Vodka Cocktails

Vodka is defined by what it does not bring. Distilled to be neutral, it adds strength and texture and almost no flavour of its own, which is the point: a vodka drink tastes like whatever else is in it. That makes it forgiving and it makes the other ingredients matter more, not less.

So the good vodka cocktails are the ones with something assertive to carry: coffee in an Espresso Martini, tomato and spice in a Bloody Mary, ginger and lime in a Moscow Mule. The weak ones are the drinks where vodka is asked to be the flavour.

Do not spend heavily here. Above the bottom shelf the differences are small and they mostly disappear under citrus, coffee or soda.