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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/504798
www.cheersonline.com 16 • May 2015 awareness," says Cagle. "To get the word out, get people excited and feel like they are a part of it." Backers are part of the "inner circle" and were invited to pre-opening parties. "They have a feeling of ownership, that it's their bar," he says. The Hammer & Sickle in Minneapolis specializes in Eastern European and Russian cuisine and is a destination for vodka: "Both have equal draw," says assistant general manager Adam Provart. The restaurant's menu offers classics such as borscht, pierogi and cabbage rolls, and the bar stocks 78 vodkas as well as seven in-house infusions. Provart points out that the Twin Cities have more than a dozen whiskey bars as well as tequila and cocktail lounges, but not many bars that feature vodka. "We carry a lot of vodkas you can't find elsewhere." The most popular call is Hammer & Sickle, a Russian vodka that just happens to have the same name as the bar. SIGNATURES AND SALES "I'm a vodka guy, that had a lot to do with it," says Gary Huether, Jr., talking about the custom-made, small-batch product served as the house vodka at Arooga's Grille House & Sports Bar. The cofounder/president of the 11-unit, Harrisburg, PA-based chain partnered with Philadelphia Distilling to craft Sagoora (Arooga's spelled backwards) vodka. "Vodka is a big part of our spirits mix," says Huether, noting that Arooga's has 25 vodkas on the menu. Sagoora is prominently featured on backbars and is a key ingredient (noted on the drink list) in many of Arooga's top-sellers. These include a Moscow Mule served in the traditional copper cups and a highly garnished Bloody Mary. Sagoora is also the key element in an all-day, every-day pitcher promotion; for $7, Arooga's guests can pick a mixer to go with the vodka in 32-oz. mini pitchers. "It's one of our top sellers," Huether says. LABELS AND LOYALTY Vodka drinkers tend to be fairly brand loyal, Santoro says. "That's true in a lot of spirit categories but especially with vodka." On the other hand, he notes, "People are developing better palates, able to pick out the subtle nuances, and discovering the flavors in vodka that were there the whole time." Austin Mendez, bar manager at Messhall Kitchen in Los Angeles, agrees that customers are loyal to their vodka brands. "Usually it is older drinkers still remembering the vodka boom or an advertisement," says Mendez, "or people that are new or inexperienced with drinking altogether." The gastropub, which serves American comfort food, carries 11 brands of vodka, including some rather esoteric expressions; one made from sweet potatoes, another from oats, a bison-grass version and a vodka filtered through lava rocks. "When we don't have their brand, we always make recommendations," Mendez says. "People may come in brand loyal, but our bartenders get them to try something new," explains Provart at Hammer & Sickle. One way they do that is with five curated vodka flights, which range from $25 to $40 for four 2-oz. pours. "Our goal is for guests to try a few, and then order their favorite." Sippers start at $8.50 and go to about $15. Cagle plans to offer vodka flights at the Inner Circle, and is installing a tap system that will dispense five vodkas chilled to zero degrees. If a customer orders a high-end vodka in a cocktail, he offers them a sample of the base so they can see how it tastes on its own and how it works in the drink. This way, he says, "customers can understand the vodkas in their cocktail instead of just drinking them." FLAVORS AND FUSIONS Just a few years ago, flavor was the big growth driver of the vodka category. From citrus and other fruits to vegetable EVERYBODY loves VODKA Messhall Kitchen in Los Angeles offers a version of the Bloody Mary called Breakfast of Champions (left), made with serrano-infused vodka, roma tomatoes, avocado, garlic, maggi seasoning "and some other stuff." Right, Messhall Kitch- en's Amanda cocktail combines a cilan- tro-and–serrano-pep- per-infused vodka, lime and pineapple juice. Arooga's Grille House & Sports Bar makes its top-selling Moscow Mule with its own Sagoora vodka, produced in partnership with Philadelphia Distilling.