It all came from the enchanted orange tree – or in this case, the mandarin blossom vodka, but more on that later. I am a firm believer in the idea that that there is rarely a drink in which you should use plain vodka. If you want to avoid calories – all hard liquor is essentially calorically the same, across the board (about 100 cals per 1.5 oz), and if you don’t want to taste your booze, you shouldn’t get to drink it. If you choose vodka to avoid a hangover, drink in something else in moderation -I personally never have a hangover from gin. There. I’ve said it.
As with most people, I was exposed in college to the disasters that are flavored vodkas in their mass-produced forms like Smirnoff, Absolut, etc. These are undeniably undrinkable and not worth anyone’s time. Drinking alcohol should be something you take pride in, and it’s called an adult beverage for a reason. You are, hopefully, an adult if you’re reading this blog, and someone who cares about the final product of a cocktail.
The challenge in finding a good flavored vodka is that marketing has brainwashed us on both sides of the coin. For whiskey snobs like myself, I wouldn’t touch the stuff for fear of being seen with a clear glass in my hand, and on the other side, the average person drinking flavored vodka probably isn’t concerning themselves with something that is drinkable straight, choosing rather to hide it in some sort of pomegranate abomination.
In the early days of my whiskey hoarding, I had picked up a single barrel California whiskey from local bay area distiller St. George. It was completely intriguing, and unlike anything I had tasted before, somewhere in between a highland scotch, full of fruit, and the malt roast of bourbon. Needless to say I was in love, and decided to do some digging into the distillery.
One of my first steps was to visit the distillery. This could be an entire post in itself, but it is an AMAZING experience. You get to try a bunch of their stuff, and go see the copper stills etc. Located by the old navy yard on Alameda Island near Oakland, St George was one of the first craft distillers in America, being founded in 1982. It is a tour where you learn a ton about what they do and why they do it. They are the distillery behind several of my favorite consumables, but here is their full list:
Under the St George name:
· Three wonderful gins (Terroir, Bontanivore & Dry Rye). Each of these has its own flavor profile, focusing on earthy, floral, and spicy respectively.
· Single Barrel Whiskey. One of my favorite yearly releases and a credit to American whiskey.
· Their wonderfully named Breaking & Entering sourced bourbon. Sadly it looks like this is no longer being produced for the time being.
· A new coffee liqueur called Nola, which I haven’t tried yet. I have high hopes for this.
· A wonderfully grassy Absinthe Verte that is how I normally introduce people to absinthe. Features wormwood, anise and fennel, hyssop, basil, tarragon, lemon balm, meadowsweet, mint, stinging nettles, and other herbs.
· Agricole rum (both aged and unaged). Literally tons (23!) of fresh sugar canes are pressed onsite. I have yet to try the unaged, but managed to recently score a bottle of the aged. Absolutely unlike any rum I’ve ever had – in an amazingly good way.
· Unaged, firey, and not for the faint of heart Pear and Raspberry Eau de Vie. The Pear has 15lbs of Bartlett pears per bottle and the Rasberry has 20 lbs of berries per bottle. These are vegetal and spicy, but maintain the essence of their fruit origins.
· Sweet and luxurious Pear and Raspberry Liqueurs. These are both Christmas in a bottle, and are decadent treats for cocktails or sipped straight as dessert in their own right.
· Aged Apple Brandy that puts every calvados I’ve had to shame. The nose on this is crisp tart apple, and the finish has tons of the French oak it’s aged in. Spectacular.
Liquors that started under their name and have been spun off or sold:
· Firelit - a brandy coffee liqueur made with single source coffee beans from artisan roasters like Blue Bottle. Now currently an independent company in Napa, the company is staying true to its St. George roots with its recipes.
Finally, the focus of this post: Hangar One Vodka. Sadly no longer produced by St George, this brand was started them, but sold in 2010 to a NJ company for distribution. It is now (summer of 2014) made in a distillery next to St. George in Alameda, CA. I have not tried any of the newest formulas, so I recommend going to the liquor store right now and picking some of the old ones up. However good news! St George is in the process of formulating new vodka recipes - they should be out around Thanksgiving 2014, so it's a long few weeks wait. All the following comments are based on the old formulas. Here are their old flavors, now being produced by Hangar One:
Regularly produced:
· Straight - Blend of Viognier eau de vie with spirit made from Midwestern wheat.
· Mandarin Blossom - Made with the blossoms from mandarin orange trees. 100 lbs. of mandarin blossoms for two batches of the stuff. this is like walking into an orchard.
· Buddha's Hand Citron - Made with the rare Buddha's Hand citrus variety typically used for its fragrance. This is what every lemon/citrus vodka wants to be when it grows up.
· Kaffir Lime - A lime whose leaves are typically used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Hangar One distills both the kaffir lime leaves and skin. This is not your typical otterpop lime vodka. This is complex, and as the owner of a kaffir lime tree, I can tell it's 100% spot on. Hilariously you don't eat the actual Kaffir lime - it's too bitter to eat (I've tried). But the fragrance is legen- wait for it - dary.
Limited editions:
· Maine Wild Blueberry, Fraser River Raspberry, Spiced Pear. These are fantastic and true to the fruits they use to distill these. Grab them if you see a dusty bottle hiding on a shelf.
· Chipotle - Made with a blend of jalapeños, chipotles, habaneros, and bell and purple Morita chili peppers. The chipotle is like opening a bin of dried chilies in a Mexican grocery store (also makes the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had).
I am not going to spend the next two days describing how amazing these are, but look at the photo of the bottles I own; you can tell that I love them. I will say this:
I HATE VODKA. I LOVE THESE. Every one of them.
These are drinkable straight. In fact, they are fantastic straight. Vodka straight – flavored vodka on ice. Shudder. I hate even writing it, but it is true. They are stand-alone liquors that bring what they promise to the table. The kaffir lime isn’t a green otterpop – it’s a complex, uncompromising essence of kaffir lime. As previously mentioned, I can’t wait for the new vodkas coming out of St George.
All this to say that sometimes when you find a distiller (or brewer) that you love, it can pay to follow their releases. You get to know what they’re about, their perspective on flavors. St. George is one distiller that I can wholeheartedly recommend without reservation. Give any of their products a try and explore drinkable flavored vodkas.
Please check out www.stgeorgespirits.com for more info.
p.s - I'm certainly not getting anything for pimping these guys - just love their products.