The Vodka 1000 Book Review

Travel Distilled reviews The Vodka 1000 book by ex-bartender Ray Foley, now editor of Bartender Magazine and author of several books about spirits and cocktails.

The Vodka 1000 is one of a series of books, others including rum and tequila, written by Ray Foley, the editor of Bartender Magazine and a bartender himself with over 30 years of experience. He’s written several other books about spirits and cocktails, and works as a consultant to various distillers. He also has one of the largest collections of cocktail books in the world. He clearly knows his booze, then.

The Vodka 1000 claims to be ‘The Ultimate Collection of Vodka Cocktails, Recipes, Facts and Resources’. Quite the claim. Well, the index alone is impressive. It runs to 28 pages, from an A-Bomb vodka cocktail recipe through to Zubowka Voka, under the Vodka Production Facts section.

Actually, that’s one section that wouldn’t be missed, as all it features is just over two pages of 50 Vodka Production Facts, which are merely one-line statements, like ‘Smirnoff Vodka is produced in the United States’ and ‘Trump Vodka is distilled at the Wanders Distillery in Holland’. Well, not any more it isn’t, as the book was published way back in 2007, though it is still available on Amazon and elsewhere.

The fact that the book is dated is one drawback. At the back there are listed 100 vodka-related websites, and several of the ones I tried are no longer around.

Vodka 1000 Cocktail Recipes

A good vodka cocktail recipe doesn’t date, however, and this is one of the book’s strong points. There are over 200 pages containing 750 Vodka Recipes – and that’s a lot! Just think, you could have a different drink every day for over two years with this book. It’s tempting to try!

A few of the vodka brands have disappeared, but a lot of the recipes feature long-established names like Absolut, Skyy, and Smirnoff. With others you can always substitute. I like the fact that many of the recipes are really simple, like the Agent O. vodka cocktail recipe:

Cooking with Vodka

Another good section is Chapter Three: 50 Food Recipes Using Vodka. Now I prefer to put vodka in my mouth direct rather than in a dish, but I really liked this section and it prompts me to try a few of the vodka food recipes. Who could not want to eat a Vodka Lemon-Meringue Layer Cake? Other dishes that had my mouth watering included a jambalaya with Three Olives Vodka in it, Vodka-Spiked Gazpacho, and Absolut Citron Guacamole. Oh my, why had I never thought of putting lemon vodka in guacamole to give it some oomph?

50 Vodka Facts

The book opens with 50 Vodka Facts, which is like a Vodka 101. It’s useful if you know nothing about vodka, but it does throw in some amusing information. ‘To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka.’ Well, alcohol, like vinegar, has lots of handy household uses, though I have to admit I’d never heard that one before.