Imbibe
From Russia (and Poland) With Love
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By Xania Woodman Photography Anthony Mair
94 / vrated.com
PHOTOGRAPH BY XX
It took nearly a decade for worldrenowned beverage consultant and champion of the craft-cocktail movement tony abou-Ganim (a.k.a “the Modern Mixologist”) to add “author” to his résumé. His first book, The Modern Mixologist: Contemporary Classic Cocktails, came out in 2010 and helped inform a new generation of bartenders and aspiring home mixologists about the logic and craft of mixology. But few at the time expected that his follow-up book would take on one of the most polarizing spirits of all. Vodka Distilled: The Modern Mixologist on Vodka and Vodka Cocktail launches this month at the South Beach food & wine festival and is available on Amazon.com and Themodernmixologist.com. In it, abou-Ganim pours out the captivating history of vodka, the diversity of raw materials, its use in cocktails, pairing caviar with vodka and how to host your own vodka tasting. fifty-eight old-world and new-world vodkas are explored and rated for their character (not a one of them flavored like wedding cake or peanut butter). alongside stunning photography, abou-Ganim updates well-known drinks such as the Black russian, the Vesper and the Harvey wallbanger, and serves original creations that cast vodka as a vehicle for complementary flavors, something to be savored on its own, and something worthy of more respect than many bartenders give it. But still, you might wonder: Why vodka? Why not a book about whiskey or pre-Prohibition cocktails? “In part,” abou-Ganim writes, “because numbers speak. Vodka is not only the no. 1 consumed spirit in the United States but also ranks no. 1 globally.” thanks in part to vodka’s mixability, a number of successful marketing campaigns and a certain double-agent with a taste for the stuff, vodka surpassed gin in popularity in 1967, and it’s never looked back. “Vodka’s heritage and flavor nuances deserve a measure of reverence, it deserves a place alongside its spirituous cousins whisky, gin, tequila and so on,” abou-Ganim writes in the introduction. “Got to love a challenge!”