...
However, since Smirnoff is a Russian brand, lets concentrate on the Russian side of Vodka's history - there is some evidence that a drink very similar to today's vodka, called 'Bread Wine' and used as a base in medicines, was around between Circa 950-1150.
In the 16th century, the ... Read review
Advantages: strong, versatile, Disadvantages: More expensive than other brands, hangovers
.../>
However, since Smirnoff is a Russian brand, lets concentrate on the Russian side of Vodka's history - there is some evidence that a drink very similar to today's vodka, called 'Bread Wine' and used as a base in medicines, was around between Circa 950-1150.
In the 16th century, the British ambassador to Russia declared Vodka its national drink, and Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia, played a large role in increasing ... ...from company to company. However, Smirnoff Vodka is distilled using top quality grains and purified water. While Smirnoff don't publicize their distillation process , they do make mention of the fact that Smirnoff Number 21 / Red Label is triple filtered, each filter being done through silver birch charcoal and taking about 8 hours a round.
Packaging
~*~*~*~*~
Smirnoff Red Label / Smirnoff Number 21 are presented in a ... more
I never used to be much of a vodka drinker- I loved my lager, and tended to stay away from spirits, apart from the occasional bottle I would be given as a gift, and then drink so as not to waste it. That all changed recently, when I began dating Chris, someone I've known and loved for ten years, about two months ago.
Now, he's always been a vodka man, so when we were just friends he'd roll up to my door with a bottle of vodka for him, and some cans of beer for me. But since we've started dating, he's always at my house, and where he goes, the vodka go's too. It's only natural that I should start pinching a couple of drinks off him when I run out of lager- only it didn't stop there. I soon started drinking vodka even when I had beer, and now - I love it too!
History - Vodka ~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Exactly when Vodka was first made is uncertain, but there are written documentations that prove vodka has been commercially produced in both Poland and Russia since the 1400's, although there is evidence of it being around under other names in both regions before this era. Both countries lay claim to having been the first to produce the drink- however, with Russia and Poland being roughly in the same geographical area, this is again hard to confirm either way.
However, since Smirnoff is a Russian brand, lets concentrate on the Russian side of Vodka's history - there is some evidence that a drink very similar to today's vodka, called 'Bread Wine' and used as a base in medicines, was around between Circa 950-1150.
In the 16th century, the British ambassador to Russia declared Vodka its national drink, and Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia, played a large role in increasing its production - introducing state owned distilleries and using the profits to support his lifestyle. He also introduced vodka bars for his palace guards.
Joseph Stalin did much the same thing - increasing vodka production to help finance Russia's national defences. However, the rampant alcoholism in Russia didn't please Michael Gorbachev, who sought to reduce vodka and liquor production to tackle the problem
However, the alcoholism may have been caused by another little trick used in communist times - vodka sold in one litre bottles with a non-resealable cap!
Those were the days!
A Little History - Smirnoff ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Piotr Arsenieyevich Smirnov founded his vodka distillery in Moscow in 1864, under the brand name PA Smirnoff. In the 1880's, the company became the official suppliers of vodka to the royal Russian court, hence the coat of arms on the bottle today.
When he died in 1910, his son, Vladimir took over the business, but during the October Revolution, which led to the Russian civil war, the distillery was seized by the government, and the Smirnov family were forced to flee Russia, re-establishing the distillery in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1920, followed by a further move in 1925 to Lwow (now Lviv) in the Ukraine, where they dropped the PA from the brand name, becoming simple 'Smirnoff'
With the new brand name came new success , and the increasing popularity of Vodka as a mixing ingredient for cocktails led to a second distillery being opened in Paris, which is now the main distillery, although there are others in the USA and the Ukraine.
More About Smirnoff ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* There a various recipes for vodka, which vary from company to company. However, Smirnoff Vodka is distilled using top quality grains and purified water. While Smirnoff don't publicize their distillation process , they do make mention of the fact that Smirnoff Number 21 / Red Label is triple filtered, each filter being done through silver birch charcoal and taking about 8 hours a round.
Packaging ~*~*~*~*~ Smirnoff Red Label / Smirnoff Number 21 are presented in a clear thick glass bottle, with bright red labels. There are various bottle sizes, and the larger bottles tend to have some embossing - Russian writing on the neck of the bottle and a crown and banner image lower down. It comes with a red metal twist off cap
Taste/Smell/Colour ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It's a bit of an old wives tale that vodka has no smell or taste - this is untrue. While the smell and taste may be hard to define, they are certainly present.
The smell reminds me somewhat of those antiseptic wipes my mum used to use on me as a kid when I grazed my knee - a strong, nose-hair tingling, almost disinfectant smell. Not something I'd describe as particularly pleasant, but it's not really obvious unless you are consciously smelling for it, and the smell does vanish if it's mixed with other things.
The taste is hard to describe too - sharp, crisp, very clean tasting with a burn in the throat, yet mild, with no strong, specific flavour, but it's certainly not unpleasant although it is rather strong. In my mind, vodka is less of a solo drink (although I have been known to sink a few shots in times of stress) and more of a mixer - by which I mean it adds alcohol, rather than flavour to a drink. It blends with other ingredients, it doesn't overpower them.
Now, I may not be a vodka expert - but a blind taste test conducted in New York in 2005, between 21 vodka brands, gave Smirnoff the number one position for purity, clarity, and flavour.
It's completely transparent in colour, and could easily be confused visually with water, so it's certainly not a drink to leave within reach of children, as I don't think it would do them much good!
Health Precautions ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* As with any alcohol, don't drink too much, that's just silly and will land you with a rather rotten hangover!
Obviously, don't drink and drive. You might spill your drink, and what a waste that would be!
And from my own personal experience, don't drink and Ciao. Some of the random comments I've left on people's guestbook's when a little bit under the influence have to be seen to be believed!
Fun Factoids ~*~*~*~*~*~*
The first recorded exports of Russian vodka were to Sweden in 1505.
Vodka contains no fat! In fact, many diets recommend swapping a can of beer for a vodka and slim line tonic as a low fat treat.
Add a shot of vodka to a bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleans your scalp, removes toxin and dirt and stimulating growth .
Vodka is also a great deceiver - it can lead to you thinking people are more attractive than they really are, and if given to the opposite sex, can also lead them to think YOU are amazing. So, get drinking!
A Few Recipes ~*~*~*~*~*~* Vodka doesn't have a huge amount - other than high alcohol content (around 40%) going for it on it's own, but it's brilliant mixed with other stuff. Of course, there's the obvious additions - Coke, Orange Juice, Tonic etc. But here are a few more ideas for you!
Bloody Mary ~*~*~*~*~* Ingredients : Double vodka 150ml tomato juice Dash lemon juice 2 dashes Tabasco 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce a pinch of celery salt salt, cayenne pepper a celery stick, to garnish.
Whack everything into a cocktail shaker, shake it all about, and pour over ice. Yummy! Also yummy without the vodka.
Frozen Bloody Mary ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Can be made in bulk and then taken out as needed!)
Ingredients: 1 litre tomato juice 100ml vodka 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp Tabasco Juice of 1 lemon Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
Shove everything into a large airtight freezable container, put the lid on, and shake vigorously. Remove the lid, and freeze until just starting to get firm. Then whisk it up to get more air in, and freeze again. To serve, place scoops of the sorbet into tall glasses, and serve with celery sticks to garnish.
The 007 ~*~*~*~ Pretty obvious to James Bond fans - Pour a splash of Martini into an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake to coat the ice, pour off any excess, and then shove in some vodka and shake!
Vodka Melon ~*~*~*~*~*~ This is one I saw on Jamie Oliver and then copied. Basically, he shoved a plastic funnel into a watermelon, and poured vodka into it for a few days before serving as an alcoholic melon starter! I've tried it, it's lovely, especially if you get the melon really cold before serving!
Conclusion ~*~*~*~*~*~ Vodkas great - while somewhat tasteless on it's own, it's such a versatile drink that you'll never run out of combinations, has a strong alcohol content, and is very pure. As far as Smirnoff is concerned - while its my favourite brand, especially for neat drinking, it's one disadvantage is how expensive it is compared to other vodkas - about £11 for a 70cl bottle, in comparison to £6.23 for Asda Smart Price vodka.
My advice ? Smirnoff for neat drinking, cheapy supermarkets own for cocktails! However, IF I could afford it, it would be Smirnoff all the way for me!
...how indescribable they are.
Smirnoff vodka has a very pleasant vodka smell. It could almost be described as sweet. Same with the flavour when it is mixed with cola or lemonade. It is definitely not sweet when taken on its own though. It’s very much a dry spirit, unlike my usual favourite liqueurs. Despite that, it is an easy and not unpleasant drink to consume unmixed. It is very much a ‘shot’ drink under those circumstances. Where someone might ... ...clear bottle, with the distinctive Smirnoff red label. Though I have noticed a trend in some own brands to move away from the usual black and white label, and hint at copying this as close as they dare. The true Smirnoff bottle has a raised crown motif, which I take to be a kind of international Braille for vodka drinkers. Nice! Even the blind can tell it’s Smirnoff.
It’s alcoholic volume is 37.5 percent. It costs £9.99 for a 70cl bottle or thereabouts, ...
alma 09.05.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Vodka Red
Advantages: Can be drunk in a variety of ways: on it's own, with different mixers, as a short or long drink or part of a cocktail. Disadvantages: Not to everyone's taste when neat and can make you do silly things!
...should and I had a Smirnoff fire burning in my tummy. I was in deepest Devon with my BoyFriend on a 'duty' weekend. His long lost cousin was getting engaged and was having a party, whoopee! Well not really. I'd never met her, but had been told that she loved fox hunting - so there seemed little chance of us hitting it off. The afternoon before the jolly old bash I dragged BF reluctantly down to the beach for a walk. I wasn't in his good books! Out ... ...She does love her Smirnoff though, which was probably why I'd got stuck into it! I normally hate the stuff and drink red wine.
Mrs.Mummy, of course, has to have her Smirnoff in a certain way:
5 cl of vodka
2.5 cl of fresh squeezed lime
7 Up lemonade
The vodka has to be poured into a tumbler over five - yes five - ice cubes, covered with the fresh lime juice and then topped up with 7 Up. Oh yes, and a garnish of a twist of lime. I gave her lime ...
Sexy-Kay 29.09.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Vodka Red
...all of course I like Smirnoff best as to me it gives no horrible taste and it just tastes overall better. To some this may sounds ridiculous as some may see all vodka as being the same but I feel the quality of Smirnoff is better.
The first vodka distillery was founded in Moscow in the 1860's by Piotr Smirnov. In 1910 after her death Vladimir Smirnov took over and then produced 4 million vodka cases a year. Later he family had to leave the distillery ... ...curved. It has the red Smirnoff label on it and the labels are all in red to coordinate with the logo. The bottle is clear glass so it is easy to see the level of vodka left. It also shows all of the information on the product such as nutritional information. The glass bottle has a coat of arms engraved into it also which I am guessing symbolizes Smirnoff. The full 70cl bottle that I have contains 26.3 units and 37.5% alcohol volume. There are 52 ...
ms19 29.12.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Vodka Red
Advantages: Smooth, tasty, and with a good kick to it. Disadvantages: Doesn`t come in a 10 gallon drum.
...an opinion based on various Smirnoff brands but Red Label is prominent so.........it is here.
Just the mere sight of a label emblazoned with the word "SMIRNOFF" is enough to make me think "god I`m thirsty". My hand automatically heads for my wallet to scramble through the pile of change that has built up in there frantically trying to put together 8.99 in coppers (or 10.99 assuming that I would attempt to buy vodka anywhere but ASDA Deano). But, ... ...Smirnoff ice, Moscow Mule, Red Square, Big Beastie.......... Why does it have to be so complicated to get paraletic these days ? What happened to the days when you could go into a shop and ask for a bottle of vodka and know exactly what you were getting ? Well, on most occasions I settle for good old Red label (an 80 proof smooth beverage, 40% alc. by vol). Mmmmmmmmm, delicious. Red label does not taste right to me unless it is mixed with coke, and ...
roy_l_t_1970 29.04.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Vodka Red
Advantages: purchased almost anywhere, and leader in its own Disadvantages: pricey
Smirnoff vodka is seen by many as the connnoisseur's beverage of choice in the field of vodka. It is an established brand which is requested around the world, renowned for, amongst other factors, being triple distilled for "ultimate purity", as well as having an image and label which has, in the past, had the benefit of a deceptive amount of financial clout in the way of marketing. The brand, produced by The Pierre Smirnoff Company, has existed since ... ...average 1 litre bottle of Smirnoff will set you back a hefty £14 or £15, a bottle of Safeways equivalent is a mere £10. So, what are you really paying for? The name? As most real vodka "connoisseurs will tell you, if you really want the best readily available vodka on the market, Absolut is the way to go. The choice of the elitist, popularised by such painfully "cool" characters as the Wall street big shot and many of the main players in the eighties, ...
projectlaughter 14.01.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Vodka Red
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Smirnoff Vodka Red"
Advantages: Pleasant long drink, good flavour Disadvantages: Quite sickly and variable prices
with a few ice cubes thrown in!) and the price seems to vary enormously. I have seen single bottles available from about £1.30 - £1.55 but I normally buy the four packs which, at cheapest, I have bought for £4.49 but have seem them for around £5.60, so it really pays to shop around a bit if you want to buy this.
Smirnoff is, of course, probably one of the best known names for vodka and the simple labelling on the clear glass bottle is the usual classic redSmirnoff logo. It?s billed as ?a blend of pure SmirnoffRedvodka with the classic taste of lemon? and that?s a fair enough description. The sparse labelling tells us very little else of it?s ingredients so I would guess that the lemon is more bitter lemon than sweeter lemonade, so I prefer this as I do have a penchant for bitter lemon. I have to say I think the amount of vodka contained ...
blurbubble 18.01.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Ice
Advantages: tastes nice and clean Disadvantages: gets me very drunk
Vodka has been my personal drink of choice for many years now, and it tastes great mixed with pretty much anything. Having drunk SmirnoffRed mixed with Coke every time I went out for years now I fancied a change. Having seen Smirnoff Blue label Vodka in the supermarket I decided to give it a try. Being slightly stronger than standard vodka with an abv of 50% (100 proof) compared to the 37.5% (75 proof) red label Smirnoff, you can really taste the difference. The extra few pound it costs for the blue label really is worth it, The vodka tastes more pure, it smells better, and if its getting drunk you want, then this is the vodka for you.
At approximately £15 per bottle for such a fine vodka it really is worth every penny.
Go buy some, mix it with a soft drink of your choice, and have in my opinion a sophisticated drink which wont cost ...
Advantages: Pleasant refreshing drink Disadvantages: Very easy to drink, CAn be pricey
Walk into any bar nowdays and you’ll see an array of alcopops in the fridges that were once filled with cans and bottles of lager and cider. After the early success of the alcoholic lemonade hooch many of the big brands jumped on the bandwagon and decided to introduce their own versions. The most noticable being Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer. Smirnoff Ice was first produced in 1998 and was introduced in the U.K. in early 2000. Since then it has risen to become one of the leading alcopops.
Smirnoff Ice is a combination of Lemon and SmirnoffRed Label vodka. However the lemon is more of a subtle tint which hides any alcoholic taste and replaces it with a pleasant taste which leaves ust a faint alcoholic taste at the end of the drink. Smirnoff Ice is a fizzy drink nut it is not as fizzy as normal soft drinks which makes it ...
helen201274 07.05.2003 (20.10.2003)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smirnoff Ice
