The booze-ification of the seasoning finest identified for flavoring the crabs of the Chesapeake Bay was inevitable. Bartenders have lengthy spiced their bloody marys with Old Bay, and in 2017, McCormick, the Maryland firm that owns Old Bay, partnered with fellow Old Line State-based George’s Beverage Company by itself bloody mary combine. Philadelphia Distillers in 2013 debuted “The Bay,” a vodka flavored with “traditional Chesapeake seasoning,” which appears like copyright-skirting code for the long-lasting yellow tin.
After success with an Old Bay scorching sauce, the corporate once more paired with George’s for a new vodka of its personal. (A well timed promoting level: It’s Maryland-made — take that, Putin!). As an Eastern Shore of Virginia native, I felt duty-bound to attempt it out, and I enlisted a few colleagues, together with our in-house Old Bay aficionado, drinks and nightlife reporter Fritz Hahn, a die-hard Marylander who has written extensively concerning the spice mix.
We sampled it by itself, in addition to in a few of the less complicated recipes from the model’s web site: a simple combine with lemon seltzer, a martini dirtied with olive brine, a mule-style drink with ginger beer, and a bloody mary ready with the aforementioned mixer.
On opening the bottle, the scent doesn’t give it away; you can sniff and sniff and never get a trace of Old Bay and all of the crab-cracking, seafood-boiling good occasions that the scent conjures. Served straight, we largely picked up on the peppery notes of the famed spice mix, with perhaps a hint of vegetal celery seed. I didn’t detect these heat, baking spice parts that give Old Bay its complexity.
So, on it’s personal, it may not be essentially the most flavorful of quaffs, however I don’t have a lot quarrel with that: Vodka, notably when served chilly, isn’t identified for delicate bouquets or advanced taste profiles. In reality, its blendability is one in all its most prized qualities (maybe second to its buzz-inducing properties, that’s). And talking of which, Old Bay has a barely decrease ABV than many different vodkas — 35 % to the usual 40 %.
There was no aggressive burn or disagreeable viscosity, and we quickly pegged it as akin to a clear, uncomplicated pepper vodka that lent a pleasantly savory edge to cocktails.
Once we began mixing it, we discovered that the extra precise Old Bay spice we might add to the Old Bay vodka, the higher we preferred the ensuing drinks. It was high quality reduce with lemon-flavored sparking water. It was even higher within the martini, the place it lent a little bit of peppery warmth to the salinity of the olive brine, making me lengthy for a plate of Shooting Point oysters. Our unanimous favourite was the mix with tart lemon juice and ginger beer — largely as a result of the garnish of a lemon wheel dipped in Old Bay amped up the Old Bay-ness of the drink. And the bloody mary made with the model’s personal combine was additionally a hit — once more, due to the preponderance of the signature ingredient.
The classes I took away have been that a) I like Old Bay in my cocktails, which was stunning; and b) If you need Old Bay in your cocktails, head to your spice rack.
Call me shallow, however one in all my favourite issues about this vodka is its label. It’s instantly recognizable as an Old Bay product with the signature purple, yellow and blue tones, however has a cleaner design than that of the outdated tins that gives it a enjoyable, retro-modern really feel.
It would look incredible on a bar cart, and it might make an apt present this summer time for anybody letting you crash at their seaside home — or internet hosting the neighborhood crab feast.