it's like saying all vodkas taste the same.
are you psycho?!
as with everything, you have your connoisseurs and your aficionados and your sommeliers...
so where am I in these standing?
chocolate: I'm a whore - I'll eat anything chocolate... I rarely come across chocolate that I don't like. not a big fan of ridiculously sweet chocolate or chocolate that is bitter or brittle and turns into crumbs when you bite into it...
vodka: nothing less than absolut, because that's as low as I'm willing to go if I have to pay - if it's free and crap, it's getting mixed with something, preferably red bull - which means I'm getting wasted. if it's the higher end stuff - grey goose, ketel one, vox, stolichnaya elit, belvedere...
1. Iceberg
2. Ciroc, Ketel One
3. Citadelle, Stolichnaya
4. Finlandia, Zyr
5. Pearl, Three Olives, Vincent Van Gogh
6. Wyborowa, Grey Goose
7. Absolut, Jewel of Russia
8. Chopin
9. Belvedere, Vox
10. Potocki
11. Turi
12. Fris, Boru
13. Tanqueray Sterling
14. Ston
Premium Imported Vodka
By Ron Kapon, The Wine Detective
40 members of the Greater New York Chapter of Tasters Guild International tasted and evaluated 13 premium vodkas. Since that tasting, the premium imported vodka category has experienced a growth pattern never before seen. There are new brands seemingly appearing every week, much to the delight of Vodka devotees and disciples. In an effort to "update" the tasting, we changed the rules slightly.
I still had 13 vodkas at hand and contesting but only plain were sought...no flavors...and all were imports. There were 11 of what we then referred to as new ones in addition to two from the 2002 tasting (the winner and last place finisher). At the previous tasting, the vodkas were served in what was referred to as an open manner so that everyone could see and know what they were about to taste. To make this particular tasting more interesting we employed blindfolds and no knew what they had before them until it passed their palate. In other words, the vodkas were listed and all knew the brands that were being contested but no one, with the singular exception of myself, actually knew anything more when asked to offer an opinion. Obviously, yours truly did not participate in the tasting or voting.
The 30 tasters invited were all professed vodka drinkers, contrary to the first such gathering where we employed a mix of vodka and wine drinkers per se and mingled them with a number of aficionados with world-wide reputations. So, with a bit of bravado and lack of modesty this time around, several told me they could pick out the vodka they always drank without any problems at all were they asked to do a tasting blind-folded.
The products were served neat with water on the side and Bremner Wafers to cleanse the palate following each taste of a brand of vodka. Then, everyone involved was asked to evaluate each product at least twice, neat and mixed with water, while give the opportunity and option of a retest, if needed. All the while, I explained the derivation of each product, i.e., wheat- or rye-based and, in one example of each, corn and wine grape-based. The tasting notes that follow the rankings are a summary of the results and all replicative commentary has been eliminated while contrasting opinions have been summarized. Each taster was asked to rank the vodkas from their favorite to the least desirable. To insure equality, I then took the 10 vodkas from our summer of 2002 evaluation (having already pulled out the first and last place finisher while dropping the one domestic vodka that had been included) and added them to another round of blind tasting, plus the 13 new vodkas. Because of "palate fatigue," I spread the tasting over a two-day period with 10 new and five past participants.
The votes were weighted from 10 points (number 1) to zero points (numbers 11, 12 and 13). When the vote total was within two points, a tie was declared for that position.
750ml sizes are listed below and a generous markup is applied, but do note that some stores may charge less.
The word vodka, is a derivation of the Russian word for "little water." Vodka came to be a huge part of the Russian culture, as it was being distilled even before the word vodka came into general use. Polish historians claim that vodka was first produced in 1405 and history coupled with rumor state that it reached Russia from Poland. Vodka can be made from potatoes or various cereal grains that contain starch, principally corn, rye and wheat but it can also be made from fruits and vegetables if you feel like setting up your own distillery in a corner of the backyard and/or kitchen some time later today.
The U.S. government officially describes vodka as "a neutral spirit, so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal and other materials as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color." This tasting proved vodka’s range of aroma, texture and flavor. The governmental definition was correct on one point however - vodka does not have any color. Today, vodka is the largest category of distilled spirits on the market accounting for sales of one out of every four bottles of liquor sold in the US.
The Art of Tasting Vodka: While many prefer to drink their vodka ice cold, it is best, for tasting purposes, to pour it into a glass at room temperature. Cold tends to dampen the aroma and deaden the taste buds. Mix the sample with an equal amount of water. Then look at the liquid - it should be clear and bright absent any cloudiness. Second - smell or "nose" the vodka by swirling it in the glass. Watch out for sharp, pungent odors or a perfumed smell. Third - take a small sip and roll it around your tongue. Look for a pleasant flavor and, yes, it varies from person to person. Fourth - draw a little air over the vodka to release its flavors, then swallow it and evaluate the finish. Fifth - vodka should look pure,feel smooth on the tongue...with no "bite," and be pleasant but not overpowering nor have an off-aroma or flavor and little aftertaste. You're ready!!!
THE TASTING This tasting dispelled some myths about vodka! To begin with, the notion of "triple distilled" or "triple filtered" is pure hype. The process of distillation is a continuous one, recirculating the solution until all the alcohol is vaporized out. Also, the source of the vodka (potato, wheat, sugar cane) does not affect the final product, contrary to what you may hear from time to time. When using a sugar product, the fermentation is direct from sugar to alcohol. When using a starch base, the fermentation is starch to sugar (maltose, sugar from grain), then sugar to alcohol. After fermentation, to separate the alcohol from the water in the resulting solution, it is distilled (boiled). Since alcohol has a lower boiling temperature than water (176 degrees), the alcohol vaporizes, leaving the water behind. The vapor is then collected in tubes and cooled; the condensation is collected, boiled again to remove even more water and drawn from the still. Lastly, the most startling one that I have heard was that imported vodka may have up to 2½ % "various ingredients" added, ingredients that do not have to appear on the label. However, American made vodka cannot have any "flavors" added...it must be by law colorless, odorless and tasteless. So much for what you might hear from time to time.
1. The clear (no pun intended) winner is: Iceberg, Canada, $22. Triple distilled using Ontario sweet corn. The sole water source used is from 12,000 year old artic icebergs (perfumed, sweet nose, berry like, orange citrus, smooth, fruity, long finish, aromatic, lots of flavor).
2. Tie: Ciroc, France, $32. 100% wine grapes from southwest France; distilled 5 times. The grapes are left on the vines until the first frost when they are high in sugar content (lime, citrus fruit, oranges, strong nose, pepper, complex, clean on palate, lemon aftertaste, serve it straight up). Ketel One, Holland, $25. Wheat based, named after the original distilling Ketel #1, built in 1864 (Lemon, citrus aroma, easy to drink, spice, long finish, tasteless, round, harsh nose, Vick's vaporub, smooth. Very varied comments).
3. Tie: Citadelle, France, $24. 100% wheat based, distilled 5 times, uses micro-oxygenation (sweet nose, earthy, citrus, vanilla, mine rally, spicy, steely, anise, lots of fruit flavors, smooth, good aftertaste). Stolichnaya, Russia, $24. Winter wheat using glacier water and filtered through quartz and activated charcoal (floral nose, earthy, sweet with a hint of vanilla, licorice, harsh, very flavorful).
4. Tie: Finlandia, Finland, $22. Wheat based from 6 row barley and pure glacial water (no sweetness on the finish, citrus, lacks flavor, clean, herbal and elegant). Zyr, Russia, $32. Distilled & filtered 5 times; winter wheat & rye ( ice water, rough, muted nose, round, smooth, easy to drink, smooth, floral bouquet sweet finish, oily, rubbing alcohol).
5. Three-way Tie: Pearl, Canada, $25. Made from Western Canadian wheat (aromas of butterscotch and maple syrup, caramel, not much taste, clean finish, no nuances, round and smooth). Vincent Van Gogh, Holland, $35. Winter wheat & grains, multiple distillation(?), square shouldered bottles are frosted white, etched & feature some of VVG paintings (refined, harsh, pungent alcohol, round flavors, citrus, clean, minerals, burnt tongue, green apples, unpleasant, different, balanced). Three Olives, Great Britain, $23. Wheat based, triple distilled, and triple charcoal filtered (clean, zesty, lemon grass, citrus, lemon lime, great nose, too alcoholic, harsh, long finish).
6. Tie: Wyborowa, Poland, $18. Rye based, means "exquisite" in Polish (very sweet with vanilla overtones, finishes with a bite, floral, minerals, smooth, burnt, full-bodied). Grey Goose, France, $33. (Finished #1 in 2002 tasting) Five step distillation from a blend of barley, corn, rye & wheat. The water is sourced from Gente Springs in Cognac and filtered through champagne limestone (lemon fresh, floor wax, floral, citrus, smooth, slight sweetness, vanilla, bad cheap rubbing alcohol, steely, rough nose, smells and tastes of licorice with a bit of citrus, caraway & anise, strong nose, clean, crisp, easy to drink). At least 10 of the tasters said they were Grey Goose drinkers, but not one could pick it out and many of them were the most critical.
7. Tie: Absolut, Sweden, $23. Winter wheat based (earthy smell, peppery malt taste, light bodied, licorice and not much character. Are the ads better than the product?). Jewel of Russia, Russia, $30. Wheat & rye based with multiple distillations and a 5 step filtration (sweet, alcohol muted nose, soft on the palate, nondescript, pepper, easy to drink, short finish, Listerine, cherry nose, overpowering, complex).
8. Chopin, Poland, $33. Potato vodka, quadruple distilled; named after Frederic Chopin (earthy, slightly harsh in the mouth, citrus, smooth, wax, bite at the end).
9. Tie: Belvedere, Poland, $33. Made from Rye and quadruple distilled and filtered through diatomaceous earth; Belvedere is the official residence of the Polish President in Warsaw (smells earthy & pungent, sharp, bitter, spice, harsh, vanilla ,sweet taste). Vox, Netherlands, $32. (Finished #13 in 2002 tasting) 100% wheat, demineralized water produced by reverse osmosis. 5 times distilled and filtered (nail polish, rough, harsh, alcoholic, hints of flavor, smooth, strong finish, long & complex, perfumed, undistinguished, licorice).
10. Potocki, Poland, $35. Rye based, 3 distillations, not filtered. Family militarily served the Polish Kings since the 15th Century. Just now being imported into US (pungent, reminded several of whiskey and Gin, not much aroma, flavorless, burnt, pleasant to drink, alcoholic, long finish, aromatic).
11. Turi, Estonia, $31. 100% rye, 4 times distilled (burned edge, harsh on the palate, too sweet, refined, long sweet finish, spicy, burned, cheap, boring, no flavor, short finish, alcoholic, silky texture, smooth). Editors Note: Turi is imported by Bacardi USA.
12. Tie: Fris, Denmark, $21. Wheat based and distilled 6 times; Danish word for frost & ice (flowery, fragrance, alcoholic, poor aftertaste, starts out sweet and finishes savory & salty). Boru, Ireland, $22. Wheat based, filtered through Irish oak charcoal. Named after the first High King of Ireland, Brian Boru in 1014 (delicate, grassy, peppery, perfumed, citrus, not much taste, no nuances of flavor, harsh, rubbing alcohol, mistaken by several people for the grape based vodka, burnt tongue, nasty, smooth fruit flavors, clean, crisp, powerful aftertaste).
13. Tanqueray Sterling, Great Britain, $22. Wheat based and triple distilled (not much aroma, clean but neutral, muted, flavorless, sweet nose & aftertaste, not complex).
14. Ston, Estonia, $21. Distilled 4 times & filtered through limestone. Water is from Artesian wells fed by ancient glaciers (minerals, citrus, hint of vanilla, lemony, slightly sweet, not much character, burnt, no finish, neutral).
Although giving chocolates might not be the most novel way to play Cupid, we found six confections exploding with so much fresh flavor and melt-in-your-mouth goodness that your beloved is certain to forgive any lack of originality on your part. But these bonbons, truffles, and pralines, as beautiful as they are delicious, don’t come cheap, and you won’t find them at your local drugstore. The chocolates from across the U.S. and around the world that earned an excellent Rating from our trained sensory panelists range from $40 to $83 a box (most weighed around a pound) or about $2.50 to $5 per serving. Key among our findings:
Smaller brands were the clear winners. Norman Love, Candinas, John & Kira’s, La Maison du Chocolat, Moonstruck, and Jacques Torres made the most irresistible chocolates based on our blind taste tests. Those are the same brands that ranked highest in 2005 with one exception, Martine’s, which slipped into the very good category because the chocolate wasn’t quite as tasty and quality was inconsistent from piece to piece.
The best products were as different as night and day. Yet all wowed our panelists with incredible freshness; smooth, even-melting chocolate; hints of real cream, butter, and vanilla; and pieces that contained fruit or herbal flavors that tasted like the real thing, not imitation. No two products were alike. The boxes varied from John & Kira’s simple dark-chocolate squares with fillings such as mint, raspberry, or pistachio cream to Norman Love’s hand-painted white-chocolate pieces almost too pretty to eat, with fillings like pineapple-upside-down cake, apple pie, and passion fruit. Given the differences, it’s a good idea to know whether the recipient prefers dark, milk, or white chocolate, or has a favorite type of filling, before ordering.
Price and quality usually go hand in hand. You’d expect a $40 or $50 box of chocolates made in small batches with high-quality ingredients to taste better than mass-produced sweets, and our tests confirmed that. But even expensive chocolates from Fran’s, Martine’s, and MarieBelle didn’t make the top tier. Nor did Godiva’s flagship Gold Ballotin or fancier Platinum Collection. The shocker was the middling quality of the “Intense” assortment from Parisian chocolatier Les Petits Richart, which, at about $8 per ounce, cost at least 40 percent more than most other products. The knock against Richart: Many of the fillings weren’t easy to identify, and others were an odd collection of floral, herbal, and citrus flavors that tended to be sour, bitter, or astringent.
The biggest names come up short. If you’re looking for a familiar name among the best in our tests, you’re out of luck. None of the mass-produced sweets we tested were close in quality. The three lowest-rated assortments--Hershey’s, Russell Stover, and Whitman’s--were the cheapest, costing less than $10 a box. Although they might satisfy an occasional craving, none would make great gifts. Various pieces lacked chocolate intensity, were extremely sweet, felt somewhat gritty, tasted artificial, or suffered from staleness.
Newcomers ranged from so-so to very good. The six newcomers were a mixed lot. There was the disappointing showing by Les Petit Richart, judged merely good, along with Fannie May (a Chicago institution), Esther Price (well known in Ohio and the Midwest), and Switzerland-based Lindt. Fannie May and Esther Price were intensely sweet, and some of the pieces in the Lindt assortment were slightly stale or had a fatty, lardlike filling. Testers rated Godiva’s new Platinum Collection and its Gold Ballotin equal in quality, though the Platinum costs more.
Chocolate 101
All chocolate traces its ingredients to the cocoa tree, whose scientific name, Theobroma cacao, means food of the gods. Seeds from the two main species of trees--the more flavorful “criollo” and higher-yielding “forastero”--are roasted and shelled; their insides are ground and heated until they turn into a paste called chocolate liquor. The liquor is pressed to extract the cocoa butter. Dark chocolate is made by mixing chocolate liquor with cocoa butter, vanilla, and a sweetener. Milk chocolate is made by combining chocolate liquor with cocoa butter, sweetener, and milk solids or powder. White chocolate is made with cocoa butter but no liquor.
To create the final product, candy makers may pour chocolate into molds or “enrobe” (coat on all sides) nuts and other fillings. Some of the more common pieces and fillings are truffles, combining melted chocolate, butter or cream, sugar, and various flavorings, which, when cooled, are rolled into balls and typically coated with cocoa powder or dipped into melted chocolate; pralines, a confection made of nuts and carmelized sugar; ganache, a rich mixture of chocolate and heavy cream; nougat, a chewy or firm confection made from sugar or honey, roasted nuts, and egg whites; and marzipan, a sweet, pliable mixture of almond paste, sugar, and sometimes egg whites that’s often tinted with food coloring and molded into fruit shapes.
What about nutrition?
Even a little chocolate packs plenty of fat (those we tested contained 8 to 16 grams) and calories (around 200) per serving. And that’s if you nibble only a few pieces. But there’s some sweet news about solid chocolate: Stearic acid, one type of fat in chocolate, doesn’t appear to increase LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) levels, and a single 1.4-ounce portion (the government’s recommended serving size) contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee. In addition, chocolate contains ample amounts of beneficial compounds known as polyphenols. Preliminary research suggests that a few ounces of dark chocolate might actually reduce blood pressure slightly in hypertensive adults. Studies have also shown that dark chocolate can expand the arteries and increase blood flow, which might offer protection from cardiovascular disease.
A word about shipping
If you want an outstanding box of chocolates, you’ll need to order online or by telephone, since the companies behind the highest-rated products have only a handful of retail outlets. (Contact information is in the Ratings.) And since these chocolates are perishable, they demand careful handling. Next-day or two-day delivery is recommended; overnight service may be required for fresh creams or warm-weather destinations. Express service can double or triple the freight. Some companies base their fees on the dollar amount of your order; the more you buy, the more you pay. And to ensure that your gift arrives on time, you may need to place your order a few weeks ahead of Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
The world's best chocolate
If you're lucky, Peter Cottontail will put some of these fantastic morsels in your basket this year.
April 17, 2003: 11:40 AM EDT
By Leslie Geary, CNN/Money Staff Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – We don't want to knock the Easter Bunny, but let's face it. When it comes to holiday treats, this harried hare doesn't always deliver the best possible chocolate.
That's fine for small children. But if you're looking for really fine goodies meant to be savored, you may have to get it yourself.
Happily, chocolate isn't what it used to be, thanks to an increasing number of artisanal chocolatiers who are creating singular confections made with higher cacao levels, natural flavors, and unusual ingredients (grated lime, chili peppers). Comparing these gourmet treats to the stuff of supermarket or drugstore aisles is like equating a bottle of Petrus to wine-by-the-box.
Like great wine, upscale chocolate can cost a small fortune -- as much as $70 a pound -- though there are certainly ways to enter the gates of chocolate heaven for less than $10.
Anyway, great chocolate is well worth the investment, according to Clay Gordon, a chocolate critic and founder/editor of the Web site Chocophile.com.
He points out that Americans already spend a vast amount -- roughly $13 billion -- on the sweet stuff per year. Despite our national sweet tooth, however, we still have "a way to go" when it comes to learning about chocolate, Gordon says.
"Most of the upper-end of the chocolate market has been dominated by a few fairly well-known brands, many of which have more to do with marketing than with substance," said Gordon.
For truly divine chocolate, smell, taste and try samples before you buy. Or, take our word for it and try some of these.
La Maison du Chocolat
What Tiffany did for jewelry, La Maison has done for chocolate. There may be no other store that makes as luxurious sweets as La Maison du Chocolate.
Start with presentation. La Maison chocolates are exquisitely arrayed in caramel-colored leather boxes fine enough to hold your grandmother's estate jewelry. Its dark- and milk-chocolate truffles, marrons glaces, caramels, and mendiants (slices of chocolate sprinkled with dried fruits, assorted nuts or orange peel) contain no more than 65 percent cocoa, so they're more sweet than bitter. Ganache fillings are made with cocoa butter, not milk fat.
Each year, La Maison introduces a limited-edition gift to mark Easter. This year, the company is selling leather-bound, egg-shaped boxes crammed with 39 dark- and milk chocolates and a big chocolate egg. This one-pound treat costs $78; the two-pounder runs $110. (www.lamaisonduchocolat.com 800-988-5632)
Dagoba Organic Chocolate
For years, the prospect of organic chocolate usually boiled down to carob, that largely tasteless impostor that left real chocolate lovers hugely disappointed. Then along came Frederick Schilling, a former chef with a mind for experimentation.
After learning that most cocoa growers relied on pesticides to get beans growing, Schilling founded Dagoba, whose name means "temple of the gods" in Sanskrit. The company buys handpicked, organic beans and cocoa from co-ops in the Dominican Republic and Central America, paying full price for the ingredients to comply with certified "Fair Trade" practices.
Chocolate bar choices include such offerings as hazelnut, milk chocolate, roseberry (a blend of raspberry and rose hips), mint/rosemary, lime and macadamia nut, chai (a mixture of milk chocolate infused with cardamom, anise, black pepper, cinnamon and clover), and a lavender/blueberry bar. A gift box of one dozen assorted bars runs $36. (www.dagobachocolate.com; 541-664-9030)
Ganache Chocolates
After 30 years in the pastry business, Norman Love decided to walk away from it all.
The former corporate pastry chef for Ritz Carlton, Love spent 42 weeks a year traipsing around the world to oversee the hotel chain's operations. Though he gave up a stellar career – his honors include a bronze medal from the biennial Coup du Monde de la Patisserie (World Cup of Pastry) competition in Lyon – it wasn't difficult for Love to switch gears.
"Chocolate is my passion," said Love, who dreamed of making a chocolate that was as visually stunning and delicious. So Love and partner Judy Limekiller founded Ganache.
The duo has perfected a technique in which the colored designs for each candy are hand-painted or airbrushed into chocolate molds, then filled the finest chocolate important from Belgium, France and Switzerland. They contain fresh ingredients like pureed raspberries, bananas, ginger and hazelnuts.
Call the shop directly to inquire about Easter treats such as the hollow, multi-colored chocolate eggs that hold eight truffles ($25) or any one of the pastel, galvanized tin buckets that have been filled with a solid bunny, truffles and other sweets. ($45) (www.ganachechocolates.com; 239-561-7215)
Garrison Confections
Andrew Shotts was the pastry chef at La Cote Basque in New York when he started making a line of colorful, intricately designed chocolates to serve to the restaurant's patrons after their meals. He then continued to experiment and create chocolates for subsequent employers, including the Russian Tea Room in New York and Guittard Chocolate in San Francisco.
During his stint at Guittard, Shotts created the company's signature couveture, a chocolate used to make truffles and pastries like molten chocolate cake and that is sold to pastry chefs across the country. Today, Shotts uses E. Guittard couveture at his own chocolate company, Garrison Confections, which he opened in 2001 with his wife, Tina Wright.
His current Vernal collection includes chocolates flavored with fresh herbs and honey, a mint-flavored mojito and a "spring trio" bonbon that's layered with almond, hazelnut and macadamia nut praline. (A box of 24 vernal chocolates runs $30.)
Easter offerings include edible white, milk or dark-chocolate postcards adored in colorful designs and holiday messages inspired by classic French greeting cards. Each, separately wrapped card costs $8 and is shipped in temperature-controlled packaging to prevent melting. (www.garrisonconfections.com; 212-929-2545)
Richard Donnelly Fine Chocolates
In 1998, just 10 years after he opened his chocolate shop in Santa Cruz, Calif., Richard Donnelly won the Best Artisan award at the prestigious EuroChocolate Festival in Perugia, Italy.
Donnelly learned his craft in Paris and Brussels before opening his own shop, where he produces no more than 50 pounds of chocolate a day.
His selections can be roughly divided into two groups: "American" chocolates filled with familiar tastes such as caramel and marzipan, and what Donnelly calls "more interesting" exotic chocolates suffused with herbs like cardamom, Chinese five-spice and lavender.
One pound of Donnelly's assorted sweets runs $65. For that price, Donnelly is happy to custom-fill orders for finicky clients who want a box filled with nothing but their favorites. (www.donnellychocolates.com; 888-685-1871)
