Kástra Elión vodka is made from a blend of olives and wheat.

Vodka has a reputation for being flavorless and neutral, and yet its popularity persists. Much of the marketing that drives the category is focused on lifestyle cachet, rather than aroma and taste. But this reputation is mostly outdated. Because while some brands, even a few of the best regarded, are distilled to the point of flavorlessness and lean into their neutrality, others are packing flavor and texture into each bottle. Some are even experimenting with base ingredients that go beyond the usual grains and potatoes.

Kástra Elión falls into this new crop of vodkas. It hails from Greece, where it’s made from a blend of Greek olives and wheat. It’s named for the ancient castle that stands guard over the hills and olive groves of Nafpaktos, the ancestral home to the vodka and the family that created it.

The brand was founded by master blender and certified flavor chemist Frank Mihalopoulos, who’s spent nearly four decades in product development for companies like Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts and Kahlua, and has also consulted for spirits brands including Absolut and Stoli. He’s joined by co-founder and son-in-law, Mike Camello, who serves as the company’s president.

“We were vodka drinkers and interested in some of the European vodkas concocted using malted barley and rye. Those who managed to attain an excellent texture in their vodkas intrigued us,” Camello narrates. The idea then struck them: why not attempt creating a vodka from olives?

The venture lasted about a year for Mihalopoulos to become adept. He initiated a lab, acquired distillation apparatus, and began exploring several olive varieties originating from across the globe. “Although I refrained from getting sentimentally connected to the narrative, we eventualized on a three-variety fusion that happens to be found in the same area of Greece that I hail from.”

Kástra Martini |

The process is artisanal, with the yield loss significantly higher than that experienced by most vodka distillers. However, Mihalopoulos emphasizes that meticulous distillation interventions are pivotal to the elimination of all the heads and mutable compounds introduced by the olives.

There’s not much sugar in olives, thus the ethanol comes from the grains. Mihalopoulos points out that the olives merely enhance what has already existed in the grain. The olives don’t contribute any flavor, and the company didn’t set out to make olive-flavored vodka. Instead, the olives give the vodka’s signature mouthfeel and smoothness. Prior to bottling, the distilled liquor is combined with spring water from Greece’s mineral-rich Mount Taygetus.

The aroma of Kástra Elión vodka is very pure, devoid of any off-putting chemical scents or over-emphasized alcohol burn. Aromas are a mix of sweet and savory, with vanilla and butterscotch taking the lead. The palate introduces subtle fruit notes, citrus, and a trace of pepper. It lingers on the tongue and stays with you, triggering the salivary glands as flavors build to more butterscotch and vanilla, rounded off by a hint of toasted bread.

Camello enjoys drinking Kástra Elión on the rocks with olives, but admits not everyone prefers sipping vodka. Luckily, it pairs perfectly with Martinis. When presenting the vodka to bartenders, the brand intends for them to maintain spirit-driven drinks, and not go overboard with sugar. “We want the vodka’s quality to be the highlight and maintain its mouthfeel,” Camello says.

Kástra Elión recently introduced its own olive brine and cocktail olives, available individually or in a kit along with a bottle of vodka, designed for the perfect Dirty Martini. The brine and olives are sourced from the same Nafpaktos region where the vodka is produced, allowing for a uniquely Greek, olive-centered take on the classic cocktail.

On a distillery tour, some of the most unforgettable views come from observing rickhouses filled from top to bottom with massive oak barrels. Each barrel houses whiskey in progress, gradually absorbing the attributes of the wood and interior charcoal to eventually deliver the famed complex, amber-colored spirit. However, a question inevitably arises: “How many bottles can be made from a single one of these enormous barrels?”

You’re not the only one curious about this! Intriguingly, even though the U.S. doesn’t have explicit regulations about the size of oak barrels distilleries need to utilize, most distillers opt for a standardized barrel size known as the American Standard Barrel (ASB.) These ASB barrels typically accommodate around 53 gallons of newly-distilled whiskey.

If you chose to bottle the contents of one of these barrels on the spot, you would yield approximately 267 bottles of unaged whiskey, also known as “white dog,” “moonshine,” or “white whiskey.” However, the calculation for quantity of properly aged whiskey derived from a barrel is a tad more intricate.

Read more: The 25 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked

As whiskey ages in an oak barrel, several things happen — some of which will ultimately impact the barrel’s yield once it’s fully matured. One important element is the “angels’ share,” a charming term for the whiskey that evaporates during aging. The longer whiskey ages, the more it loses to the angels (aka evaporation.) The extent of this loss depends on factors such as geographical location, climate, and conditions like temperature and humidity within the warehouses where the barrels are stored.

Another thing to consider is how whiskey is prepared for bottling. Unless it’s labeled as “cask strength” (meaning it’s not diluted), some bottles have whiskey mixed with water to lower the alcohol content (from 52-66% ABV in cask strength down to 40-46% ABV.) In such bottles, even if the label says it holds the standard 750 milliliters (about 25.3 fluid ounces), not all of it comes directly from the barrel. Barrels used for making cask-strength will yield fewer bottles than those that go toward making diluted whiskeys.

Because of these factors, it’s tough to predict the exact number of bottles a barrel will produce. Estimates vary, with some distillers suggesting an average of 200 to 300 standard 750-milliliter bottles per barrel. Depending on the actual yield, distillers will adjust their pricing accordingly. Older barrels that lose more liquid to evaporation are usually more expensive to recoup the loss.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.

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Going purely on instinct, you likely wouldn’t think to use vodka, a decidedly un-Italian spirit, in a pasta dish. Yet somehow, these two seemingly disparate ingredients have been working hand-in-hand in penne alla vodka since it became popular in the 1970s and 1980s. However, if you too have wondered what role vodka plays when added to this popular pasta sauce, you are not alone.

It turns out, vodka is contributing something important to the sauce. Chef Stephen Cusato, who is a social media sensation, shares the reasoning on his popular YouTube channel. (Cusato cites Harold McGee, a well-known food science writer who covered the topic in his book “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen”.)

“If you just add vodka to something, it’s going to overpower it,” Cusato explained. “But just like anything, when you reduce [the vodka] down, it’s going to enhance flavors that weren’t there to begin with” and will subsequently “work with the tomatoes to make them more ‘tomato-ey.'” Essentially, the vodka ensures the flavors from ingredients like tomato come out even stronger than they otherwise might have. Interesting. But there’s even more to know about the science behind penne alla vodka.

Read more: The Ultimate Vodka Brands, Ranked

There are two reasons why adding vodka can elevate your creamy tomato pasta sauce. First is that it acts as an emulsifier to smoothly combine the acidity of the tomatoes with the rich, fatty cream, which may otherwise separate when used together. Adding the spirit helps achieve the perfectly creamy texture of vodka sauce. At this point, you might be wondering whether other types of alcohol could be used for this purpose. While the answer is yes, vodka has a distinct advantage over other kinds when used in this application, as it has the least distinctive flavor profile.

The second reason is that when vodka is added in small amounts, the alcohol is known to unleash a bouquet of flavors in the tomatoes that often remain untapped. It is key to remember that smaller is better in this instance, as pointed out by Chef Stephen Cusato in his tutorial. So be sure not to overdo it with the vodka.

Chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt tested out various ways to incorporate vodka in vodka cream sauce to find the most delicious way possible. He tested versions of the sauce that ranged from 4% to 1% ABV (alcohol by volume), and he tried tasting the sauce at different points in the cooking process. He concluded in Serious Eats: “For the tastiest vodka sauce, add ¼ cup vodka per quart of sauce and let it simmer seven minutes.” Otherwise, the alcohol hasn’t dissipated and tastes too strong. Another tip recommended by chef Stephen Cusato in the YouTube video is to make sure you first reduce the tomatoes until they are highly concentrated (which takes about 30 minutes).

So while vodka does indeed add something to the sauce, keep in mind the most important rules: Don’t use too much, and let it cook long enough to develop the flavors and dissipate the alcohol.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.

Since its invention in the 1860s, the whiskey sour has remained popular for good reason. Its simple recipe combines alcohol, citrus, and sugar, sometimes with egg white, to create a refreshing drink with many nuances. It’s easy to showcase different whiskey traits while adjusting the acidity and sweetness for the best drinkability. While most whiskey sours only use lemon juice, the inclusion of freshly squeezed orange juice gives the drink a lighter, sweeter feel.

The addition of orange juice not only enhances the flavor by adding a touch of sweetness but also affects the texture of the cocktail. The result is a softer concoction that can be paired with a richly flavored whiskey. Meanwhile, lemon juice is still used to maintain an acidic balance, which can be tweaked according to taste. The unique character of this versatile cocktail can be further modified by altering the proportions of whiskey and simple syrup. Let’s explore a few remarkable variations.

Read more: The 25 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked

Those who prefer a sweeter whiskey sour can use a bourbon base and increase the quantity of orange juice. Such versions can contain almost one-and-a-half-part orange to lemon, although some of the latter’s acidic sharpness is essential. After all, it’s a sour. When making this version, lower the amount of sugar syrup to balance the sweeter flavor of the orange.

Alternatively, imbue only a slight orange character by utilizing two-parts lemon to one-part orange juice. This is better aligned with a bolder whiskey, like rye, and is well-suited to incorporating an egg white topping for added fluffiness. The inclusion of rich, simple syrup further plays to a decadent mouthfeel since it gives the drink a thicker consistency. This would make it more of a classic whiskey sour.

If craving an even deeper orange flavor, consider integrating the citrus in other forms. You could craft a syrup with the orange — opting for a sweet flavorful fruit variety like cara cara — and also including the rind, for a powerful full-fruit flavor. Finally, you can rim the glass with a malty brown sugar, top the egg white foam with orange bitters and garnish with a dried orange slice or grated orange zest, for an impressive effect.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.

Stumbras Premium Organic Vodka takes home the top prize at this year’s New York World Spirits … [+] Competition

Earlier this year a panel of expert judges convened in a nondescript hotel convention hall in Brooklyn to assess merit across all major categories of spirit. It was part of the annual New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, which in just several iterations has already grown into one of the city’s premiere tasting events.

We’ve spent significant time covering the top-rated whiskies from that competition. It included several jaw-dropping surprises, all of which are worthy of exploration—if you fancy aged spirit. Now we’re going to venture into the realm of vodka. But first we must address the elephant in the room: how does one define greatness in a category that is flavorless by design?

Well, for starters, vodka isn’t flavorless, exactly. It is often conflated with neutral grain spirit, but that’s a vast oversimplification. And an outdated one. Vodka doesn’t even have to be made from grain at all. It can be distilled from vegetables, fruit, honey, starches—we’ve seen compelling examples come from all sorts of base ingredients. And it certainly doesn’t need to be neutral in flavor or aroma. If you have doubts, you ought to consider cracking open a bottle of the very expression that the New York Wine & Spirits Competition dubbed the best of 2023: Stumbras Premium Organic Vodka.

The first organic vodka to ever come out of Lithuania is crafted according to strict parameters of production. It begins its life as wheat grown on an organic farm, deep in the heart of the Baltic nation. After distillation, the liquid passes through a proprietary linen-based filtration. This process is said to imbue the vodka with its notable smoothness and subtle viscosity.

You can debate whether or not there’s some element of gimmick to be found there. But what’s certain is that the wheat at its core imparts a pleasing sweetness upon the palate. It carries through, into the aftertaste, where you’re left to ponder the lingering nuance of this flavor. Yes, flavor—in vodka.

And, to be clear, we’re not talking about flavored vodka. In fact, Stumbras specializes in one of those as well. Namely, a cranberry variant, which was also recognized by the judges in New York for its exceptional bitter notes. The company has the craft pretty well dialed-in after over 115 years of getting the job done.

You can find its award-winning organic expression on American shelves rather easily, priced at around $20 per bottle. The aforementioned subtleties of its tasting profile marks it as a natural fit against tonic or soda, served over rocks. Especially if you’re going to add lemon or lime into the mix, with the tart and bitter elements of citrus balancing out all things sweet from the wheat in the vodka.

Or do the unthinkable: try the 80-proof spirit neat. Maybe you’ll be able to call out some of the same grassy aromatics in the liquid that won over those contest judges back in Brooklyn. Perhaps you, too, will call it one of the more interesting vodka on shelves today. But what you won’t be able to do is call it flavorless.

LITHUANIA – NOVEMBER 25: Mill, Open air ethnographic museum, Rumsiskes, Dzukija, Lithuania. (Photo … [+]