Infusion Confusion
My first article for Chow.com is up on the website. Hooray!
The story is about how flavored vodkas are flavored. Actually, it was originally a highly researched and heavily quoted story about how flavored vodkas are flavored, but the finished piece is mostly a taste test. Sometimes this happens in journalism.
What is interesting to note is that many of the best-respected hand-crafted flavored vodkas were enjoyed the least by the tasting panel. I didn't agree in several cases with the rest of the panel (Hangar One was one of my favorites), but there definitely was a consensus when we did the tasting. The winner of the tasting was a Skyy vodka citrus that I agree was the best tasting of the non-infused, non-extract flavored vodkas.
Another thing to note is that we were mainly rating the flavoring, not the vodkas themselves. I find Skyy to be a little too non-existent in drinks. When it comes to vodka, we don't get as much inherent flavor (in the unflavored ones), so I'm really concerned with texture and mouthfeel as well as what flavor there is.
The conclusion to the story is this: if you want to get a great lemon-flavored vodka, try the ones we liked. If you want to get a great unflavored vodka, you might want to check another source.
The story is about how flavored vodkas are flavored. Actually, it was originally a highly researched and heavily quoted story about how flavored vodkas are flavored, but the finished piece is mostly a taste test. Sometimes this happens in journalism.
What is interesting to note is that many of the best-respected hand-crafted flavored vodkas were enjoyed the least by the tasting panel. I didn't agree in several cases with the rest of the panel (Hangar One was one of my favorites), but there definitely was a consensus when we did the tasting. The winner of the tasting was a Skyy vodka citrus that I agree was the best tasting of the non-infused, non-extract flavored vodkas.
Another thing to note is that we were mainly rating the flavoring, not the vodkas themselves. I find Skyy to be a little too non-existent in drinks. When it comes to vodka, we don't get as much inherent flavor (in the unflavored ones), so I'm really concerned with texture and mouthfeel as well as what flavor there is.
The conclusion to the story is this: if you want to get a great lemon-flavored vodka, try the ones we liked. If you want to get a great unflavored vodka, you might want to check another source.
1 Comments:
I'd be interested in reading the part that ended up on the cutting-room floor. Does your contract with Chow allow for you to post the original draft on your blog? Or the missing pieces?
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