Summer
time brings a rush of new drinks and cocktails to the market as
companies compete for our taste buds. 'Carnivorous Cocktails' are
said to be the in thing over in the USA at the moment and some of the
strangest innovations include a Smoked Salmon Vodka from Alaska
Distillery.
It has turned out to be one of their more popular brands, especially
when used in Bloody Mary cocktails.
There
is also a bacon flavoured vodka: Bakon
Vodka which is
distilled from potatoes with a peppery bacon flavour added.
I
love Bloody Marys and can see how smoked salmon and bacon flavours
could work with the cocktail although I must admit I'm not too
convinced about the Scorpion flavoured vodka, Skorppio
. . . which contains a real, farm raised, edible scorpion. Yuck!
It
is 5 times distilled and made from wheat and the company assure us
that the scorpion's venom is rendered harmless.
Flavoured
vodkas are all the rage today and some sound more appealing than
others. Sputnik
Rose Vodka is
flavoured with rose oils taken from petals that have been hand picked
from the Black Sea in Russia and Ukraine, Van
Gogh Vodka's PB & J
is peanut butter and jelly flavoured, Pinnacle
Vodka do a Cookie
Dough flavour, Smirnoff's
Fluffed Marshmallow
has flavours of marshmallow and whipped cream and
Three Olives produce
a bubblegum flavoured vodka.
Another
strange beverage is Cynar,
a bitter apéritif made from artichokes. It's made by the Campari
Group from artichoke leaves harvested in Italy's Po Valley.
Bols
have released a brand new drink to the UK this May which is
apparently the first ever natural Yoghurt
Liqueur (however
there is a precedent in Japan: Yogurito).
I
have heard of alcoholic drinks made from milk before but not yoghurt
– Mongolia has a drink made from fermented mare's milk which is
popular amongst the peoples of the Central Asian Steppes. In 19th
century Russia it was known as Kumis
and marketed as Milk Champagne. It was supposed to have health
benefits and was used against bronchitis anaemia and TB.
Bols
Yoghurt Liqueur is made with fresh white yoghurt and has a sweet and
sour flavour. Bols recommend that you can either serve chilled or
used as an ingredient in cocktails.
I
wonder if any of these flavours appeal to you – if so, which ones?
