Smirnoff Launches its Global Cocktail Trends and People’s Challenge with Jesse Kenji

The world’s #1 vodka kicked off its very successful Global Cocktail Trends series in New York last night after a highly well-received international tour. Hosting the People’s Challenge taste test, Global Smirnoff Ambassador and Mixologist Jesse Kenji extensively tutored guests in the cosmopolitan mechanics of the cocktail with his signature brand of  urbane expression: “Cool!”

From inception to consumption, attendees learned of the many geographical, political and cultural influences that gave rise to the existence of the wines and spirits that we enjoy today. Kenji further illustrated how Smirnoff’s use of charcoal filtration resulted in the brand’s pure taste with no impurities, contributing to its’ reigning status.

Privately hosted at the swanky Volstead on East 54th street (between Park & Lexington Aves), the mahogany and dark-cherry wood paneling and decor emitted a sophisticated speakeasy feel (in honor of namesake Andrew Volstead, the teetotaling congressman behind Prohibition) where guests were graciously received by award-winning agency Taylor, the global leader in lifestyle, sports and entertainment marketing communications (named “Consumer Agency of the Decade” by the Holmes Group, one of the industry’s leading media organizations).

In the cocktail hour that followed, guests sampled three of Smirnoff’s signature cocktails (Maple Caipiroska, Raspberry Mule, and the G Fresh) while dining on sumptuous fare that included lobster roll sliders, baja fish tacos, sweet corn hush puppies, lamb, hamburger, and cheeseburger sliders, grilled hangar steak bruschetta, and beet sliders.

Kenji then invited guests to come behind the bar and create their own drink under his guidance. Our very own John Simon took up the challenge got the chance to dabble in mixology, and as a “test taster” of Simon’s resulting mix, I attest to the success of Kenji’s tutelage.

The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in the 1860s in Moscow, by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov, the son of illiterate Russian peasants. Under the trading name of PA Smirnoff, the company pioneering charcoal filtration in the 1870s, and was the first to utilize newspaper ads along with charitable contributions to the clergy to stifle anti-vodka sermons, capturing two-thirds of the Moscow market by 1886. Smirnoff’s brand was reportedly the tsar favorite.

The company flourished and produced more than 4 million cases of vodka per year. It is now owned and produced by the British company Diageo, the world’s largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine, and is distributed in 130 countries.

A grain-based, triple distilled premium brand of vodka, Smirnoff products also include flavored vodka, and malt beverages. In March 2006, Diageo North America reported that Smirnoff vodka was the best-selling distilled spirit brand in the world. In a 2005 New York Times blind tasting of 21 world-class vodkas, Smirnoff won as the “hands-down favorite.”

Formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, Diageo is the holding company for some of the most recognizable alcohol brands to include Guinness, Red Stripe, Johnnie Walker, Justerini & Brooks (J&B), Ketel One, Tanqueray, Gilbey’s, Captain Morgan, and Crown Royal.

If you would like to try the specialty cocktails, here are the recipes:

Maple Caipiroska

1.5 oz Smirnoff 21

4 halved Lime Wedges

1 barspoon of Maple Syrup

1 barspoon brown sugar

Muddle lime, sugar and syrup. Add crushed ice and Smirnoff. Stir through well, then pack further with crushed ice. Serve in a tumbler.

Raspberry Mule

1.5 oz Smirnoff Raspberry

2 Lime wedges

2 slices of ginger

3 raspberries

3 oz Ginger Ale

Muddle the lime, ginger and raspberries in the bottom of a glass. Fill with cubed ice before adding the Smirnoff and ginger ale. Stir well. Serve in a Moscow Mule mug with a raspberry.

G-Fresh

1.5 oz Smirnoff 21

1.5 oz Fresh pink grapefruit juice

2.5 oz Tonic

Build and stir. Serve in a high ball with a slice of pink grapefruit.

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