Xtaz Frequently Asked Questions
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- Xtaz® Vodka can be enjoyed straight, with soda, or as a part of our variety of cocktails. Explore Xtaz® cocktails here flavours, easy to make cocktails and how to make your own vodka seltzer.
Vinal Winery, the birthplace of Xtaz® Premium Vodka, was established in 1947 and is situated in the city of Lovech (north-central Bulgaria) in the Danube Plain, one of the five main viticultural regions in the country.
Produced in Bulgaria by VINAL WINERY
Vinal Winery, the birthplace of Xtaz® Premium Vodka, was established in 1947 and is situated in the city of Lovech (north-central Bulgaria) in the Danube Plain, one of the five main viticultural regions in the country.
Its vineyards encompass both international and local grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, Muscat of Alexandria, Dimyat, Pamid, Gamza, Varna Muscatel, and Viogner.
It maintains a wide production range, including white, rose and red wines (dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, dessert, sparkling), fruit liquors, vermouth, vodka, gin, brandy, etc. The average wine production per year is 8,500,000 and the wine storage facilities have a capacity exceeding 13,000,000 liters.
Xtaz® Premium Vodka can be enjoyed straight, with a mixer, or as part of a wide array of creative cocktails. Visit our Cocktails area for some great suggestions.
Shaken, stirred or however you like it, Xtaz® Premium Vodka is the perfect complement to your favorite mixers. Check out our cocktails for inspiration.
To shake a cocktail, add combined ingredients and cubed ice to a shaker. Ensure the top of the shaker is sealed with a tap. Shake for 10 – 15 seconds. To release the shakers, tap with the palm of your hand where the top and bottom shakers meet. Hold a Hawthorne strainer against the wall of the shaker, tilt at about a 45° angle, and pour your drink through the strainer into the glass of your choice.
Muddling is a simple way to elevate your cocktails. Add fresh berries or herbs to your glass and press down with a muddler or spoon to draw out the fresh flavors.
Rolling a cocktail is a simple technique used not only to mix the drink but to chill and aerate as well. To roll a cocktail you’ll need a set of shakers. In one shaker add the ingredients of your cocktail and fill halfway with ice, then pour the contents from one shaker to the other 5 to 6 times before serving.
A cocktail should be stirred slowly and deliberately. You can think about keeping the bottom of the spoon up against the inside of the mixing glass to create a nice, smooth stir. A bar spoon can be a great tool in any mixologist’s bar cart. Typically, it’s best to mix a cocktail for about 40 seconds. Stirring a cocktail can be a mindful, meditative process, allowing you to craft your cocktail with care.
The quality of the vodka in your martini cocktail matters, which is why we recommend Xtaz® Vodka. Because a vodka martini cocktail is made from just a few ingredients, the spirits do not have many places to “hide.” You want a vodka that is made without compromise – one that truly shines. Xtaz® Vodka is the quintessential vodka for the quintessential cocktail.
There can be as many olives in a martini cocktail as you like. It’s your cocktail, and you can make it how you want it. However, martini cocktails are often served with three olives, the Dirty Martini Cocktail in particular. This may be because some martini cocktail lovers like to have a salty snack to eat throughout their cocktail, from first sip to last drop.
There is a difference between shaken and stirred martini cocktails, and we recommend you stir a martini cocktail. While some notable pop culture icons may have preferred theirs shaken, not stirred, we beg to differ. If you shake a martini cocktail, it can produce ice chips in an otherwise crystal-clear cocktail, and that can add up to 10% more water. Because of this, we suggest you stir a martini cocktail gently.
Simply put, a martini cocktail is made of three ingredients: alcohol, vermouth and garnish. While gin is sometimes used as the spirit, we’re quite partial to premium vodka made without compromise. Vermouth is a fortified wine that lends some herbaceous flavour and complexity to the cocktail. Garnishes are often olives or lemon twists. These three things are what makes a martini cocktail a martini cocktail. While the ingredients may be simple, there are many ways to mix it up. You can play with proportions to make it drier or wetter, or add olive brine to make it dirty.
What makes a martini cocktail dry is a lower level of vermouth – a dry martini cocktail has a low vermouth to vodka ratio. The less vermouth you put in, the drier a martini cocktail becomes. More vermouth? That means it’s a wet martini cocktail. (The vermouth used in martini cocktails is called “dry vermouth” so the more dry vermouth you put in, the wetter a martini cocktail becomes.)
At its most basic level, a martini cocktail tastes like its principal ingredient: vodka or gin. You will also be able to pick up on the herbaceous and slightly sweeter taste of the vermouth (a fortified wine). Additionally, cocktail garnishes can go a long way in changing the flavour profile. All that said, a large part of the martini cocktail flavour comes from its spirit. That’s why it’s so important to choose a premium vodka. And Xtaz® is a vodka full of character, made from the finest Bulgarian wheat.
A vodka martini cocktail is a spirit-forward cocktail and the amount of alcohol in the cocktail depends on the ingredients you use and how you make your martini cocktail. Its prime ingredients are vodka and vermouth, both alcoholic spirits. Vodka has a standard alcohol concentration of 40% ABV. Vermouth has an ABV lower than vodka but higher than wine – around 14% – 22%. The total amount of alcohol in a martini cocktail will depend on the proportion of vodka to vermouth. A drier martini cocktail (containing more vodka than vermouth) will have a higher alcoholic content than a wetter martini cocktail (heavier on the vermouth) of the same size. If you’re looking for a lower ABV option, maybe try the Long Martini Cocktail, a tall serve that includes ginger ale and ice.
A Cosmopolitan or Cosmo Cocktail is a drink made with Xtaz® Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice. It is often served in a martini cocktail glass, but that alone doesn’t make it a martini cocktail. To be considered a vodka martini cocktail, the drink must contain vodka and vermouth.
A Lemon Drop Cocktail’s ingredients are Xtaz® Vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and simple syrup. While it may be served in a martini cocktail glass, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s considered a martini cocktail. All vodka martini cocktails must contain vodka and vermouth to earn that designation.
In bartender terminology, neat means straight out of the bottle—no ice, no mixers, no other ingredients. So a neat martini cocktail, while uncommon, would mean straight, unchilled vodka — no vermouth. (Typical martini cocktails contain vodka and vermouth.) While the nuanced flavour of naturally tasteful Xtaz® Vodka is wonderful on its own, there are many ways to enjoy a vodka martini cocktail, including dry (a little vermouth), wet (a lot of vermouth) or dirty (with olive brine).
There are lots of ways to make a martini cocktail at home, including uniquely flavoured ones such as the espresso martini cocktail. This classic, coffee-flavoured drink contains vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, a pinch of salt and three coffee beans for a traditional garnish.
Xtaz® Vodka contain zero carbohydrates in a 30ml serving.
A 30ml serving of Xtaz® Vodka contains 66 calories.
Xtaz® Vodka contains 40% alcohol by volume giving it a classification of 80 proof.
Xtaz® Vodka is made from just two ingredients: soft hight quality wheat from Bulgaria, and spring water from the Bulgarian mountains. Only Xtaz® Vodka ever touches the inside of a Xtaz® Vodka bottle.
Whether vodka goes bad or expires will depend on a variety of factors, including proper storage. Most alcohol will remain drinkable indefinitely if it is unopened. It’s also unlikely that opened alcohol will “go bad” or be unsafe to drink as its high alcohol content protects it from germs. That said, its taste can definitely be altered. Light, temperature and air can change the way vodka tastes. Keep vodka in a cool, dark place to help preserve its flavour for as long as possible. To go a step further, we recommend storing Xtaz® Vodka in the fridge to keep it beautifully refrigerated, ready to mix and perfectly preserved. If you notice a strange smell to your vodka, you don’t want to not drink it. If in doubt, throw it out.
Vodka does freeze, you just may never see it happen. Take this at-home experiment, for example. You may have put vodka in the freezer and noticed something—it doesn’t freeze, no matter how long you leave it in there. That’s because its freezing point is much lower than that of water. Because vodka contains 40% alcohol, it won’t freeze over until around around -27 degrees Celsius, much lower than your typical freezer, which is around -18 degrees Celsius.