Thirsty & Thrifty

Depending on your point of view, vodka is either the perfect or the most boring vehicle for sipping or cocktails. That’s because most vodkas are made to be, well, bland. Bartenders often insist that all vodkas are the same, which is an incorrect but understandable viewpoint; vodka is generally not crafted to be the loudest voice in the room, er, bar and bartenders typically want to make noise.

The hottest vodka on the market today is, of course, Tito’s which has taken the market by storm due to its slightly sweeter profile and attractive pricing (compared to its super-premium European competitors. Tito’s has also won over the gluten-free crowd as it's made from corn (which is also the reason for its sweetness), while most modern vodkas are derived from wheat. The dirty secret is that distillation removes gluten from a grain alcohol (more accurately, distillation leaves the gluten behind) so all distilled beverages are gluten-free.

Which brings me to Crop Organic Vodka, a corn-based vodka produced using USDA-certified organic grains. This is actually a big deal; many distilled spirits are produced from grain, and yet, (unlike wine) it seems that no one is asking where (or how) all that grain is grown. (Where is the ‘natural’ spirit movement?) Crop delivers an extremely smooth and light flavor profile, with finishing sweetness and hints of citrus, making it very easy to enjoy as is and very malleable in a cocktail It also over-delivers on price; it’s without a doubt the best $22 vodka on the market.