Bear
The woods
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Middle West Spirits began selling their first product, OYO vodka, yesterday. I just picked up a bottle -- interesting stuff. More than a little sweet, with a hint of vanilla on the nose and something like cherry at the back end of the palate.
Cris, the bartender from M, is working with them to develop recipes, but I know there are some creative types on CU, along with some OYO enthusiasm on my Twitter stream... so what have you tried?
Bear
The woods
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I'll start off. First thing I thought was that it could use something subtly bitter to balance the sweetness, and something that would play well with the vanilla and cherry without masking them. I racked my brain, rummaged around my liquor cabinet, and then hit on the answer: coffee beans.
Sambuca con la mosca is a classic Italian drink: Sambuca with three roasted coffee beans dropped into it. Their subtlety is all but lost in Sambuca, but it's not in OYO. They add just a slight hint of bitterness and an almost chocolate backdrop to the other flavor notes.
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Vodka con la Mosca
2-1/2 oz OYO vodka
3 dark-roasted coffee beans
Shake vodka with ice, pour into chilled rocks glass (or snifter), add coffee beans, swirl. Enjoy.
Bear
The woods
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Might call first -- they ran out early yesterday and were low today when I was there.
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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If they have any left. They were almost sold out when I swung by yesterday afternoon.
Bear, that looks good. To be honest there's very little I want to do to this. I opened it and drank it neat and I love it just as it is. It is sweet and smooth. It seems more like a white whisky to me than a vodka.
I could see it working with vegital notes pretty well. Perhaps macerated herbals of some sort? A variation on your version of the Vesper would probably work modified to showcase the Oyo a bit more.
Bear
The woods
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michaelcoyote wrote >>
Bear, that looks good. To be honest there's very little I want to do to this. I opened it and drank it neat and I love it just as it is. It is sweet and smooth. It seems more like a white whisky to me than a vodka.
I could see it working with vegital notes pretty well. Perhaps macerated herbals of some sort?
That was my first thought, and I'll probably try something like that next. I actually mixed a Rubicon last night and I thought subbing in Oyo for gin could work -- the rosemary in that recipe could play well off of all of the notes in the vodka. Worth a try.
But yeah, I like the idea of very minimalist recipes.
Core_Models
Columbus
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So apparently this thread is really
Bear: "I got Oyo and you don't...nya nya nya" ;)
Bear
The woods
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Core_Models wrote >>
So apparently this thread is really
Bear: "I got Oyo and you don't...nya nya nya" ;)
Hah! Funny thing is, I thought for sure the other folks who got theirs before me would have chimed in by now. I know they're out there. I was actually starting to feel left out myself....
sean2outerspace
Clintonville
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I bet this would taste great with lemongrass, or lemongrass bitters (I may have to start a batch of bitters tonight). Does anyone have any insider info on the time frame for state store availability? Because until then the legality of serving this at a restaurant or bar is at least a very grey area. I can say with some certainty that both The Hills and Barrio would love to carry this.
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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michaelcoyote wrote >>
I could see it working with vegital notes pretty well. Perhaps macerated herbals of some sort?
Ok, I got to thinking and here's my latest concoction:
Pour two fingers of Oyo into a ball jelly jar and fill up a bucket with water.
Carry jelly jar and bucket to garden.
Pick 2-3 leaves of home grown arugula, twist and plunge into Oyo. Use the fingers previously mentioned to further macerate and mix the arugula into the Oyo.
Using the bucket, water garden while enjoying the subtle vegital (anise with light spice) notes of the arugula blended with the subtle sweetness of the Oyo.
Repeat until gardener and garden thoroughly soaked.
Kidding aside, this was far better than should reasonably be expected.
Bear wrote >>
That was my first thought, and I'll probably try something like that next. I actually mixed a Rubicon last night and I thought subbing in Oyo for gin could work -- the rosemary in that recipe could play well off of all of the notes in the vodka. Worth a try.
But yeah, I like the idea of very minimalist recipes.
The Rubicon sounds nice I love the idea of blunting green Chartruse with fire.
As for minimalist recipes. I have to say, Oyo is a bit of a game changer for me. I have to think about ways to showcase it's subtle character without overpowering it.
JonMyers
Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand
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Bear
The woods
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sean2outerspace wrote >>
I bet this would taste great with lemongrass, or lemongrass bitters (I may have to start a batch of bitters tonight). Does anyone have any insider info on the time frame for state store availability? Because until then the legality of serving this at a restaurant or bar is at least a very grey area. I can say with some certainty that both The Hills and Barrio would love to carry this.
Oh, good thought. And I can confirm that it works well with celery bitters... though the proportions are tricky. Maybe 1 drop per 2 oz, ballpark, at the most?
Might also be worth trying an Oyo martini with a Cynar wash. I'm out of Cynar at the moment though :-(
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