Friday, May 25, 2007

Three more tastings and a cocktail

Last night, the Mad Scienticians conducted the first sampling of our watermelon vodka infusion, as well as repeated samplings of the blueberry and almond vodkae. The watermelon vodka experiment had only been ongoing for three days, we expected it to be a fairly quick infusion. As we expected, the vodka has drawn very little color from the fruit.



It turns out that the experiment will need more time than we had hoped. "It's got a watermelon flavor, but it's not strong enough," Wayland commented. "It's also got a bad aftertaste."

I didn't notice an aftertaste, other than the bite of the vodka. The watermelon is tasty on the front end, but it subsides quickly. We put this back to infuse for another week.



The blueberry vodka has progressed a great deal since our previous sampling. Once the berry skins were broken up, they began to truly infuse. The vodka now has a deep purple color.



I found the blueberry flavor to be more pronounced, but it still had a strong vodka taste. Wayland said he hardly tasted any blueberry, and it was mostly vodka.

So, despite the strong coloration, this infusion still needs more time before the flavor is right.



The almond vodka, which has been running for four weeks now, has also attained a darker color than it had last week.



"More almondy, very smooth," said Wayland. "Still, I'd like to give it a little longer."

I concurred with Wayland. Its almond flavor has grown stronger, but not as much as we would like. Alas, this experiment too will remain ongoing. We have high hopes that this one will be completed next week, though.




Though all of the experiments we tested this week have been disappointments so far, we do have a cocktail recipe to make up for it, using the strawberry-vanilla vodka we completed last week.

Research Triangle Iced Tea

In a tall glass with ice, pour:
2 oz. Mad Scientician™ Strawberry-Vanilla vodka
One can (8.3 oz.) of Red Bull

This mix of flavors is oddly reminiscent of sweet iced tea, with a hint of strawberry. We named the drink in honor of our local area, the Research Triangle of North Carolina.

Brendan's score: 3 flasks out of 5
Wayland's score: 3 flasks out of 5
Overall score:

5 comments:

Mel said...

Most of the watermelon vodka combinations I've seen call for a closer watermelon to vodka ration, but I'm sure yours will be delicious!

I actually have a question for you gents- how often do you replace the Brita filters? I'm considering doing some of my own infusions(I'm currently letting a nice plum liqueur mature)and am looking to save money.

Brendan said...

We change our filter on a monthly basis. That's a minimum of twenty filtrations (five per weekly infusion), though we usually do several repeat infusions each month that aren't always reported here.

Scottes said...

Brita filters last up to 40 gallons. Of water, of course. By my math you're doing only 4 gallons. (5 filtrations * 25.4oz per bottle) * 4 weeks in a month. I'd definitely go longer. Generally speaking, when it takes a LONG time to filter then it's time to replace. With my patience level that's probably about 30 gallons.

Even at about $6 each for a filter, your Vladimir costs an additional $1.50 a fifth - a nice increase in quality for the price. But try 5x the use of a filter.

Brendan said...

Thanks for the comments, guys. You've inspired me to write a post where I discuss the process in detail, and hopefully address your questions.

Unknown said...

>>"Episode 41: Vodka Myths
According to myth, in a high-speed, head-on collision, a pair of trucks fused together upon impact, sealing the unfortunate car and driver between them. The team needs a traffic-free stretch of freeway. By amazing coincidence, they find one in Alameda that was specially constructed by the makers of Matrix Reloaded to film their own head-on collision between two semitrailers. Also, Kari hosts some urban legends about Russia's national drink, vodka (a.k.a. "Fire Wine").
premiere: Nov. 2, 2005 <<"

Here ya go...this way, you can probably seek it out on der Youtube. :D