By Elyse Glickman
CLFortin Getty Images/iStockphoto
Gin
Three festive drinks with ice in vintage rose-colored glass cups on a white marble surface
When temperatures rise, most people get the urge to lighten things up. Think lighter fabrics, lighter colors, lighter foods and more refreshing flavors. If guests are trading cheese-heavy burritos or a carne asada plate for a salad or grilled fish tacos, you might conclude they’ll start ordering more blanco or silver tequila-based cocktails, too.
Not necessarily!
There’s a whole new spectrum of cocktail options available when creative bartenders add vodkas and gins to the bar’s warm-weather “wardrobe.”
Neutral, Versatile Spirits
In contrast to blanco tequila (with its flavor notes that can run the gamut from citrus to tropical fruits and honey), vodka and gin are considered neutral spirits that can deliver herbaceous notes or allow flavors of other mixers to shine through or blend more harmoniously.
That also makes them versatile additions behind the bar.
With no dominant odor or flavor, vodka in particular allows mixologists to make drinks taste the way the seasonal fresh fruits and juices do right from the farm stand, keep calorie-conscious guests happy, and keep bar profit margins fair.
“As we say in the bar community, ‘vodka pays the bills’,” says Jessie Bell, a mixologist at El Camino in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Bartenders love using [vodkas] because of their versatility, and consumers trust them. Silver tequila poses a decent competition to the overall sales of vodka, but it has yet to knock vodka off its pedestal with American consumers. Most margarita recipes I’ve made that usually call for silver tequila are very comparable when made with vodka. The same can be said with daiquiris and caipirinhas. As a general rule of thumb, most neutral spirits make for a great drink when mixed with equal parts sugar and citrus.”
“Gin and vodka tend to go with every flavor, enhancing whatever other fruit or herbal ingredients you may be using. While the spirits may have different bodies, the flavors are easy to mix,” echoes Charity Johnston, beverage director at Los Angeles’ The Madera Group, whose dining concepts include Toca Madera and Tocaya Organica. “White neutral spirits provide a perfect base for creative cocktails, which also helps the customization of a drink for a picky customer.”
While Toca Madera’s beverage program is built on a foundation of tequilas and mezcals, Johnston affirms that selections on the drink menu are adaptable for any spirit.
“I always say that as long as the cocktail has balanced flavors and ingredients—sweet, herbal, fruit, acid—you can interchange any spirit,” says Johnston, who notes that a cocktail’s flavors shine through more clearly when it’s made with vodka. That’s because vodka has a “plainer base” than tequila, which has the added flavors of agave and citrus.
“Lately, I have been playing around with a spirit-forward vodka cocktail, combining it with different flavors like aloe or Aperol. One of the cocktails on our current menu is the Mono See Mono Do, which has both mezcal and gin,” reports Johnston, who calls the drink “a unique combination of two spirits that go well together. The Mono See Mono Do has Monkey 47 gin, Bahnez mezcal, lime juice, cilantro infused liquor, blackberry, and strawberry.”
‘Refreshing’ is Trending
With summer approaching, white spirits can be particularly appealing on the cocktail scene, mixology experts say.
“(In warmer months), I find that customers are seeking out fresher, healthier drink options and veer away from sweeter drinks. I find gin is the perfect spirit for more refreshing cocktails because of the subtle, fruity flavors that it brings without adding any extra sweetness,” says Constantin Alexander, director of beverages at the Hakkasan Group, which recently debuted Casa Calavera in Los Cabos, Mexico.
One example is Casa Calavera’s popular Farm Martini, which incorporates Tanqueray gin with locally sourced nopal leaf, cucumber, pear, lime and dill.
“Gins are very versatile spirits when it comes to cocktail creation,” says Alexander. “While some drinks are best suited for distinguished, London-style gins with strong notes of juniper, others may be better complemented by gins with a more floral and subtle profile. The best way to discern this is through trial and error, by sampling various iterations of the cocktail with different types of gin.”
When planning a summer cocktail menu, Alexander suggests bartenders get a fix on the different flavor profiles of each gin on their bar and how each variety corresponds with the added ingredients of each cocktail. When it comes to vodka, he prefers well-balanced neutral grain styles.
And what about replacing blanco tequilas with other white spirits?
“Although [it] isn’t something I typically do, some of the finer blanco tequilas available in Mexico can be swapped out successfully,” he says. “Bartenders seeking to use gin or vodka as substitutes should look for parallel tequilas that are more neutral and floral in style, like Casa Dragones.”
Alexander also exercises caution when selecting vodkas for his craft cocktails.
“Although there are some high-quality flavored vodkas out there, most of them give cocktails an artificial flavor or aftertaste, so I generally stay away from them when creating cocktails.”
But that doesn’t mean vodka is absent from Casa Calavera’s cocktail menu. The Apple Cooler—a bit sweeter than the Farm Martini—combines Absolut Citron vodka with muddled green apple, cinnamon, rhubarb bitters and Squirt for a summery, effervescent experience.
Bell, too, favors ‘refreshing’ when asked what is trending.
“I see lots of refreshing, earthy, and green flavors like cucumber, cilantro, and chiles trending right now,” says Bell, who is influenced by the different ceviches found throughout South Florida’s Latino communities when crafting white spirit cocktails. “Throw in some of the seasonal and local fruits like papaya, mango, and even avocado and then you really start to see some magical cocktails come to fruition.
White spirits cocktails, in fact, are great with ceviche and lighter fare.
“I would suggest pairing a gin or vodka drink with one of Toca Madera’s Ceviche dishes, such as the Ceviche Rojo with red snapper and Ceviche Blanco with Chilean sea bass, or items in our fresh raw bar program,” Johnston says.
And Alexander says his white spirits cocktails are good matches for fresh ceviche, street tacos with lighter fillings, and fresh salads with citrusy finishes.
A bit of gin or vodka can also pair well with sweeter menu offerings.
Says Bell: I also love a ‘bomb espresso martini’ with vodka, a bit of Irish cream, and a fresh shot of Cuban Cafecito and think that it deserves a presence on dessert menus.”
The bottom line? When creating your spring and summer cocktail menu, adding more options featuring gin and vodka might be a good move.
“In general, especially in warmer weather, people want something that is going to be easy drink all day,” says Johnston. “So that typically involves something with less sugar and alcohol to sustain for multiple hours while still getting your booze on!”
Elyse Glickman is a regular contributor to el Restaurante.
SIDEBAR 1:
Infusing White Spirits
Jessie Bell, a mixologist at El Camino in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is not a fan of artificially flavored spirits and insists doing things in-house with fresh produce. That process, she believes, delivers a better, cleaner result.
“If you want a raspberry flavored vodka, throw some fresh berries in your tin, muddle them up and shake to perfection,” she says. “Want an orange flavored vodka? Fresh squeeze half of one into your cocktail shaker and make the magic happen yourself. It is so much more gratifying that way, and I promise you can taste the difference.”
Charity Johnston, beverage director at Los Angeles’ The Madera Group, whose dining concepts include Toca Madera and Tocaya Organica, agrees.
Even before coming to the Madera Group, Johnston steered clear of pre-flavored vodkas or spirits whose notes were not achieved through natural processes like infusing. Now, when planning her cocktail menu, she embraces Toca Madera’s farm-to-glass philosophy in the cocktails she creates.
For example, she prefers the practice of infusing clear spirits in-house with herbs or seasonal fruit since most flavored vodkas have extra sugar and artificial ingredients. One notable exception: Ketel One Botanicals, subtly preflavored vodkas made with real botanicals and infused with natural fruit essences.
SIDEBAR 2:
Gin and Vodka: Moving Up in Mexico
Mexican consumers are becoming more open than ever to new flavor profiles and drinking experiences. According to David Guzman, marketing manager of Fraternity Spirits (a U.S. distributor for Corralejo Distillery’s tequila products), the gin category is growing in Mexico, and vodka demand is steadily rising, too. Consumers and bartenders there want to expand their horizons by experimenting with spirits that have fresh, clean flavor profiles—a trend that prompted Corralejo to produce Boker Vodka and a new gin label, both exclusively for the Mexican market.
“Neutral spirits like vodka and gin bring a greater range of options for mixology. When fruits like lemon, grapefruit, orange, and others are infused into the neutral spirits, the natural flavors strongly shine through,” Guzman says. “They create a base for cocktails that are particularly good for warmer temperatures and pairing with seafood dishes. While the Mexican palate has traditionally leaned toward sweeter flavors, these days more people [in our market] are expressing an interest in drinking healthier cocktails, which means ‘less sweet.’”
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