too sweet, goddammit
This is a review of Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka from Poland. I sampled it in Germany in 2014. It’s a golden infusion, 38% alcohol, and I’m not quite sure if it really qualifies as a vodka.
Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is from Poland, and I guess you could write it as Zoladkowa Gorzka as well. The thing about it is this: it’s not just vodka – it’s herbal vodka. It’s been heavily infused with different herbs, and it tastes more like a liqueur or even a bitter.
So I was wondering if I should consider it for this site at all, but then I thought about all the other infused vodka brands we’ve already had on here, and I thought why not.
a bunch of followers and no site
First I went to zoladkowagorzka.com, but the site was down. Then I went looked for Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka on Facebook, and I found a page that had 180,000 followers and was updated regularly.
There wasn’t much in terms of information that I could understand.
about infusions
We’ve had some flavored vodka brands on here before. Georgievskaya Birch, Kalinovaya, or Nemiroff Honey Pepper come to mind. They were infused, meaning that a plant is immersed in the vodka for a while, until the alcohol can absorb the plant’s taste. This can influence the taste quite drastically, and it can even alter the color. But the texture of the liquid rarely changes as a result of the infusion.
Well, with Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka it’s different. I’m not sure why, but it has a thick, almost oily texture. It feels more like a liqueur, not like a vodka.
Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is smooth, but…
So anyway we said we were going to review Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka. I was surprised by how smooth it was. Maybe it was precisely because of the thick, balmy texture, but Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka really went down like a soft liqueur.
The problem was that it was too sweet, especially in the aftertaste. In fact the aftertaste was so peculiar that it reminded me of some sort of herbal medicine. I didn’t like it very much.
The bottle looked alright, and the price was excellent: I got this for around 10€/700ml.
how to mix this
I doing think Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is meant to be consumed neat and at room temperature. It’s too sweet for that.
Here’s what I recommend doing instead: put your bottle of Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka in the freezer. Mix it with tonic (1 part to 2 parts), and add a bit of fresh lemon juice. The taste will be vaguely similar to a gin tonic. At least it won’t be too sweet anymore.