opinionated alchemist

There has been a video by THE EDUCATED BARFLY And while my rebellious years seem to be gone, I could not pass on and not comment on this video - and even worse, I could not not write an article about it here... So first the video: Let me be frank, I am on one hand absolutely frustrated about the things, YouTube-Influencer-Bartender say... but then, I cannot really complain, because I am not (because of various reasons) try to do it better. So in this case - thanks of bringing us any  content about drinks and bars (and the educated barfly isn't half-bad). But - this video, pulled out basically all misconception about vodka, alcohol etc. which I could imagine. Let me first of all start with this: consumer prices today are often not even close related to the actual value. Some prices are (sometimes basic groceries). Some aren't. One product which stands out, of being based on a fantasy (speak solely marketing) value is: TaTaTaaaaa... VODKA. That's true. Let u...

This post is inspired by a post on Diffords Guide online . But even though, I have never really thought about calling a distillate "Botanical Spirit", I always thought, that there have to be a new category of spirits. It all began with the Sub Rosa Saffron and Tarragon vodka - sometime in 2011. I directly felt, that there is something "off" of calling those distillates vodka. Yes - there is flavored vodka - and mostly they are pretty simple and straight forward. However they already differ greatly from your classical pure vodka. However the Sub Rosa products were an even farther departure. Since then, there have been a lot of new products, which mostly go under the vodka moniker, but are more complex... there are also "quite old products" like the flavored Absolut vodkas. Some, like Citron or Mandrin can be easily called vodka - there is a reasonable delicate aroma of the respective aroma. Some others are so strongly aromatized, that vodka seems not t...

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re...

Check out following article on the official IBA website... IBA members receive a free copy of our magazine.  Click here HOME NEWS AND FEATURES SPIRITS MASTERS BRAND CHAMPIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS ABOUT SB ARCHIVES SWIZZLE MASTERS TEN BARTENDER OPINIONS ON VODKA COCKTAILS 22nd March, 2016 by Annie Hayes Slideshow  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10 Next → After receiving an overwhelming number of contributions for our upcoming vodka issue,  SB  has assembled a preview of April’s cocktail analysis with comment from 10 of the industry’s leading bartenders. Besides, that I am surprised, that for once I found an article which looks contemporary (in content and layout - Bravo IBA!), I also asked myself, what is my (revised?) opinion about vodka. I have to say... it didn't changed a lot. But when I read this article and reflected the "blank canvas approach" -...

Official press picture of bacardilimited There is no shortage of company copying and ripping off each other in the spirit business. Since the introduction of Grey Goose by the mastermind Sydney Frank, there are dozen of premium and premiumer vodka brands coming out every year [last was the battle between Absolut [Pernod-Ricard] of their premiumest Elix and the counter of Bacardi with their Grey Goose V.X. This is quite normal and not especially dirty. Maybe a bit naive, though. But look what I found [picture besides]. Bacardi has "now" an "authentic" vodka with a very "unique" bell-shaped bottle. With a wolf as logo shouting out. Do you see any resemblance? I found the parallels with Russian Standard fascinating. Even the marketing stories [yeah - please don't be so naive and believe anything what they are telling you about a recipe from the 18th century - all a marketing lie] are very similar [Georgian vs. Russian... but still]. The...

This will be a spirited post. We discussed already about quality of juices . Again I have to repeat my quote: One drink will be as good as its worst ingredient. Identifying the quality of a distillate though might be more difficult as it seems. This is why spirit companies are spending millions and millions of dollars [much more as they are spending in R&D] into marketing. They want that customers connecting their product with a quality, which is sometimes not given... Lets just begin. Vodka:  It still dazzles me, why people are so into vodka. It just doesn't make good drinks! And just the advantage, that you doesn't smell a lot like alcohol, is [at least in my world] not a perfect excuse to consume it... Anyway - sometimes you need vodka and at least in this post I won't judge. What you have to know about vodka is, that [other than the well orchestrated marketing messages] it is not hard to produce vodka. In fact it is really cheap to produce any  vo...

Absolut does its best, to keep on with the zeitgeist - promoting its "Crafted by Strangeway". While it is pretty cool - its still vodka though... Seen on the new edition of tonique magazine

There is a lot of marketing and anti-marketing out there, about products. Sometimes you just have to use your common sense [as well as your technical expertise] to confirm or bust these "myths". One outstanding personality in mixology is Darcy O'Neil who happens to be working in a lab. Not only, that he has the gear, to do one or the other great experiment - but he also has the knowledge. Today, I just found a super interesting article, I haven't read yet on his blog - and it is surprisingly opinionated... Please join me, to read the article about glycerol in vodka - which is already older, but I guess, if I just found the article, you might not even heard of it...   Does Grey Goose Contain Glycerine? And here is the link of the result post:   Glycerol in Vodka Results The Art of Drink , is one of my favorite blogs, and most reliable and objective resources of bar, spirit and mixology related content.

This might be one of my most straight forward posts, I have ever written. I was just annoyed, that everyone was [and still is] so fascinated about vodka - a spirit, which is just popular due to the immense marketing budgets, the spirit companies are investing. If you think about it, it is really bad - they could the money otherwise and more responsible - vodka is the spirit, which only worsen alcoholism and the other negative effects of alcohol - yes it is undistinction-able, which makes it so dangerous [and popular under teenager and heavy drinkers]. Anyway - enjoy the post of the past: The definition of vodka is taking out of the dictionary - it is not even correct... I really do not want to get disliked... or lets say, it is not my main aim. But this topic lays close to my heart. Long time I’ve struggled with vodka - especially its popularity! Now, I don’t mean that we should erase vodka from the surface of the world! It is not a claim like stop polluting the env...