Czar of the Spirits World

Vodkas decline as the spirit of choice has been greatly exaggerated.

By Jack Robertiello

Popular vodka drinks at San Franciscos Clock Bar include, from left, the Vodka Tonic, Moscow Mule and the Persephone.

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Vodka, vodka, vodka.

Vodka, Vodka, Vodka, Vodka, Vodka.
But vodka also sells. Its the on-premise cash-cow, the spirit that pays the rent. And despite the current economic tide, the category is growing with every new flavor, line extension and brand introduced. Let there be no confusion: Vodka is firmly established as the most reliably profitable commodity in the onpremise business. Vodka continued its dominance in 2008, gaining market share in the U.S. with sales that now surpass 55.1 million 9-liter cases, according to Cheers parent The Beverage Information Group, a 4.9 percent gain over 2007. It accounts for nearly 30 percent of total U.S. spirits sales at this point, and dominates most top brand lists; vodka accounted for 23 of the 53 Cheers Growth Brands winners this year (see cheersonline.com for the wine and spirits Growth Brands coverage in our March issue). Top brands come from all price points and places on the map: Smirnoff and UV from the U.S., Svedka from Sweden, Three Olives from England, Croc from France, not to mention the powerhouses that lead the categoryAbsolut, Grey Goose, Skyy, Stolichnaya and Ketel One, among others. New vodkas arrive all the time; the latest include Belvedere IX Vodkapronounced One-Xwhich has ginseng, guarana, aa, ginger, sweet almond, jasmine, eucalyptus, cinnamon and
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Vodka.

Sure, it sometimes can be monotonous.

black cherry, as well as Absolut Mango, the latest extension from the second best selling vodka brand, Absolut. Recently the cocktail boom, arguably started in the late 1990s by the vodka-liqueur-fruit juice triumvirate known generically as Martinis, has shifted attention to other spirits. Many socalled Martini bars, including landmark Tini Bigs in Seattle, have cut back on their extensive vodka-based menus. Chains especially have been forced to reduce spirits inventory, and they are looking to winnow the vodkas on their shelves, making it tougher for new ones to get introduced. Boston-based Uno Chicago Grill now limits each of its more than 200 restaurants to no more than 15 vodka SKUs. Chicagobased Mortons the Steakhouse once stocked 35 at each of its 76 U.S. restaurants, but now the number is closer to 25. Quick and Safe It may be harder for new brands, but that doesnt mean vodka has dropped in guest popularity; Vodka Tonics, Vodka Rocks and Vodka Martinis still are extremely popular orders, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, when the category can account for as much as 50 percent of a bars beverage alcohol receipts. The ease and speed with which vodka drinkers choose their favoriteswith a splash of cranberry, soda or tonic, usuallyis
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Leading Vodka Brands

(Thousands of 9-liter cases) Brand Smirnoff Absolut Grey Goose Skyy Svedka Stolichnaya Ketel One McCormick Vodka Popov Vodka Barton Vodka Skol Vodka Supplier Diageo Pernod Ricard USA Bacardi USA Skyy Spirits USA Constellation Spirits (Spirits Marque One) William Grant & Sons Diageo/Nolet Spirits McCormick Distilling Diageo Constellation Spirits/Barton Constellation Spirits/Barton
(p) Preliminary

2008p 9,375 4,746 3,459 2,485 2,200 2,000 1,969 1,930 1,815 1,699 1,592

a boon to busy bartenders, says Jackson Cannon, bar manager at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, a Boston-based lounge that serves American cuisine. When Im slammed, Im happy to have many Highball orders to survive the night, as opposed to high-construction cocktails. The person whos ordering that Highball tends to get his drink faster. Part of vodkas appeal lies in its reliability. If youre walking into random bars asking for Sazeracs, youre going to get more bad ones than good ones. But its hard to mess up a Vodka and Tonic, says Marco Dionysos, head bartender at Clock Bar in San Franciscos Westin St. Francis, part of the San Franciscobased Mina Restaurant Group. He speculates that the majority of any restaurants customers go out only on weekends and dont change their drink orders much. Even at bars that have stellar cocktail reputations, such as Clock Bar, vodka still leads sales. Our top-selling drink since opening has been a Ketel One Martini despite two pages of featured and classic cocktails displayed prominently in our menu, notes Dionysos. The hot drink recently has been Persephone, $14, a cocktail Dionysos added after lots of customers requested pomegranate Martinis. The drink is made with Charbay Pomegranate Vodka, pomegranate juice and prosecco. Clock Bar opened with only one vodka drink, the Moscow Mule, $12. With a small back bar, the Clock keeps inventory tight, focusing on local favorites Charbay and Hangar One, as well as limited national brands. People are generally happy drinking any of the leading brands if they are after a vodka cocktail, he says. The SpiriT of choice Meanwhile, some standout vodka-focused operations continue to do quite well. Take Red Square, celebrating its 10th year in the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The
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At the Eastern Standard in Boston, the Salsify Gimlet is made with a mix of Hammer + Sickle Vodka, salsify pure, Seville orange cordial and Angostura Bitters.
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At Red Square in Las Vegas, guests slip into furs when ordering from the restaurants Vodka Vault.

Russian-inspired restaurant, part of Miami-based China Grill Management, pioneered current standards such as the frozen bar top and the walk-in vodka freezer where customers gather for bottle service. With more than 200 vodkas stored at 0 degrees and more than 30 vodka cocktails, business is great at Red Square, says general manager Kari Olsen. The vodka cocktails include the $12 Red Square Martini, made with Moskovskaya Vodka, sweet vermouth and a blue-cheese stuffed olive; the $12 Key Lime Pie, which has Smirnoff Vanilla Twist Vodka, key lime liqueur, pineapple and fresh lime juices with a Graham cracker rim; the $14 Chernobyl, a combination of Stolichnaya, Absolut, triple sec, cranberry juice and a float of SKYY that is garnished with a three-eyed fish toy; and the $50 Communist Martini, a 32-ouncer made with Sputnik or Siberian Forest vodkas. Red Square does plenty of bottle business, says Olsen, both in the Vodka Vault, where guests don fur coats to keep the chill off and can rent out lockers, and throughout the restaurant. Prices range from $200 for a liter of Finlandia or Smirnoff to $1,000 for the Kauffman Private Collection Vodka from Russia. Leading sellers at Red Square tend to be Russian, says OlsenImperia, Russian Standard and Zyr. But there is a limit to the number of brands even Red Square can carry. With so many vodkas being introduced, unless there is a lot of marketing
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and support behind it, its going to get lost on the shelf with all our other vodkas, she says. Another operator emulating the icy style is the AfterLife Lounge, located below the restaurant and nightclub Good Life in Boston, where five freezers are filled with more than 150 brands of vodka that get served in flutes. At AfterLife, created by owner Peter Fiumara after he visited a London bar in the late 1990s that focused on vodka, a lot of brands means opportunities to sample customers on what they may not know. We try to have at least one of every type, whether its flavors or the way its madepotato vodkas, rye vodkas, vodkas from different countries, he says. But we dont take them all; each one we do carry is hand-picked. Big sellers here include Ketel One, Hangar One, Zyr, ubrwka and Pearl Pomegranate, and he estimates that 33 percent of his beverage alcohol sales come from vodka. He notes that his vodka drinkers are willing to try different brands, but usually they return to their default. Perhaps that explains the continuing popularity of brands such as Absolut at his bar, of which they sell five cases a week. An operation doing particularly well with vodka is Pacifica Seafood Restaurants International Vodka Bar in Palm Desert, Calif. Bar manager Kirk Christenson says vodka is as popular as ever with his customer mix of tourists and locals that range from 25-year-olds to retirement area clientele aged between 45 and 60. Helping keep his vodka sales up is the $6 price tag$8 in the dining roomfor each of the 135 vodka brands and every Martini interpretation at the bar. At that price point, hes found customers still are interested in exploring the range of vodkas. Mostly, people are coming in and want to try some of the vodkas they havent heard of, or try a new one. A lot of times theyll order, say, a Grey Goose in a Cosmo, and I might suggest another brand just so they can try it.

Vodkas neutrality and its subtle variations from brand to brand allow you to do anything you want.
Jackson Cannon, Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drink, Boston

The most popular brand at Pacifica is a testament to handselling: Crater Lake, made in Bend, Ore. The brands owner makes repeated visits to the area, supporting fashion shows and other events, and has won over the staff as well. Grey Goose and
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Ketel One are the other leaders, and Van Gogh Pineapple has become the most popular flavored vodka due to the concepts Pineapple Lemon Drop cocktail. pairing pleaSure Even though theres been a vodka backlash among many mixologists as they turn to classic cocktails, some cutting-edge bartenders still feature it. Four out of five of the cocktails on Eastern Standards Cocktail Culinaire menu last winter were vodka-based. Weve all done our part to revive the classics and create new things, and now at the end of the day we should be secure enough to make drinks with vodka, says Cannon, referring to the backlash. Vodkas neutrality and its subtle variations from brand to brand allow you to do anything you want. Cannon tried using gin in some of the winter drinks, but found that the flintiness in Russian vodka worked better and let other flavors speak for themselves. Still, as befits a culinary cocktail approach, he makes between two and five flavored vodkas in-house, depending on the season, and carries only two commercially made flavors. Last winters culinary cocktails, priced at $10 a drink, included the Russian Tea Room, made with roasted beet-infused Christiania Vodka, orange juice, tarragon and Greek yogurt; Mot Chaud, composed of vegetable-infused vodka, fresh lime juice, Luxardo Maraschino, cayenne simple syrup, muddled cucumbers, celery bitters and salt; Earth & Brine, which has Reyka Vodka, celery-infused vermouth, olive brine, Regans Orange Bitters and a black olive garnish; and the Salsify Gimlet, a mix of Hammer + Sickle Vodka, salsify pure, a house-made Seville orange cordial and Angostura Bitters. Cannon does see an evolution in bar ordering, even on weekends; the number one call at Eastern Standard still is Grey Goose, but not so long ago all three top calls were vodka; now the other two come from his cocktail list, the Whiskey Smash and Old Cuban, both made without vodka. But vodka makers still are searching for points of differentiation to drum up sales, and they are fully aware of consumer and restaurant trends like those at Eastern Standard. Fiumara, Christenson and other operators say they are seeing more interest from customers in organic vodkas such as Rain and Square One, as well as for savory flavors such as cucumber and tomato. For operations with more modest beverage programs, such as Bollywood Bistro in Pleasantville, N.Y., the continued expansion of flavored vodka offerings is a definite asset; the bistro uses Herbs Aromatic Fennel Vodka with pineapple juice for a simple signature drink, Little Yellow Drink, $8.50, that pairs well with its contemporary Indian cuisine. Vodka still is going strong, with new opportunities and expressions for bar programs at every stage of sophistication. l Jack Robertiello has worked with or written about wine and spirits most of his adult life, and is a judge at such events as the San Francisco International Spirits Competition. More of his writing can be found at his blog, Drinks Ink (http://drinksink.blogspot.com).
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Last winter, the Eastern Standard featured drinks such as the Russian Tea Room (left), made with roasted beet-infused Christiania Vodka, orange juice, tarragon and Greek yogurt; and the Earth & Brine (above), which has Reyka Vodka, celeryinfused vermouth, olive brine, Regans Orange Bitters and a black olive garnish.

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