The sky’s the limit when it comes to flavored vodka, a spirit that’s ever-growing in popularity as brands and distilleries discover new combinations and exciting flavor profiles. It’s possible to flavor vodka with almost anything, ranging from more traditional (artificial) fruits to unique and creative offerings like salted caramel, bacon, or chocolate. How to drink vodka Another cognac that produces a wonderful vanilla extract. We see this brand of cognac and an alternative to the more expensive Hennessy, if you are determined to make a cognac vanilla extract but don't want to spend the Hennessy price. Or, if you’d rather read up on the spirit first, explore our buyer’s guide to drinking vodka including how it’s madeand the different types available, our tips on how to drink vodka, and the terms to know when buying vodka. 1. Absolut: Overall best vodka Grey Goose is a top shelf vodka, and it proved to create a top-shelf vanilla extract. After a year, the vanilla bean taste became much more pronounced making it one of the most fully rounded vanilla extracts that we have ever made. If you're going for a bold vanilla taste and an aged vanilla extract that you allow to rest for more than a year, this is the vodka you should use. Made in France with a winter wheat blend that is truly unique.

This attention to detail comes out in full force when it comes to Hangar 1’s Fog Point vodka. Created by the brand’s Head Distiller, it’s a vodka produced using fog catchers around the San Francisco Bay Area that turn the fog into freshwater, before blending with vodka distilled from Napa’s Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier wine.In addition, grapes from the Cognac region of France (that also produce Champagne, we might add) are special. Their taste is unique and truly does provide a beautiful, aromatic, rich vanilla extract experience. Infusing vodka with fruits or herbs lengthens the creation process by around three weeks. These vodkas have much stronger flavor profiles than plain vodka and can be found on the market in different colors with varying aromas. It’s a similar process to what’s done when producing gin (as vodka and gin production start off the same way) and results in any number of different varieties. Flavored vodka

We can't wait to hear about what you have created and we hope you share the good and the bad with us! We love being part of your vanilla extract journey! Indeed, most research concludes that any gluten protein is technically removed from the spirits during the extensive distillation process.

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This cognac produces a wonderful vanilla extract. You will notice that we selected the VSOP (not the XO, which is more expensive) for our extract. If you are sipping a cognac like this, you will absolutely be able to tease out the richer notes of an XO over a VSOP, but we didn't think that the additional cost justified the result. Yes, and XO would make a wonderful extract but we didn't think the difference justified the 40%+ additional cost.

Just whizz equal parts of vanilla vodka, Baileys, Kahlua (or similar) and cream (or milk) with loads of ice in a blender until smooth. It’s the McDonald’s chocolate milkshake that gets you drunk. In other words, a guilty pleasure. Yum. See our lineup of videos below where we test bourbons, rums, vodkas, tequilas, brandies, cognacs and more! We have tried making vanilla extracts with vodkas that have artificial flavors. At first glance, using a vanilla-flavored vodka to make vanilla extract sounds like a great idea. Or perhaps a strawberry vodka for a strawberry/vanilla extract. In each of these cases, our extracts tasted metallic and unnatural. With the exception of coconut rum and spiced rum, we do not recommend using artificially-flavored spirts for at home extract making. When we began our cognac/brandy vanilla extract making journey, we truly believed that cognac would be the clear winner. Once again, we were wrong. And in this case, one of the least expensive options proved to be our very favorite. This is obviously a top shelf rum. It's pure, clean, rich and sweet. It's stored in a sherry cask, and its production yields a taste that includes hints of caramelized sugar, honey and vanilla. We start with this rum, not because we recommend that you use it. For most extracts Kirk and Sweeney is cost-prohibitive. However, a good vanilla extract will only be as good as the spirit used for extraction. We couldn't believe the rich, deep, bold flavors that came out of this extract after just six months of extraction. (And even more after a year!) The spirit only enhanced the natural taste of the beans, which makes this one of the best extract experiences we have ever had. Is it worth it? In some cases such as vanilla flan, vanilla creams or cream pies, a bold extract really enhances the taste. We set the bar very high with this delightful extract. It's clearly a top shelf, A+ experience.This top-shelf vodka is renowned for being one of the smoothest on the market, and it’s a joy to sip it neat. Belvedere, originating from Poland, is produced at the Polmos Zyrardow distillery (known as the birthplace of all vodka) using Dankowskie Gold Rye. The high starch content of this rye yields a velvety soft level to the vodka, confirming its spot at the top.