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Jak będzie po polsku "cingu lingu"?
Those who know my drinking habits know that, in general, I'm not much for vodka. This probably has something to do with the fact that I first encountred it in college, when no one could afford really good vodka. So my mates tended to place a premium on smoothness, i.e. lack of character, and would mask the unpleasant burn of lesser distillations with strong flavours such as fruit jello or Kahlua.
So I probably never would've developed a taste for the stuff at all if Nuphy hadn't introduced me to Okhotnichya, a.k.a "hunter's vodka". This is a traditional flavoured vodka which is steeped with mountain herbs and sweetened with honey, but for all that you'd never mistake it for any monastic herbal liqueur; it still tastes very much like vodka. This was right before the market for flavoured vodka really exploded in this country, a development which paradoxically pushed Okhotnichya off the shelves to make room for concoctions with everything from vanilla to watermelon. Around this time, a Polish co-worker told me about Żubrówka, which takes its name from a Polish word for its chief aromatic, buffalo grass (Hierochloe odorata). I was intrigued, but since the FDA had banned true Żubrówka due to the presence of coumarin, I couldn't get my hands on the real stuff.
Flash forward to last Christmas, when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lhn handed me a bottle of buffalo grass vodka. I didn't even realise until looking at the label to write this entry that it's not actually Polish, but a Lithuanian brand (Stumbras, from the Lithuanian name for the same plant, stumbražolė). I joyfully hoisted it home, put it in the liquor cabinet, and basically ignored it for half a year until my eyes fell on it last night and I resolved to give it a try this afternoon, when I would have plenty of time for the alcohol to work its way out before bedtime.
It has--as one might expect--a pleasant grassy scent and I initially decided to give it my usual treatment for new-fangled flavoured vodkas, i.e. tall with tonic. But the subtle taste was completely overwhelmed by quinine, so I followed this up with a shot of it room temperature and neat. Verdict: I could get used to it. It's neither as sweet nor as herbal as the Okhotnichya, but burns a little less. Certainly, it's more interesting than straight Stoli or Absolute.
So I probably never would've developed a taste for the stuff at all if Nuphy hadn't introduced me to Okhotnichya, a.k.a "hunter's vodka". This is a traditional flavoured vodka which is steeped with mountain herbs and sweetened with honey, but for all that you'd never mistake it for any monastic herbal liqueur; it still tastes very much like vodka. This was right before the market for flavoured vodka really exploded in this country, a development which paradoxically pushed Okhotnichya off the shelves to make room for concoctions with everything from vanilla to watermelon. Around this time, a Polish co-worker told me about Żubrówka, which takes its name from a Polish word for its chief aromatic, buffalo grass (Hierochloe odorata). I was intrigued, but since the FDA had banned true Żubrówka due to the presence of coumarin, I couldn't get my hands on the real stuff.
Flash forward to last Christmas, when
lhn handed me a bottle of buffalo grass vodka. I didn't even realise until looking at the label to write this entry that it's not actually Polish, but a Lithuanian brand (Stumbras, from the Lithuanian name for the same plant, stumbražolė). I joyfully hoisted it home, put it in the liquor cabinet, and basically ignored it for half a year until my eyes fell on it last night and I resolved to give it a try this afternoon, when I would have plenty of time for the alcohol to work its way out before bedtime.It has--as one might expect--a pleasant grassy scent and I initially decided to give it my usual treatment for new-fangled flavoured vodkas, i.e. tall with tonic. But the subtle taste was completely overwhelmed by quinine, so I followed this up with a shot of it room temperature and neat. Verdict: I could get used to it. It's neither as sweet nor as herbal as the Okhotnichya, but burns a little less. Certainly, it's more interesting than straight Stoli or Absolute.
Kocham Żubrówkę!
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Some people insist they can tell the difference - and those same people usually swear by potato vodka. Or, so I've noticed. Personally, I swear by any vodka that tastes exactly like water, but that's a rare find outside the Vodka Belt.
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Have you tried the Czech Becherovka? The cinnamon flavor is a little too overpowering, for me, but I'm still a fan. I can't tell you how many "betony" I drank while I was in Prague!
Also, the Serbian/Croatian Pelinkovac, which I like better than Becherovka. Wikipedia's claim that it tastes like Jägermeister is only true in the sense that they're both herbal liquors. I have trouble finding that one, though. Even in Macedonia I couldn't find it in any stores, only some bars. This one I like to drink neat.
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