Les Jones: Jay Gregory on Vodka and Gin

June 03, 2004

Food & Drink > Jay Gregory on Vodka and Gin

Why drink gin in a world where there's vodka?
- Jay Gregory

Amen. A few weeks ago I ran out of my favorite cheap mixing vodka, Hannah and Hogg. Since then I've been working through my stock of Tanqueray gin. I like a little of the bite of gin, but if I mix drinks the way I would with vodka they're wince-inducingly strong in taste.

And forget gin for martinis. Bombay Saphire is supposed to be A number 1 martini gin. When I mixed a Saphire and vermouth martini, my friend Randall Wright aptly described it as tasting like "turpentine with a shot of hairspray."

Give me vodka, or even cheap vodka. Luksosowa, a Polish potato vodka, is pretty good out of the freezer. For martinis I prefer Smirnoff over some of the more expensive brands. I was thrilled to see that Baker-Peters Jazz Club agreed, and calls for Smirnoff for many of the drinks on their martini menu.

Posted by lesjones

Comments

I like vodka and gin both in their own way, but as for martinis, I share the preference of Mr. Bond..

Although on occasion I make them with gin just to mix it up.

Mmm, alcohol.

Posted by: Chris Wage at June 04, 2004

I'm gonna pass on anything that you need to bring to freezing in order to make it most enjoyable. If something tastes better when your taste buds are numbed up, I'll look elsewhere.

Give me a glass of quality single-malt, neat.

But that's just me.

Posted by: Bruce at June 04, 2004

Bruce: point taken, but there are grades of everything for different purposes. Hence the distinction between sipping whiskey and mixing whiskey - if it's going to be mixed with an adulterant, there's no point using the primo stuff. Same for cold shots of vodka.

Posted by: Les Jones at June 04, 2004

When I was in the third grade, I said something that prompted my mother to wash my mouth out with soap. She used a bar of perfumy deodorant soap because it was handy and it left a foul and unforgettable taste in my mouth for hours.

Many years later, I was at a private party where the host proudly served up Sapphire gin and I got sick. I swear, it tasted exactly like that deodorant soap my mom fed me.

Needless to say, I prefer vodka. Without perfume, of course.

Posted by: Interested-Participant at June 10, 2004

Personally, I think even the cheaper vodkas are ok neat. I cant stand the taste of any other liquor.

Posted by: C at September 14, 2006