Our Jack puts Zing Vodka Red Velvet through its paces and is pleasantly surprised by the experience of drinking something a little like brandybutter. SUBTLETY IS FOR WEAKLINGS
Rating
Price
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In A Nutshell
Brandybutter booze mouth pornography in a crazy bottle. I can’t really remember what red velvet cake actually tastes like (asides from DELICIOUS) but this is definitely some kind of smooth, bottled alcoholic dessert. Where’s the vodka at? I can’t taste any…
Hello And Welcome To The UK…
Zing is a brand of premium vodka that originated in the US, but has been relaunched in the UK. You are looking at the American packaging, which I have somehow ended up with. Unlike any other brand of vodka I am aware of, the distinctive Zing bottle has a button…and this button turns on a red flashing light. Ever drunk hard spirits out of a flashing bottle? Well – now you can! This flavour is ‘red velvet’ – and they (or should I say ‘their marketing’) says it tastes like red velvet cake.
I met the new owner, a guy called Dan – who’s a nice chap. Actually an entertainment lawyer by trade who lives not too far from me in Bromley – he told me a bit about taking over the brand, what it’s like starting a vodka business when you’ve spent most of your career in the music industry, and how to position a premium vodka in a somewhat crowded market.
Zing is associated with Chris Brown (yeah, that guy) or was, I think. They’re apparently looking for a new UK brand ambassador, now that they’ve moved over here. As far as I can tell, they also have another vodka. The bottle is the same shape (hexagonal) – but is blue instead of red. They call that one the ‘Super Premium’. I wonder what is so super about it…?
We Drink It, Stuff Happens
First Impression
Subtlety is for weaklings. Embrace the BRANDYBUTTER BOOZE. Despite what you may expect, the spirit is entirely thin and clear, it’s not heavy, and doesn’t seem to contain any dairy.
Nose
In a word – KABOOM. Some spiky alcohol laced spikiness underneath an ultra creamy butterscotch vanilla brandybutter culinary cascade. Holy shit! You’d need to have no olfactory senses whatsoever to miss this one. I’m worried that it’s going to be almost too sweet. The main thing is a REALLY aromatic hit of vanilla and butterscotch.
Palette
The first thing that hits you is a whack of sweetness and not much else. And you know what? You can keep it on your tongue indefinitely, it’s that smooth. Asides from the sweetness, not much will happen until you let it go down. Then BLAM. Swallow it and all the caramel fudge cake assault finish. Yeahhhhhh now we’re having a good time.
Finish
Fun! Warmth and cream and those ‘cake notes’ in the back of your palette. The finish on the main part is ‘warm’ (skipping ‘the burn’ of most spirits entirely). It eventually ‘turns’ – like the caramel has soured (quite some time after) – but this is OK, it’s a respite from the sweetness.. Pretty good i guess, beats the cloying stickiness of some other sweeter drinks. And it’s most certainly got some pretty impressive staying power
Verdict
Personal opinion: The supremely creamy flavours combined with the thin ‘regular’ spirit texture makes this a superior alternative to actual cream based liqueurs, which can get real sickly real fast, and cause trouble for people who don’t really tolerate dairy. I’m somewhat lactose intolerant and but this is fine for me. I would love to know how much sugar they had to add to this one to get it to ‘cake level’.
ZING is positioned as a premium vodka but it really is much closer to a liqueur in terms of taste. The packaging is memorable but not particularly practical. I guess that was what they were shooting for. I generally don’t go for liqueurs but am going to keep a bottle of this one around because…
- It is the kind of thing that people who don’t drink much could get behind since it essentially tastes like dessert and goes down oh so easily
- It has much of the flavour profile of a cream liqueur without the sickliness that many of these liqueurs bring.
- It’s kinda crazy in an endearing way. A fine conversation starter!
And unlike most liqueurs, I feel like I can drink quite a lot of this one neat and still enjoy the experience.
So, well done, Zing!