Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Umm well for people who like to drink and thereafter feel the affects of that particular boisson Vodka is totally in. I live in Chicago and go to all kinds of bars all over town and gin, brandy, and cognac are about as en vogue as a shark skin suit. But beyond vodka being a great way to get a buzz after a long week, it mixes better than P diddy at his own white party. If you don't like a vodka martini then you are poorly versed on the art of having a drink. However, I do respect the author of this article's opinion. In a cocktail contest vodka is perhaps a bit simple as it is perhaps the stealthiest liguor around. So in a hoity-toity cocktail contest, yea you're probably going to want to present with something of complex flavor with a healthy dash of snobby sophistication (nose in air). Send you side-cars sloe gin fizzes and campari mixers back to their respective decades. Do you really think that we should start questioning our eastern comrades about what a choice liquor is?

From Russia with love,

Tim R.

I do not aspire to trends. I make my own style. What spirit you use to drink is not something that should be fashionable and I eschew the hype that goes with drink trends. It is something manufactured by some asshat at a desk trying to make you feel sexy and accepted using ALCOHOL.
Grab a seat on the clue train, booze only inspires confidence if your trying to get laid. No one is going to look at you and say "oh wow he is drinking Vodka, I am so impressed."
I think if you ask a bartender (hello bar tending people) they will tell you that a lot of Vodka gets used on any one bar night.
Stop being impressed with drink. Start being impressed with people who know how to make them.

It's about bloody time.

Not to mention that the Cook's Illustrated folks advocate the use of vodka in pie crusts.

I love neat, chilled vodka. But if I'm out for cocktails, I'd prefer a gin martini. After dinner, I'd like a nice snifter of brandy. Ice-cold vodka is perfect with small salty dishes (Russian style, I guess you'd call it). But I don't really run into that much when going out.

Vodka does make a nice base for adding flavour that would be too strong on its own. So vodka with a little bit of chocolate liqueur and Grand Marnier is delicious, whereas the two on their own would be overpowering. Vodka with a squeeze of half a lemon and a teaspoon of sugar is also excellent, but who would want lemon and sugar on their own?

is he kidding? of course it isn't gonna be featured in as many "serious" cocktails because it is a neutral spirit and, as such, doesn't contribute to the flavor of the drink. it's never been as popular among that crowd as this article implies and i guess that annual book finally reflects that. anyway, who cares? he's not talking about it dying like good apple brandy did, he's worrying about trends instead of writing something that might actually inform. he's not even doing this especially well since he mentions that the earlier books were full of "faux-martini embarrassments" (implying that the earlier editions of this book weren't representative of what was being created by the best bartenders/mixologists and screwing up the whole premise of his lazy column).

one kind of booze rarely remains cool for long, people are always trying to outdo each other with drink as they are with food, but i think vodka has a lot of staying power whether with the slow foodies or anyone else. For all you vodka-swigging slow foodies out there, you should check out Prairie Organic Vodka from Minnesota. It's delicious, American, organic and has a very cool label. We did a taste-test recently: http://www.weareneverfull.com/drink-of-the-month-february-taste-testing-organic-vodka/

Benitowine and Timothyrows have it spot on. Vodka is an excellent base for a plethora of cocktails, and it is ultra-handy for experimenting with infusions (like the coconut or blackberry vodkas I've made). Bad impressions of Vodka come from drinking cheap Vodka, though that is true of all alcohol. If you're going to drink, don't buy something that will burn on the way down!

Gastromeg- I am right with you on the Tequila! I love a good authentic margarita.
Am I a rarity as a girl who likes tequila and vodka? I don't really care as I like wine much more than those two liquors! But Vodka will always be popular in bars; it is too versatile to dismiss.

as someone who has newly discovered moscow mules, i say no way!