How my first love of spirits has won me over again

By Tony Cross

My earliest memories, or foggiest memories, of first drinking liquor trace back to vodka. Full disclosure: The very first time I drank spirits was Everclear with grape Kool-Aid — that’s all I’ll say about that. As I’ve ventured into the world of cocktailing, there have been so many new varieties of gin, tequila, rum and so forth that I’ve easily brushed vodka to the side without giving it proper attention. Vodka is number two in international sales (behind baijiu, a Chinese spirit made from fermented sorghum), so it’d be a little doltish of me to not pay respect to my first love.

Vodka can be made from myriad ingredients: corn, grains, potatoes, maple syrup, grapes, even soybeans. Instead of being distilled in a pot, like other types of spirits, vodka is distilled in large continuous column stills. The impurities are then filtered, usually by coal, though there are other methods. Vodka isn’t aged, so once it’s filtered, it’s ready to go. I’m too lazy to find out how flavored vodkas are produced, so if you happen to know, please tell me.

The martini craze in the early 2000s spawned the flavored vodka movement, but the emphasis even on non-flavored was huge. Martini lists across the nation called anything with vodka and a syrupy concoction paired with it a (fill in the blank)-tini. No lie, one time I remember seeing a 10-drink “martini” list comprised of vodka and every kind of juice and sweetener they had behind the bar. But, hey, they sold.

It also helped vodka sales when Sex and the City brought the cosmopolitan to the front of the list for every female’s first choice of a cocktail. There are a lot of bartenders that hate making that drink. Matter of fact, there are certain cocktail bars that will not make them — one of the house rules for Bourbon & Branch, a speakeasy in San Francisco. As for myself, I’ll quote Jeffrey Morgenthaler, who says that there are no bad drinks, just bad bartenders/ingredients. It is a cocktail that should be spirit forward, with just a touch of cranberry juice. If you order a cosmo, and it looks like cranberry juice in a martini glass, you’ve been duped.

As much as I’ve given my friends grief over the years for not going out of their comfort zone, and spicing up their drink selections, I get the message. For the most part, vodka is flavorless, especially when mixing it into a cocktail with bold ingredients. One way to taste-test different vodkas is to sample them at room temperature. For cocktails, vodka is a great base because it allows the other ingredients to shine. For an example, take the “Anna Paige” cocktail I created a few years ago. I had infused a vanilla bean into a small bottle of light agave syrup and it tasted fantastic. Immediately, I knew that I wanted Campari to pair with it, but didn’t want the bitter-forward amari to be the base for the drink. In walks TOPO vodka. Using vodka allowed me to give the drink some oomph, while not compromising the integrity of the other ingredients. Check out the recipe below.

I’ve noted before that our ABC stores (in Moore County, at least) are saturated with flavored vodkas. Please keep in mind that there are many vodkas out there that are small batched, and locally made (see TOPO vodka from Chapel Hill). Unlike other recommendations I’ve made, you’ll have to order this one online: Zubrówka Bison Grass Vodka. This Polish vodka comes in at 40 percent ABV with a straw-colored hue. It’s unlike any other vodka I’ve consumed — rich and creamy on the mouth, with a touch of vanilla (almost like cream soda) on the palate, with an exquisite finish. See for yourself.

Anna Paige

1 3/4 oz TOPO vodka

1/4 ounce Campari

1/2 ounce vanilla-infused light agave*

1/2 ounce grapefruit juice

1/4 ounce lime juice

Place all ingredients in your cocktail shaker. Add ice, and shake vigorously until your gut tells you to stop. If your gut is being coy, shake hard for another 10 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled coupe glass, and garnish with the oils of a grapefruit peel.

* Take one vanilla bean, slice down the middle, scraping the pod clean on the inside. Add both pod and bean into a small bottle of light agave. I use the MadHava Light Agave (11.75 oz) from Nature’s Own.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern pines. He can also recommend a vitamin supplement for the morning after at Nature’s Own.

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