I’ve been going through old photos, occasionally putting some up on our Flickr account.
I discovered a batch taken when my father-in-law and I were testing some Ukrainian spirit (something like 90% alcohol) for possible use in making the wedding vodka.
In the end, we decided that the quality was just not up to par. We compared it to “good old Polish spirit,” and it just tasted like it would produce a cheap hangover. (One of the things I learned in Poland: to avoid a hangover if you’re going to be drinking excessive amounts, one step is to go ahead and spend a little more money to buy quality vodka. If you drink enough water before going to bed, you can, in theory, wake up with a mildly sloshing head and little more. Drink cheap vodka and collapse into bed on returning home, and you might not get out of bed until late the next afternoon. Or so I’ve heard…)
What an odd habit, making wedding vodka. It involves taking virtually pure grain alcohol, diluting it and simultaneously flavoring it. The flavoring added by introducing lemons, honey, or caramelized sugar to the mixture. (There are certainly other flavors, but those were the three we experimented with.)
In the end, we went with caramelized sugar and Polish spirit. The recipe is here. Let it sit for a few months and it’s actually pretty smooth and tasty.