The Results: Just Mix it With Coke, You’ll Never Taste It

            Jezz, was that a rough tasting, or was it just me? I think we all know now, without a doubt, why it’s affectionately referred to as Firewater. Well let’s get down to business.

There is a clear cut looser.  Those of you who were rooting for the hooch, hoping that the cheep underdog would take it, go ahead and put your giant foam fingers away and try to make it to the other teams side before anyone notices. Unlike TAAKA, Ancient Age, is not the little bourbon that could. Sitting at seven mehs, I could lump it into the nothing special category, but with only one like (the only bourbon that only got one like) and six dislikes, it’s pretty clear that most people were not going to rush out to the liquor store and stock up on it.  And the one person that did like it, had a couple others that they liked more. So, even if you’re trying to be cheap, and are telling your self, ‘Well I’m going to mix it with coke anyway.’ Go with something else. One person said that even after adding it to coke, it still tasted like dirt. I mean, come on, even KD got more likes.

This next one saddens me a little, but I understand why it’s so low on the list, it is a little harsh.  With six dislikes, five mehs, and only three likes, Wild Turkey is just barely ahead of Ancient Age. Most people said that it burned (well, 101 proof will do that). one person commented that it took her breath away and felt like she needed her inhaler.  But it is kind of important to note here that Wild Turkey was the last one to be tasted, and by the time everyone got to it they were ready to get onto the mixing and casual drinking.  But I’m not making excuses for it… I won’t blame you if you don’t want to try it (but I still like it).

            Now for some surprises: tied with five dislikes, four mehs, and five likes are Maker’s Mark and Kentucky Deluxe! WHAT WHAT?!?!? Hold up! These bottles have a price difference of $21.50, and my elite tasting panel of friends is telling me that they are ‘bout the same. Certainly not in flavor, they have two completely different flavor profiles, but in drinkability. 

            Let’s look at KD first: It was described to have very little flavor but still smooth and enjoyable.  Someone even said that it had a vanilla tone to it.  Someone else said that it was easy as butter. The thing to keep in mind here is that KD is not bourbon.  Bourbon tends to have a bit of a kick to it, a lot of times it will take your breath away (hopefully in a good way) that’s part of what makes it a bourbon.  People liked KD because it didn’t have that kick, it was easy to enjoy, especially when put next to some ‘kick you in the face’ bourbons.  That being said I would not suggest that you go out and order a KD neat and sip on it. But, like I said earlier, on a budget? Planning on mixing it with coke anyway? Good ‘ol Kentucky Deluxe ain’t a bad choice.

            Maker’s Mark… How did you score on the same level as KD? This was actually my first time having Maker’s, so I didn’t know what to expect. Most described it as harsh, but a few picked up on butterscotch tones, a cinnamony-ness, and woody flavors.  The people that didn’t like it, didn’t like it.  One person simply left a :( on their comment card. So, if you’ve never had it before, should you spend the money on it? That’s a tough one.  It’s a good split of people who liked it and didn’t like it. My suggestion, convince someone else to buy a bottle and try some of theirs first. And for the record, the whole wax dipped thing is over rated.  Underneath all that red wax is a screw top. 

            Now we are getting to the good stuff, with three dislikes, four mehs, and six likes we have Knob Creek.  Unlike me, most people picked up on the high proof right away, but also caught honey and caramel flavors. So the high proof didn’t take away from the flavor. But, then again, there were some people that only wrote BURRNN!!! on their comment card. I made a peach tea bourbon out of this one and the sweetness of the tea worked really well with the high proof.  So if you’re not afraid of higher proof liquors, I’d say give it a try. 

            Really close in the running with Knob Creek was Jack Daniels.  He got two dislikes, seven mehs, and five likes.  The mehs have it, making Jack nothing special.  But I feel that this rating fits its price range. Again, the people who normally drink Jack liked it but couldn’t say definitively that it was Jack, they just knew that they liked it.  The comments for it were incredibly underwhelming. Most were simply I like it, or do not like, or smooth, or yuck, or eh. Nothing to really describe it at all.  My conclusion, it’s just Jack.  If you already drink and love it, pour another, if not, you’re not missing much.

            Drumroll please! We have two winners!  Well, they are two completely different bourbons, and the one you prefer will depend on the type of drink you like. So here they are:

            Fighting Cock. It’s kinda fitting since this is The Cock’s Tales. This is a funny one, it got seven likes, four mehs, and three dislikes. When describing it, most people proclaimed that they liked the burn.  The only way I can describe it is this; you know that feeling you get when you are about to bite into a really sour pickle, and you know it’s going to be sour, and you know you are going to make a face, and you do it anyway, and you keep doing it till you’ve eaten the whole pickle? And even though it was really sour, you’d do it again? Or when you load up a chip with a huge glob of super hot salsa, and you look at your buddies and say to them, ‘this is going to be bad’ and then you eat it and the next thing you know you’re sweating, turning red and slapping your hand on the table going, ‘WooohWee! That’s some good salsa!’ That’s how Fighting Cock is.  It defiantly has a kick and can be described as rough, but that’s what people seemed to like about it.  Where as some of the other ones were rough and unpleasant, Fighting Cock was like a rollercoaster, rough and unpolished but fun.  But if you don’t want a bourbon to kick you in the face, don’t buy it, but if you like a little spice, this one's for you ;)

            And with Seven likes, six mehs, and only one dislike we have Corner Creek! See, I knew it would help if people didn’t look at the stupid bottle! It was described and light and smooth, oaky and woody, sweet and easy.  On the downside, a lot of people said that it was lacking in flavor, too smooth or too sweet. This is just an easy going bourbon, there is not a lot of hype surrounding it and the makers themselves don’t build it up to ridiculous proportions, they simple set out to make a good bourbon, put a lot of care into it and made something that they are proud of. I’ve never been to the distillery or anything like that, but I like to think of them as just being good ‘ol country folk, not hiding behind wax dipping fiascos or an over hyped name. Even their website is simple and straight forward.  So, if you want a easy going, light and friendly bourbon, Corner Creek is the one for you.

            I just want to take a moment and talk a bit about the no name brands out there.  The last two tastings we’ve had winners that were kinda obscure.  And believe me when I say that I am just as surprised as you.  I fully expected Ciroc to win the vodka tasting and I was expecting one of the expensive brands to win this tasting. I’ve always loved to try new things and weird brands, and sure, sometimes it turns out bad. But what I think we are finding out is that, with a popular name brand, you’re not necessarily going to get a bad product but there are better products that don’t advertise and haven’t or don’t want to make a name for themselves. Now, this may not be true all across the board, but the point is don’t be afraid to look on the lower shelves for new possibly cheaper products that you might really enjoy.

            Next up, get out your Pirates of the Caribbean DVDs and dust off your best Captin’ Jack Sparrow impersonation, ‘cause we are doin’ rum! 

Give Me An ‘MERICAN drink!

           It took me some creative thinking to narrow down the bourbon selection to just a few for the tasting.  Surprisingly, vodka was a much easer and straightforward decision, even though the number of vodka brands outnumbers all the whisky brands by an ungodly amount.  When I looked at vodka, I had a certain set of guidelines I was trying to meet; brand name, main ingredient, pint size.  With bourbon, they are all made basically the same, going by the same guidelines and regulations in order to call themselves a bourbon.  What is going to set the different brands apart are the subtitle nuances of the distiller; what kind of water they use, the shape of their still and what it’s made of, how long it’s aged, the proportions of the ingredients, to sour mash or not to sour mash, all of which can have a huge impact on the finale product. 

            So what was I looking for when making my selections?  I first looked at price range.  I divided up the bourbons that were available to me in a pint into three categories: high end, mid-range, and hooch.  Then I took into account brand name, and the popularity of the brand.  The last thing I looked at was… I’m going to be honest here; the rest of the dissension making process was based solely on my own brand of disjointed reasoning. Now, keep in mind that I did not take into consideration specialty labels, no Maker's 46, Gentleman Jack, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Devil’s Cut, Jack Green, Jim Black, Single Barrels, Special Reserves, Extra Aged, Honey or Cherry flavored, or anything like that.  I was only looking at the signature bourbon of the distiller, their main stay, the one everyone knows and loves.  I’ll leave all that other craziness for another tasting.   What I ended up with was two high end, two mid-range, two hooch, and two odd balls that I just happen to already have taking up residence in my liquor cabinet. And they are:

            Knob Creek is in the high end category at about $31.99 for a 750.  Produced in Clermont, Kentucky, it is the most expensive one we will be trying.  They distill it in small batches, use the sour mash process and boast an impressive 9 years in the barrel.   Now, I’ve had Knob before, and something I did not know before trying it was that it is 100 proof.  Even after having it I didn’t suspect that it’s proof was so high, it was just that smooth and flavorful.  But we’ll see how that holds up next to other bourbons in a blind tasting.

            Maker’s Mark, $28.99, slightly cheaper, but still in the high end category.  This is the famous wax dipped bottle.  I’ve heard that in the gift shop at their Loretto, Kentucky based distillery, you can get any number of souvenirs that have been dipped in that famous red wax…. Which got me thinking… I bet there is a prankster who works there that likes to take coworker’s unattended items and BAM, Wax Dipped!  “Linda’s stapler, Wax Dipped! Shelly left her keys on her desk, Wax Dipped! #1 Boss coffee mug in the break room, #1 Wax Dipped coffee mug! Half eaten sandwich in the employee fridge, hope you like it Wax Dipped!” and it just degrades from there…  The point being, the only real reason I’ve included it in the tasting is because I love that image so much.  But, wax dipping shenanigans aside, Maker’s credits their unique taste to pure, iron-free limestone spring water.  They also subscribe to the sour mash lifestyle and age their bourbon for 6 to 7 ½  years.

            Moving away from wax and onto the mid-rangers.  Sitting at $23.99, Jack Daniels made it onto the list.   Yep, Jack Daniels, the bourbon that’s not a bourbon.  Wait, what did I just say? Ok, here’s the low down on Jack; Jack Daniels is not a bourbon, it is a Tennessee Whiskey.  However, it is made according to the rules and regulations governing bourbon, so they could call themselves a bourbon but choose not to.  I suspect that this has everything to do with marketing.  You see, if they were to call themselves a bourbon they could not put Tennessee on the label (because only the state of Kentucky can put it’s name on the label of bourbon whisky), they would have to label themselves as simply, bourbon whiskey, and that just has no ring to it. So, instead, they opt to call themselves a Tennessee Whiskey. What I don’t understand is that they use 80% corn in their mash, that it the legal max you can use and still be considered a bourbon. If Jack doesn’t want to be a bourbon why stop at 80%? Why make it the legal max? It just seems like such a deliberate stopping point, as if to say, ‘I’m going to chill with all you other bourbons for now, but Don’t tempt me, at any moment I could add a fraction of a percent of corn and I wouldn’t be associated with you at all. You need me, I make you cool! EVERYONE KNOWS THE NAME JACK F@#KING DANIEALS, I PUT BOURBON ON THE MOTHER F@#KING MAP, I’M THE NUMBER ONE SELLING BOURBON IN THE WORLD, AND I’M NOT EVEN A BOURBON! TENNESSEE WHISKEY, B!@CHES!’ Whow, sorry about the all caps rage…  So yeah, sour mash and all that, aged about 4 to 5 years… I’m just going to move on now.

            Wild Turkey 101, $22.99, distilled in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.  Not much to say here. As the name implies, it’s 101 proof.  They do make an 80 proof, but the 101 is the distillery’s bread and butter. Wild Turkey was the first bourbon I ever had, and because of that I have a soft spot for it and that’s the main reason I included it.  It is aged for 8 years, oddly enough, just one year less than it’s more expensive and similarly proofed competitor, Knob Creek.  This should be an interesting match up. Most bourbons are named after a person or a place, Wild Turkey is a little different, it got its name when one of the distillers of the company, Thomas McCarthy, took some of his bourbon with him on a wild turkey hunt.  His friends liked it so much that next year they asked him to bring more of the ‘wild turkey’ bourbon.  And the name stuck.  And, unlike the other whisky on the list so far, Turkey does not use sour mash. 

            Hooch! Can’t have a tasting without some proclaimed rotgut!  Well, it may not be rotgut per say, but at $11.99 Ancient Age is the cheapest bourbon we carry.  It meets all the legal requirements (just barely) in order to call itself a bourbon whiskey. It’s distilled in Frankfort Kentucky (hey, that’s where TAAKA vodka comes from! Coincidence?) by the Buffalo Trace distillery. Wait, what? But, Buffalo Trace is suppose to be a pretty good bourbon, it’s up there with Maker’s and Knob.  Well, got to make money, why not sell the good stuff as well as its run off? Use all your resources, right? I jest, I’m sure it's not run off.  I mean we can’t fill the world with nothing but high quality bourbons, there’s got to be an affordable version, especially for cooking.  And who knows, it may surprise us (remember TAAKA, the little vodka that could!).

            And uber Hooch! Kentucky Deluxe, $7.49 (yes, for a 750). Now, it’s not a bourbon, it doesn’t even try. Straight up on the label: 20% straight whiskey, 80% neutral grain spirit. More accurately, it’s whisky flavored vodka. It’s only on here because I like to throw curve balls. What’s a tasting without a wild card? Do I even need to tell you where it comes from, or how long it’s aged? The important thing here is; are our pallets developed enough to single out the cheep blend over the true bourbons, even the cheep bourbon?

            Now for the weirdoes you’ve never heard of.  Corner Creek, $21.99.  I love this bourbon, but I have a hard time selling it because it is unfortunately packaged in a wine bottle, more specifically a girly chardonnay bottle… Let’s face it, bourbon (whisky in general) is a manly drink, not to say girls don’t drink it, but it has a very manly image, and a wine bottle dose not look good setting on a whisky bar. Their reasoning for the wine bottle is that they take the same care and attention to detail that a fine wine maker does (could have at least used a cab bottle, it’s a little more manly than the soft slopping of a chard bottle).  Anyway, it’s made in Bardstown, Kentucky and aged for 8 years.  Good thing this is a blind tasting, the poor bottle selection won’t be an issue. 

            And lastly, Fighting Cock.  This was a close out at my store, I only bought it ‘cause I liked the bottle.  It has an awesome rendition of a red and gold rooster looken’ like he’s ‘bout to f@#k you up. And, he just might, sitting at 103 proof. Aged 6 (long years, as the website states. Are rooster yeas longer than human years?).  They also boast using rye over wheat to give it that extra kick. Like Corner Creek, this one also comes to us from Bardstown, Kentucky.

            Well, that’s it. My bourbon selection.  Invited to the party? Your favorite bourbon not on the list? Bring it, but I do ask that you stick to my guidelines, only the main label of a specific distiller! Don’t get all fancy on me. Allow me to repeat from an earlier paragraph: NO Specialty Labels, no Maker’s 46, Gentleman Jack, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Devil’s Cut, Jack Green, Jim Black, Single Barrels, Special Reserves, Extra Aged, Honey or Cherry flavored, or anything like that!  If you bring something like that, rest assured, we will drink it, but it will not be in the taste testing. Thank you. 

Bourbon, Straight Up

I’m so excited to announce that the next Cock’s Tales meeting is Saturday the 30^th.  In this installment, we will be moving away from vodka and on to whisky, more specifically; bourbon. Everyone at the last meeting loved the blind tasting format so much that we are doing it again. At the risk of sounding like an easily excitable teenager I’m going to say, OMG, I can’t wait! There are so many great bourbons on the market today, and it is going to be hard to narrow it down to just a few for the tasting. But, I have some time, so until then, here is a little something to hold you over:

First off, as I stated earlier, bourbon is apart of the whisky family of spirits.  Well that’s great, what’s a whisky? Aheam.. A whisky is any spirit distilled from a mash of grain and then aged in wood barrels.  The type of grain used, the amount of time spent in the barrel and the type of barrels used is determined by the distiller or the laws governing the type of whisky being made in the particular region the whisky is being produced. There are also different spellings of the word Whisky ß-- that way and Whiskey. Which way do we spell it? “The United States use to use the e, but now omits it in the Standards of Identity but permits its use in a traditional context” – Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits, 7^th edition. However, after a quick pursing of the bourbon section at my work, I see that the e is indeed on many of the labels.  Therefore, my conclusion, based on observations, is that, in America at least, no one gives a flying flip about how you spell whisky! ß and that right there is how I’m going to spell it, because it’s less letters for me to type, so :P (unless I’m talking about a specific brand that spells it with that damned e).

But, I digress, we are suppose to be talking about bourbon specifically.  Bourbon is the only truly American spirit.  Whisky distilling was happening in America since the 1600’s but it wasn’t until the 1780’s that a unique form of whisky was distilled in Bourbon County Kentucky (we have title). This new form of whisky was made primarily from corn since it was more plentiful and cheaper than the more commonly used rye.  In 1964, America defined bourbon more specifically with bourbon laws. In order for a distiller to have the word bourbon on the label they had to use between 51 and 80% corn in the mash. Any less and it is labeled as whatever the predominant ingredient is (i.e. rye whisky, wheat whisky).  Any more and it is labeled as corn whisky. Other ingredients, the amount of which is determined by the distiller, are rye, barley malt and sometimes wheat. It also must be aged at least two years in new, charred, white oak barrels.   Bourbon can be made in any state of the US, but only bourbon from Kentucky can list the name of the state on the label, and that is where the majority of bourbons come from (in fact I don’t know of any that come from another state, but I’m sure they’re out there [Just an FYI: Jack Daniels is not a bourbon, it’s a Tennessee whisky, but I’ll get into that later]).  One more thing that makes bourbon unique is the sour mash, or yeasting back, process. Now, keep in mind that not all bourbons use the sour mash process and it’s not a government requirement, but the majority of bourbon makers do use it.  In the sour mash method, at least one quarter of the mash must be from a previous distillation. There is a bit more to it, but that is the jest of it and all that you really need to know. 

Anywho,, that’s bourbon whisky in a nutshell. I hope you found it informative.  In the next issue of the Cock’s Tales I will give a quick overview of the bourbons we will be sampling at the meeting.  Should be exciting! 

The Results: I Might Need More Olives.

First off, let my just say that the first meeting of The Cock's Tales was awesome.  We had a great turn out and a lot of fun! There were a couple additions to the tasting line up and I want to talk about them real quick before we get to the results.

Crevasse: This vodka, to the best of my knowledge, is exclusive to the chain of liquor stores that I work for in this area. This means that if you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area you can only get this vodka at a Centennial, Big Daddies, or Majestic.  However, if you live elsewhere you may still be able to find it, but it's complicated.  It may be under a different name, or it may not have a very wide distribution.  Anyway, the vodka its self is made from pure imported glacier water and American wheat and it is bottled in Lewisville, Texas.

Russian Standard Platinum: As the name implies, it is from mother Russia, made from wheat.  There is also a regular Russian Standard, it is made the same as the Platinum but not distilled and filtered as many times.  The regular one is the #1 selling vodka in Russia.  I've tasted both of them before this party and I was excited to see how the Platinum (witch was created to go head to head with many of the premium uber distilled and filtered vodkas that are so popular in America) would hold up in the tasting. 

And here are your Cock's Tales Vodka Tasting Results!!!!

But first, let me reiterate, that my friends and I are not professional tasters, we don't work for The Tasting Panel, or have special certifications that qualify us a professionals, but that's what makes this so fun.  How many times have you picked up a bottle of wine and read on the back of the bottle; ripe robust flavors of cherries, black berries, currents, and a soft finish of light honeysuckle, only to buy the bottle, and say to your self, 'hummm, taste like wine,'? It's not a bad thing, the real question is, did you like it? And that's basically how we rated the vodkas. Did you like it, did you not like it or were you ‘meh’ about it.  Some people could pick up on citrus flavors and what not, and I did ask people to see if they could tell the deference between potato vodka and wheat vodka.  But the big thing was, do you like it?  So let's take each one, and answer that question.

Tied, with the least number of likes was, Smirnoff and TAAKA.  Now, just because these two got the most dislikes doesn't mean that they were all that bad.  

Let's take a look at Smirnoff first, now given, most people commented that it was 'not good' or 'bad' or in one case 'duper bad.' But, we did all agree that it is not a half-bad mixing vodka, and if you are use to drinking it and the price is right, there is no reason for you to change brands.  However, if you've never had it before, you're not missing anything, don't bother picking it up. 

Now for TAAKA... This really was a surprise, it may have tied for least desirable, but there was no one on the fence about it, everyone either really liked it, or really hated it. That being said, it got quit a few likes too, some even really really likes.  So, yes, there were more dislikes than likes, but if you are on a budget, I'd say give it a try.  It's $1.99 for a half pint so you won't lose much and you may really really like it.

With 5 dislikes each, Chopin and Ciroc are next on the list.  I find it odd that these two are together on this list because I feel that they have complete opposite flavor profiles.  But no matter, here they are.

Chopin: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, potato vodkas are not for everyone.  Clearly, they are not for 5 of the people who participated in the tasting.  So, is it a bad vodka, especially for the price (it is a bit pricy)?  I will say this, as a professional sales associate in the spirits industry, if you are use to popularized wheat vodkas and you tend to mix them with sweet things like fruit juices, you will probably not like a potato vodka.  However, if you are looking for a bold intense vodka with some, sometimes, interesting flavors (one taster described it as ‘JP4 jet fuel’), and like drinks like, dirty martinis and bloody marys, try a potato vodka, then try a high end potato vodka, then try Chopin. After having a few potato vodkas outside of this party, I can tell you it is a step above the rest.

Ceroc: many tasters described it as being citrusy and… different.  No one really picked up on the sweetness that Ceroc clams to have.  Being made from grapes, you would think that it would have more sweetness to it, right? Overall people just thought that it was strong, and very ‘rubbing alcoholy.’ My question is, P Diddy, is your high end French grape vodka over rated?  The short answer, yes.  But it’s not a bad vodka, and being made from grapes does make it different, but it is expensive. So if you fancy yourself a vodka connoisseur, defiantly try it, but if you just want an every day good vodka, it’s not worth the hype.   

Next are the mid-rangers, the mehs: Tito’s, Shakers Rye, and Absolute. Each of these got the same score; 4 dislikes, 4 mehs, and 1 like. Which would make them more bad then good, but the comments on each of these were so overwhelmingly underwhelming I’m just going to say that they were meh…. So I’m really not going to spend much time writing about them.

Tito’s: this one surprised me, it is a huge seller at work, and the only person who liked it at the tasting was the one person who normally drinks it anyway. It’s interesting to note here that the people who had a brand that they tended to stick with, could pick it out in a blind taste test among 8 other vodkas, I was not expecting that.

Shaker’s Rye: Most people just wrote ‘burn’ on their comment card… but rye vodka is a lot like potato vodka. So don’t take the negativity as a huge strike against it.  It’s different, it has a spiciness to it that can be mistaken for an alcoholy burn.  The one person who liked it wrote on his comment card, ‘BEST ONE YET!!!’ And I have to admit that it is one of my personal favorites.  So try it or any other rye vodka if you are looking for something different.  If not, pass it up.

Absolut: Almost everyone commented that this one had a bad after taste.  And two people were convinced that this was Chopin, and considering that most people didn’t like Chopin either, I’d say this was a bad thing. Bottom line, do you want a vodka with a bad aftertaste? I say, there are plenty of other vodkas out there that are the same price that are better.

Russian Standard Platinum kinda falls into the category of meh, but it had two likes unlike the three listed above.  Most people described it as smooth, but nothing special.  Because it is imported from Russia and because this is the premium version of their regular vodka, it is pricy. Based on the comments, I’d say it’s not worth the price. 

And finial, we come to the winner of the tasting!!! With an overwhelming 4 likes, the winner is: Crevasse! Yeah, I was surprised too. Most people agreed that it started off a little spicy and finished very sweet, making it a friendly mixer for just about anything. It was also quite smooth.  We ended up making Midori melon balls with this vodka and everyone loved it! And, even though we stared the party off with a 750 of this vodka, there was very little left by the end of the night.  So if you want to give it a try, stop by my store and I’ll hook you up. 

A Note on Vodka

Vodka is one of the most versatile spirits on the market, which is one of the reasons it is the best selling.  It also has very few rules governing it.  Most spirits have many, sometimes complicated, laws that state how the spirit can be made, what it can be made of, where it comes from, how long it’s aged or not aged, yadda yadda so on and so on…

            At its very basic, all vodka is is an odorless colorless sprit.  It can be made of anything and can be made anywhere.  I get a lot of people in my store that think that all vodka is made from potatoes, but in actuality, very few are.  Most are made of wheat or grain, something to keep in mind if you are allergic to gluten. 

            So, on to the vodkas I chose for the tasting! The first thing I looked at when picking out the vodkas was, what is available to me in a pint?  Because I could very easily break the bank buying 7 bottles of vodka.  So that did dwindle my selection down considerably.  The next thing I thought about was what are the vodkas made of?   The most important thing for me in this is to dispel the myth that all vodkas taste the same, that you can’t tell the difference between a potato vodka or a wheat vodka or even a coconut vodka (yes there is vodka made from coconut). And the last thing I thought about was brand name.  I wanted some high end, some low end, some recognizable and some surprises.  And these are what I settled on: Chopin, Ciroc, Absolut, Smirnoff, Shakers Rye, Tito's, and Taaka.

Here is a break down of the vodkas and why I chose them:

Chopin: This is the only potato vodka that my store carries in a pint, so that is the main reason I picked it to be in the running.  It is a premium vodka made in Poland. 

Ciroc: another premium vodka, this one being the only vodka made from grapes that my store carries in pints.  Made in France. Oh, and Sean Combs has something to do with it or something, the rappers and gangstas seem to like it… whatever.

Absolut: Who hasn’t heard of Absolut? Even people who don’t drink should at least know the name Absolut. Made from Swedish wheat, which makes sense because it’s distilled in Sweden.

Smirnoff: Another common name in Vodka.  Made in Russia, from…. Wheat, I guess, but one site said corn… so I don’t know. It’ll be the mystery vodka!!! 

Shakers Rye: An American vodka that promises to “shake things up” in the vodka world.  As the name implies, it’s a rye vodka, but they also make a wheat variety to.

Tito’s: I had to put a Texas vodka on here, and why not the first ever Texas vodka! And to top it all off, it’s made from corn.  Good ‘ol Texas corn.

Taaka: A budget vodka, and I do stress the word budget. No clue what it’s made of, everything I can find just says grain.  It is also a sneaky little vodka, with a name like Taaka and what looks to be the Taj Mahal on the label you would think that it would be a Russian Vodka. Nope, Frankfort Kentucky….  I’m done talking about this one, but who knows, maybe it will surprise us.

Sobriety is overrated

Welcome to The Cock's Tales!
When I first started at the liquor store I wasn't a big drinker.  I'm still not, but I get a lot of questions.  Most of them I know the answers to.  But when it comes down taste and which brand is better than which for what, I usual just take a guess or go with something that I know I like.

So, to correct this problem, I'm going to have monthly cocktail parties! Any excuse for a party, right? each month we will be tasting a new spirit from a different category.  All who show up will taste and rate the liquor straight and then we mix it up, making a series of popular cocktails, and maybe some we make up on the fly.

The First meeting of The Cock's Tales is June 18 and we begin with Vodka! But because vodka is such a huge slice of the liquor industry, we are going to start things off a little differently.  We are going to do a blind tasting of multiple brands, some high end, some hooch.  I get a lot of customers that come into the store that like to declare that they don't drink vodka because they all taste the same. We are about to find out once and for all!

Fo now, the line up is: Chopin, Ciroc, Absolut, Smirnoff, Shakers Rye, Tito's, and Taaka.

Next entry, I will give you the lowdown about these brands and why I chose them.