Book club turns ‘vodka snobs’

Usually when I think of cocktails made with vodka, I think of the screwdriver, which I’ve sworn off of after a bad experience when I was…..well, younger. I do, however, enjoy an occasional vodka tonic or vodka martini. And that was the sum total of my knowledge of vodka.

However, “How to be a Vodka Snob” by Brittany Jacques has made me appreciate how versatile and delicious vodka and vodka cocktails can be, even when they contain orange juice.

Jacques is the pen name for a husband and wife team of foodies and drinkies. (Is that what you call cocktail connoisseurs?) The book combines the basics, such as types of vodka and distilling methods; history, how cocktails originated; and recipes for drinks and even appetizers and punches.

The photography in the book is stunning, and the voice is conversational and entertaining. The title notwithstanding, there’s nothing at all snobby in this book. My only disappointment is that the authors did not include an index to the recipes, which are scattered throughout the book, so I have to constantly flip pages looking for particular drinks.

“Vodka Snob” includes recipes for the standards, like the gimlet, Russians (both black and white), and the Moscow mule. A section on Hollywood includes Bond’s vesper martini, Dwight Shrute’s beets over the rocks, and the orange whip, a favorite of Jake and Elwood Blues.

I invited my book club over for some tastings. We started with a flight of different types of vodka. We all liked the wheat vodka, which was light and smooth. The second was a vodka made from corn. It was not as smooth and had a stronger, quicker bite. The last was a potato vodka. Jacques describes potato vodka as tasting like “a big, delicious bite of creamy mashed potatoes” (p 7). I might not go that far, but it was creamy and smooth, and everyone’s favorite.

We were split on whether we preferred our martinis shaken or stirred. The shaken martini better dissolves the vermouth and tastes less oily, according to Jacques. However, shaking can bruise the vodka and make it bitter.

Of the cocktails, the club’s overall favorite was the gimlet (vodka and sweetened lime juice). It will be especially appealing to those who like margaritas. The club also loved the Russians, both black and white (vodka and coffee liquor, plus a splash of cream for the white version), declaring them “yummy.”

I think my overall favorite was the classic bay breeze cocktail (vodka, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice). It’s just a bit sweet without being desserty, with the pineapple flavor really coming through.

Not that there’s anything wrong with desserty cocktails. The blueberry muffin chata (blueberry vodka and RumChata) really does taste like a blueberry muffin. And the book club absolutely loved the mudslide (vodka, Irish cream, Kahlua, crème de cacao, and ice cream). Who wouldn’t?

“How to be a Vodka Snob” arrives just in time for summer and long-delayed get-togethers. I and my book club give it five stars. Next, we’re going to try out “How to be a Bourbon Badass” by Linda Ruffenach.