My Flavored Vodka Party

I am working on a story on flavored vodkas and had the terrible task (!) this past weekend of tasting 13 flavors from 6 different companies.  It was such a difficult task that I decided I needed to call in some friends to help me out.  I wasn't surprised when there were quite a few volunteers!

I plan on doing an in-depth story on the vodkas involved for print, but I just can't keep all the results to myself that long.  We divided the drinks into two groups -- Unusual Flavors and Berries, and took an intermission in between.  There were some surprises so let's start with what we thought about the flavor... 

Smirnoff Pear-Everyone said this tasted like banana and I was in agreement. 

Voli Orange Vanilla-"Orange Creamsicle" was the consensus on this one.

Ciroc Coconut-I don't know if it was imagination or visions of Pina Coladas, but a few people said they tasted a bit of pineapple in this.  The coconut was clear, though.

Voli Lemon-This was described as a "lemon drop."  It clearly tasted like its name.

Rehorst Citrus Honey-This vodka -- which was not the strongest by alcohol -- tasted the strongest to all.  A few people tasted a bit of lemon, but no one identified the honey.

Voli Espresso Vanilla -The coffee was the strongest flavor in this.  Only one person picked out the vanilla.  All said it was the most unusual.

Voli Pear Vanilla-This one couldn't be identified (it must be something about pears).  I got "fruit punch" and "caramel," but no pear.

As for the favorite in this group.  It was a toss up between Ciroc Coconut and Voli Espresso Vanilla -- the only two that received votes as the best.  Personally, I couldn't decide between the two, but I have to qualify my answer with the fact that I am allergic to citrus so I didn't taste much of those flavors.  The least favorite was the Rehorst Citrus Honey.  Also note that there was supposed to be 14 flavors at the tasting, but Smirnoff Pineapple broke in the hands of the FedEx driver.

Now for the berry flavors..
Effen Black Cherry-Everyone chimed in at once that this was black cherry.  The flavor was clear and strong.

Absolute Acai Berry-No one guessed this.  Perhaps it is because, in addition to the acai, this vodka also contains blueberry and pomegranate.

Ciroc Red Berry-This smelled more like berry than it tasted. The grape (it is a grape-based vodka) flavor was a bit stronger than the berries.

Voli Raspberry Cocoa-Everyone tasted the chocolate and "berry," but couldn't identify it as raspberry.

Effen Raspberry-There wasn't that much flavor in this one -- certainly nothing like Effen's Black Cherry.

The berry flavors had no clear favorite.  The votes were pretty well divided among them all, with the exception of the Effen Raspberry.  I really liked the Absolute Berry Acai best, though the Effen Black Cherry was very tasty.

I'd also like to mention that the Voli Vodkas, which were very popular in the taste tests, are light vodkas.  They all contain under 100 calories and also contain electrolytes.  I don't know if their quite "healthy" enough to take to the gym for your workout, but they are worth checking out as a option that will keep your diet a little more in check than many spirits.