bombay Saphire gin: more expensive than Skyy or Abolute, but less than Grey Goose. It tastes like vodka is supposed to taste: like nothing at all. Grey goose has too much flavor. It’s nice, but a unnessesary distraction IMO. YMMV.
I honestly don’t understand the appeal of vodka at all. I usually keep some on hand, in case my wife, who doesn’t like gin, wants a (vodka) martini, but to me it has no taste beyond a slight bitterness imparted by the alcohol.
Mixing good vodka with anything is pretty much throwing away money. Any flavor differences are going to be extremely subtle once you get a step above the stuff that comes in plastic bottles. Even buying good vodka to drink straight is a questionable enterprise.
Citrus vodka, a splash of chambord (or triple sec), and another splash of lime juice (or cranberry) shaken over ice, and served in a martini glass is a fine way to drink vodka.
-Butler
Seconded. A shot of Grey Goose from the freezer has become a Friday after-work ritual in the Giraffe Household. We rationalize the pricey vodka by the fact that we rarely drink in bars any more, so we’re actually spending less on alcohol than we used to (not to mention drinking much better stuff). That Grey Goose is so smooth! Yum.
Had some of that Grey Goose at a friend’s bidet party last year. Good stuff. The blinis and other yummies he served made it even better.
[nitpick]Ketel One[/nitpick]
Personally, I think the high priced vodkas are overpriced vodkas. But 90% of my vodka usage is for vodka martinis, so YMMV.
:eek: Either this means something different from what I think it does, or you run with a much more adventurous crowd than I do.
Bidet = B-day = Birthday. Just a little play on words…
Actually, UV makes some killer flavored mixin vodkas, I mix cherry in with 7-up. Mmm good.
I’ve taken to asking for a “barnyard” at the local watering hole, (that’s my name for 'em anyhow) that’s grey goose and red bull. Good stuff.
When I just want vodka without any accoutrement, I keep a bottle of Stolichnaya in the freezer, next to a small water glass. Sometimes, there’s nothing better in the world.
We bought a plastic jug of somewhat nasty vodka and filtered it a few times through a Brita pitcher - it ended up tasting at least as good as Ketel One.
I prefer vodka tonics or ice cold shots. Vodka martinis are good too, and if I feel like I need something sweeter I loves me a good Lemon Drop.
Y’all still took turns washing your butts, though, right?