Spirited Babble

Excerpt from the fabulous little book ‘Shaken NOT Stirred’ by Anistatia R Miller & Jared M. Brown.

Russia was a cold, austere place when Peter 1 became its monarch in 1682. From the day he first took the throne, Peter was known to be a workaholic with a limitless capacity for drinking and open contempt for political or religious pomp and circumstance. He’d built quite a reputation before he turned twenty-five years old. That’s when he took a sixteen-month Grand Tour of Western Europe.

Traveling incognito, Peter made his way through Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and England. Instead of bringing back conventional souvenirs like sculptures or paintings, the young Czar returned with a treasure-trove of western technological advances, customs, fashions, cuisine, and a full entourage of craftsmen and advisors. Peter (who by this time had earned his nickname, Peter the Great) had his culture army build a remarkably beautiful city, St. Petersburg, based on this own opulent architectural designs. Besides instilling a new sense of style and grace into the Russian cultural landscape, peter distilled his personal version of the national drink -vodka- with his newly acquired taste for Western flavours like peppers, berries, and spices. Three centuries later, Peter the Great’s tastes have inspired a whole collection of modern Martinis.

Unlike infused flavors, which impart oils, pulp, sediment, and juices into the previously pure spirit, distilled essences acquire their characteristics in the actual manufacturing process. they preserve the spirit’s integrity ans strength by taking the best of the fermented grain and the fruit or spice, and wedding their tastes together in a colorless form. Style is still an essential element, especially in martini culture. When it comes to mixology, flavored vodkas offer the ultimate way to create a martini repertoire that exudes individuality.