Cocktail of the Week #10

Wow, it's hard to believe I've been blogging this now for almost 3 months!
Well I like to make each of these posts relatable to one another if I can. So referring back to my write up on Zubrowka, I have a cocktail for you that's light for spring and quenching for summertime.

I want to preface this cocktail with a note from all Mixologists and cocktail bartenders... Mixing with vodka as a base spirit is so terribly simple anyone can do it. Because of that fact we as bartenders generally stay away from it. Not only to challenge ourselves, but to challenge our guests too. We pride ourselves as mixologists in helping people discover a new favourite drink, while educating them and straying the away from the common pitfalls of the overly sweet martinis and the vodka cranberry (also known as a cape codder, if there's a lime involved.)

Enough of my rambling, enjoy my grassy gimlet.

2 oz. Zubrowka Vodka
3 large leaves of lemongrass (2 tbsp if you were to chop it up)
3/4 oz. fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 dash of Lime Bitters or Simon Difford's Margarita Bitters.

In a shaker glass, muddle the lemongrass with the Velvet Falernum until fragrant. Add bitters, lime juice and vodka. Shake until frosty, double strain through a fine mesh strainer; serve in a chilled cocktail coupe with a lime twist, and savour!

My Brother the Brewer

My bro works in Scotland for a little outfit called BrewDog. Well as I might have mentioned, he came home for a week and brought lots of goodies. Specifically some stuff I can't find stateside.

One of the items he brought me was a bottle of Żubrówka Vodka, a bison grass infused vodka from Poland. If you are at all familiar with the history of vodka. It originated in Poland/Russia, from potatoes. Well before distilling was truly perfected, you'd have some pretty strong, crude vodka, with lots of congeners and fusel oils. So in order to mask these negative aspects people added pepper, lime leaves, and even bison grass. This spirit is meant to be a nostalgic homage to the original.

At 80 proof this rye based vodka has a nice light sweetness to it, I notice subtle hints of Vanilla, and a light citrus. I don't usually enjoy working with vodka as much but I often make an exception for this one. In the realm of all the flavoured vodkas this one stands alone at the top.