DE_RR

There’s a whole lot of distilling going on in Austin, Texas these days, and Deep Eddy is part of that emerging spritely spirits scene. They use a column still to produce their vodka, which essentially creates a spirit that has been effectively distilled 10 times. They use some of Mother Nature’s finest water pulled up from an aquifer deep beneath the earth, and then they charcoal filter the final product 6 times. That’s some pretty neat stuff to do to good old corn, so I guess the proof will be in the tasting.

Of course, just making straight up vodka wasn’t quite enough for these good old boys, so they upped the ante with a number of flavored vodkas. I have to admit here that well over half the flavored vodkas I have tasted just weren’t worth drinking, but ever the optimist, I have hope for the Deep Eddy Ruby Red I’ll be trying.

Though, I have to admit, I don’t really get grapefruit at all. And by that I mean real grapefruit – what’s up with that fruit? It’s tart, acidic, and needs lots of sugar to make it palatable but somehow enough people either like it or put up with it to make it marketable. I simply can’t imagine what these guys were smoking when they came up with this flavored vodka, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, let’s get into it. The nose is muddled (unlike the previous flavored Deep Eddy vodkas I’ve tried that seemed to be purpose driven). This one just seems unsure which direction it wants to take. It has some of those earthy tones but they are unclearly defined. I get some kind of nod toward grapefruity aromas, but they just don’t work for me. There’s a citrusy note, no sweetness, and of course, no alcohol in the nose; but based on the nose, I am ambivalent about putting this in my mouth. It’s sort of like being a five year old that just playfully tortured and murdered his first bug and now doesn’t know if he really wants to put it in his mouth and try it anymore after all that. Unlike that kid, I did put this grapefruit flavored vodka in my mouth. On the palate, there’s an earthy taste of citrus tartness, followed by some sweetness with absolutely no tell tale hints of alcohol. The finish is, of course, smooth but again leaves a hard candy like after taste that reflects that sweet tartness and lasts a good long time. I have to apologize for this review because getting me to like anything about grapefruits would have been nearly impossible and yet this vodka took a reasonable stab at it. If you really must consume grapefruit flavored anything, much less vodka, get yourself a grapefruit, cut it accordingly, and pour some Deep Eddy straight vodka over it. Then, sprinkle a little bit of sugar over that and get your day started. By the way, I might recommend a cup of coffee to go with this breakfast of champions.

 

By George Brozowski

 

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