By
George Brozowski
There's
a whole lot of distilling going on in Austin, Texas
these days, and Deep Eddy is part of that emerging spritely
spirits scene. They use a column still to produce their vodka,
which essentially creates a spirit that has been effectively
distilled 10 times. They use some of Mother Nature's finest
water pulled up from an aquifer deep beneath the earth, and
then they charcoal filter the final product 6 times. That's
some pretty neat stuff to do to good old corn, so I guess
the proof will be in the tasting.
Of
course, just making straight up vodka wasn't quite enough
for these good old boys, so they upped the ante with a number
of flavored vodkas. I have to admit here that well over half
the flavored vodkas I have tasted just weren't worth drinking,
but ever the optimist, I have hope for the Deep Eddy
Ruby Red I'll be trying.
Though,
I have to admit, I don't really get grapefruit at all. And
by that I mean real grapefruit - what's up with that fruit?
It's tart, acidic, and needs lots of sugar to make it palatable
but somehow enough people either like it or put up with it
to make it marketable. I simply can't imagine what these guys
were smoking when they came up with this flavored vodka, but
giving them the benefit of the doubt, let's get into it. The
nose is muddled (unlike the previous flavored Deep Eddy vodkas
I've tried that seemed to be purpose driven).
This
one just seems unsure which direction it wants to take. It
has some of those earthy tones but they are unclearly defined.
I get some kind of nod toward grapefruity aromas, but they
just don't work for me. There's a citrusy note, no sweetness,
and of course, no alcohol in the nose; but based on the nose,
I am ambivalent about putting this in my mouth. It's sort
of like being a five year old that just playfully tortured
and murdered his first bug and now doesn't know if he really
wants to put it in his mouth and try it anymore after all
that.
Unlike
that kid, I did put this grapefruit flavored vodka in my mouth.
On the palate, there's an earthy taste of citrus tartness,
followed by some sweetness with absolutely no tell tale hints
of alcohol. The finish is, of course, smooth but again leaves
a hard candy like after taste that reflects that sweet tartness
and lasts a good long time. I have to apologize for this review
because getting me to like anything about grapefruits would
have been nearly impossible and yet this vodka took a reasonable
stab at it. If you really must consume grapefruit flavored
anything, much less vodka, get yourself a grapefruit, cut
it accordingly, and pour some Deep Eddy straight vodka over
it. Then, sprinkle a little bit of sugar over that and get
your day started. By the way, I might recommend a cup of coffee
to go with this breakfast of champions.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
http://www.deepeddyvodka.com/
