The Holiday Season is fast approaching and with Christmas less than 6 weeks away, planning for all of the silly office parties has probably started in earnest. I noticed from my 
eyeball that many of my readers are significantly younger than I am, and I suspect a cocktail party in their snazzy new flat is more their speed than the sit-down dinners with several courses that I tend to do at this stage of my life. Geez, I haven’t lived in a studio apartment for nearly 15 years! At any rate, in those days, vodka was my drink of choice and folks sometimes kept the bottle in the freezer to ensure that it was ice cold, the best way to drink it neat. I am not sure if vodka is still a preferred drink for cocktails these days (is it tequila, rum, scotch, bourbon, single malts?) but here is a cheap, easy and impressive trick you might consider for your next cocktail party…
Buy several bottles of individual servings of vodka (I got mine the last time I was 
at Subic Bay) and freeze them into blocks of ice. You can even imbed the ice with lemons, mint, etc. for interest. Then serve an appetizer of some smoked salmon or if you want to go all the way, caviar and have a shot of ice cold vodka with it; if you want to go less opulent, do a salmon roe spread on a cracker instead… You need to let the block of ice thaw for a while so that the bottle of vodka can be readily extracted. If vodka isn’t your thing, the frozen blocks of ice idea can be applied to soft drinks as well. You can make ice cubes with mint or lemons in them that you can float in lemonades, dayap or kalamansi juices. You can do this way ahead of time and leave them in the fridge. Or you can mold flat trays with herbs frozen into them as a bed for serving hors d’oeuvres or the like… All you need is a little imagination!
23 Responses
hello Mr. Market Man! If there’s any drink that I can drink…it’s vodka=) Well, I’m not really an alcohol drinker. I can take beer and tequila. I get drunk with a small glass or currant 7!!! hahaha There are just times when drinking is inevitable, so in those cases I choose to have vodka because I can’t taste the alcohol when it’s mixed in with soda or juices. There was this one party I attended where they serves Cranberry Vodka with sprite and crushed strawberries and cherries (which were huge, sweet and fresh!)It was great!
oooppss..sorry for the typos..and I meant I CAN’T take beer and tequila =P
hi marketman!
i agree with jen, you can’t taste the alcohol anymore afetr vodka is mixed with juices and soda which is why i tend to drink more :) anyway, in college that was my drink of choice because you don’t smell like alcohol after drinking it (unlike beer)
Vodka isn’t really my drink (wine, champagne and beer are!) but on board the Trans-Siberian train (China to Russia), there was no other. It was great drinking with other travellers and locals. Torn and I did it a few years ago, in October. Unbelievable journey. I recommend getting it done in this lifetime.
One strange custom: as we were passing the bottle around, a Mongolian local would chase his vodka with pickle brine! Very weird. Needless to say, he never made it to the bathroom.
Vodka Tonics are my drink of choice (Smirnoff, please). I have never SEEN individual bottles of vodka though … I didn’t think they sold vodka in beer-type bottles for guzzling.
I’ve seen ice molds that make ice shot glasses being sold in stores, but I can imagine the logistical difficulty to making enough “ice glasses” for an entire party. Ice cubes with sprigs of mint or bits of lemon sound like a lovely idea.
What’s the best brand of vodka that can be used for cooking? I have a recipe that I wanted to try..
You’re correct, MM. “Frozen” vodka, neat, is the best! No alcohol breath, no frequent trips to the john, no bloated feeling, no hang-over, just a warm fuzzy feeling. Cheers! (Am partial to Stoli, tho.)
Excellent ideas! And yes, guilty as charged, a cocktail party in our “snazzy new flat” suits me just fine :) Although, the sit-down dinners are exciting to plan…the food, all the details, etc, etc…for which I get a lot of ideas here! So thanks and keep ’em coming :)
I am a cocktail cheap-o…rum coke for me with Tanduay :)
Yum, Absolut is my poison of choice, esp Mandrin 7 or Mandrin tonic followed closely by Apeach tonic. (I find Absolute Raspberri tastes like Benadryll cough syrup. Not good.) Nowadays though, I find that people would rather drink red wine. Tumatanda na kasi. Everyone wants a healthier buzz.
That’s how the Russians survive their below zero winter, drinking ice-cold straight vodka. History takes me back to World War II when Hitler invaded Europe, that’s how Russian fought the German soldiers — before going to battlefield the night before they drank straight iced frozen vodka and they were trained in combat in below zero Siberia! Caviar and vodka are Russian’s originals.. Without Vodka Hitler’s descendants could be ruling the world….. I believe we owe the liberation of Europe to Vodka.
Though young, I have never considered a cocktail party at the pad. I am allergic to almost all alcoholic beverages. I can only enjoy sips of red and white wine and champagne. Sit-down dinner is still my choice (i have no choice naman eh), and no bar scene/night life for me (total deprivation on youthful years!)
hey!! i’m not much of a drinker–but if i do drink, it’s vodka tonic or vodka 7-up. a friend taught me how to take vodka in a fun way: put sugar on your hand and lick it, take a shot of vodka oranj then eat a slice of orange. sarap. sweet shots. in the manner of tequila shots. yun lang they taste so good, you don’t feel like you’re getting drunk till it’s too late!
one way of consuming Vodka is by Jello Shots. Prepare flavored jello with the principle to substitute liquor for an equivalent volume of part of the water. Alsa works OK.
Proof Alcohol Cold Water
30-50 13 ounces 3 ounces
80-100 10 ounces 6 ounces
150-200 6 ounces 10 ounces
1 cup = 8 ounces
you can put them in individual plastic cups for easier serving. Since the liquor is contained within the jello, it is absorbed more slowly and hard-core drinkers will often underestimate how much they have had to drink.
i’m a rum drinker. tanduay.
So will there be a Xmas drinking session with marketman?
I saw Martha Stewart do this with a larger bottle. She cut off the top of an empty liter carton of juice and put in the liquor bottle then filled the carton 3/4s full with water and lemon slices for decor. Froze the entire thing then peeled off the carton. Ganda! (Drawback with bigger bottles, you have to have a freezer that will accommodate the bottle upright!) Single serve bottles are cuter and easier to freeze.
individual vodka bottles may also be found at your local liquor stores ü expensive at around Php70 per bottle compared to a 750ml bottle at Php800. They even have mini tanduay!
while we’re freezing whole bottles,why not go all out and make ice shot glasses as well? for the added drama. ice cold vodka’s a great shooter. very smooth. if i had very deep pockets i’d go Grey Goose all the way. but i remember this episode in mythbusters where they filtered the not-so-great vodkas in those britta/carbon water filters and its supposed to raise the taste/grade a notch. let me be the first to greet everyone a merry christmas! hahaha
cool idea! i’ve always taken my vodka chilled with a sprig of mint or a sliced strawberry or lemon. i also love absolut’s flavored vodkas :)
My drink of choice! Erleen’s vodka jello is a must at parties here at the house. You have to warn your guests though, and be prepared…. we’ve had a lot of sleep overs because of this.
Recent discovery: vodka + c2 forest fruits flavor = beautiful. You won’t need to get a separate bottle of absolut currant. this is it!
Cheers!
i’m not much of a vodka drinker, but i do like cooking with it! how about pasta with vodka sauce? sprinkle caviar on top, and there you have your vodka and caviar combination:D
for cooking, i’d use any vodka you like to drink. i’ve used both absolut (not the flavored variety, though i can see how that may be suitable for certain preparations) and grey goose.
Absolution!