So, yeah, speaking of store-bought flavored vodkas…

OK, I’ll admit it. There was a time when my freezer was stocked with a variety of damned stuff.

Go on, go on. Have your laugh. I can take it.

It would be easy to blame my wife, but like some horrifying Island of Doctor Moreau-esque cross between a frat boy and a cougar, I used to do shots. I was young. Mistakes were made (oh, boy, were they). I’ve put that part of my life behind me.

Eventually I learned — in Mexico, of all places — that if the alcohol you bought was good instead of rotgut or flavored like candy, you could sip it straight.

Whaaaat?! You mean not just shoot it right past your tongue in an effort to get it into your bloodstream as fast as possible? You could have knocked me over with a feather (because even though I was now sipping the liquor I was still fairly drunk).

That bit of education mostly ended my drinking of straight vodkas. My tongue, when finally asked what it wanted in a straight liquor, said it preferred anejo tequila and single malt scotch. We had a good chat, my tongue and I. Turns out we like many of the same movies and my tongue said that sometimes it just likes to feel appreciated. We both cried a little.

The one straight vodka my tongue and I both still like on occasion, though, is horseradish-infused vodka. I was introduced to this at a Christmas party years ago. The hostess handed me a glass of the stuff, advertising it by saying her mother took a shot of it every morning to get her system going. I can see how it would do that.

Horseradish-Infused Vodka

3-inch piece of horseradish root
1 bottle of potato-based vodka

Peel the horseradish and cut it into 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices. Pour the vodka into a container, add the horseradish, cover and let sit for a week (less for a lighter infusion, more for nighttime cold relief). Then strain to remove the horseradish.

It makes terrific Bloody Marys of course, but it’s also a kick in the pants straight. Apart from zinging your tongue, horseradish really gets into your sinuses. Like anything flavored, I find a little goes a long way but if a little bit of this stuff wakes up old ladies in the morning, it should be good enough to get you going.

Posted at 4:41pm and tagged with: Moltz, recipe,.