We like to be adventurous here at DIA. So when Karlsson’s Vodka sent us a bottle of their Karlsson’s Gold and told us to drink it with ground black pepper we were all about it.
Once we got over the fact that our drinks looked like they had dirt in them, we took a sip. Holy pepper. Some of our DIAers enjoyed the spice of the drink and said it was a great way to cut the burn that typically accompanies vodka. The rest of us, not so much. It was too strong, not appealing and we might still have pepper in our teeth.
Moving on from Karlsson’s signature drink, we sipped the vodka on the rocks and in a cocktail of our choice (sans pepper). It’s not bad for a base vodka, with a semi-sweet flavor and subtle burn in the finish.
Fair warning, this vodka is $35 a bottle. We wouldn’t spend the money if we were looking for a base vodka but we might buy it on occasion for events. We’ll leave our pepper shaker safely in the spice rack.
Have you tried Karlsson’s? What’s your staple vodka?