"I like my vodka straight...but my friends can go either way!" That's only one of the amusing ad creations targeted to females by Van Gogh vodka. Their campaign also included: "...guaranteed to be smoother than most men you meet in bars" and "vodka martinis are like catnip to cougars."
But my favorite was "PMS isn't anything a good vodka cocktail and a cupcake can't cure." With that advice, however, Van Gogh vodkas may have unwittingly and subliminally driven a few gals toward one of their competitors...Cupcake Vodka (where they can have their "cupcake" and drink it too.) Count Devil's Food, Chiffon and Ginger Snap among Cupcake brand's offerings, or choose the most-enjoyable part of the cupcake via their Frosting flavor.
"Vodka" used to conjure up specters of burly Russian men throwing back the iced libation to wash down their beluga and blinis. The Cosmopolitan Cocktail changed that scene. Soon an endless array of martini flavors from Apple to Chocolate appealed to women (and many men too, if they're being honest.) So while European martini drinkers may still expect their classic martini with gin and a whiff of vermouth, American women are preferring their "tinis" be shaken-not-stirred with vodka.
In fact, craft beers and flavored vodkas are over the top in alcoholic market shares as the fastest growing adult beverages. Flavored tequilas and rums follow suit. Studying shelf after shelf of the new vodka flavors at my local liquor store, I noticed a hand-written note posted under the Loopy flavored vodka. The note read, "Mix Loopy and Rum Chata...it tastes like a bowl of fruit loops cereal in milk." (Rum Chata combines rum with dairy a la Bailey's Irish Cream.)
Add to the mix Skinny Girl's Bare Naked (cucumber); Godiva's Chocolate Vodka, mandarin, passion fruit, root beer, bubble gum, s'mores, sweet tea, espresso and dragon fruit flavors and it's a wonder there are any vodka flavors left to be created. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some enterprising barkeep has already combined the Peanut Butter flavor with the Grape flavor to create a PB&J Cocktail.
(But today's flavored vodkas are as at home in the cook's pantry as they are in the liquor cabinet. Think beyond "spaghetti in vodka sauce" and experiment by adding pepper or cucumber vodka in a gazpacho, or citrus or fruit flavor vodka drizzled over fresh fruit or s'mores flavor added to puddings...stirred, not shaken!.)
But my favorite was "PMS isn't anything a good vodka cocktail and a cupcake can't cure." With that advice, however, Van Gogh vodkas may have unwittingly and subliminally driven a few gals toward one of their competitors...Cupcake Vodka (where they can have their "cupcake" and drink it too.) Count Devil's Food, Chiffon and Ginger Snap among Cupcake brand's offerings, or choose the most-enjoyable part of the cupcake via their Frosting flavor.
"Vodka" used to conjure up specters of burly Russian men throwing back the iced libation to wash down their beluga and blinis. The Cosmopolitan Cocktail changed that scene. Soon an endless array of martini flavors from Apple to Chocolate appealed to women (and many men too, if they're being honest.) So while European martini drinkers may still expect their classic martini with gin and a whiff of vermouth, American women are preferring their "tinis" be shaken-not-stirred with vodka.
In fact, craft beers and flavored vodkas are over the top in alcoholic market shares as the fastest growing adult beverages. Flavored tequilas and rums follow suit. Studying shelf after shelf of the new vodka flavors at my local liquor store, I noticed a hand-written note posted under the Loopy flavored vodka. The note read, "Mix Loopy and Rum Chata...it tastes like a bowl of fruit loops cereal in milk." (Rum Chata combines rum with dairy a la Bailey's Irish Cream.)
Add to the mix Skinny Girl's Bare Naked (cucumber); Godiva's Chocolate Vodka, mandarin, passion fruit, root beer, bubble gum, s'mores, sweet tea, espresso and dragon fruit flavors and it's a wonder there are any vodka flavors left to be created. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some enterprising barkeep has already combined the Peanut Butter flavor with the Grape flavor to create a PB&J Cocktail.
(But today's flavored vodkas are as at home in the cook's pantry as they are in the liquor cabinet. Think beyond "spaghetti in vodka sauce" and experiment by adding pepper or cucumber vodka in a gazpacho, or citrus or fruit flavor vodka drizzled over fresh fruit or s'mores flavor added to puddings...stirred, not shaken!.)
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