Brut

September 5, 2010 (Day 218) — Brut

I’m a marketer’s wet dream. As much as I’d love to say that I make my decisions based off of reviews, recommendations and education, more often than not I try new things because I love the way they’re package. If you give me a cool bottle, a great label or a unique approach to the packaging, it’s almost a guarantee that I’ll happily snatch it up. And then pray for quality later.

So, when I waltzed into my favorite drink shop on Friday and they showed me this bottle:

Yes. That is a vodka bottle that is shaped like a fire extinguisher. I kid you not, a fire extinguisher.

Needless to say, it was purchased tootsweet. (Toot-suite?)

This evening Jenn and I were having dinner with a mentor of mine in acting, cocktails and cooking, so it seemed like a fitting gift to bring him something a little out of the ordinary to play around with me. Of course, I had to make sure I was prepared with a cocktail featuring said vodka. Once we over, we tasted the vodka neat.

It’s very solid. It’s a wheat vodka, so you would expect it to have that grain aftertaste you sometimes get. Nothing. Very smooth, with a sweet aftertaste. A very solid vodka, especially when you consider my first thought was that they had spent all of their money on the design, and not the product. Thankfully, not so.

So, I made a little drink I call

Brut

1.5 oz Firestarter Vodka

1.5 orange juice

Dash of grenadine

Top with a float of Cripsin Brut Cider

In a chilled champagne glass, place your vodka, orange juice and grenadine. Float the Brut over the top, mixing it as you drink.

Sweet and earthy. It’s surprising, considering how bright the ingredients are separately, it creates a very tasty, sweet fall drink. The vodka works very well underneath all the other flavors.

Cheers!

— Mark