Vodka Fit for a Princess

While living in Florida, I paid a visit to the Orlando Ice Bar where I had the distinct pleasure of trying Diaka, the self-proclaimed “world’s most expensive vodka.”

Now Diaka doesn’t claim to be the world’s best tasting vodka (though it was good) and it isn’t advertised as the world’s smoothest vodka (though it was extremely smooth). It’s simply the world’s most expensive, charging about $100 for each Swarovski crystal-encrusted bottle. But the packaging isn’t what ups the price. Unlike other vodkas which are filtered through coal, Diaka is filtered through DIAMONDS. (So super heated, pressurized, 10 million year-old coal. Not really, but you get my point.) The Diaka patented filtration process filters its Polish, rye-based vodka through 100 cut diamonds as large as one carat each. (The name Diaka is actually a combination of the words Diamond and Vodka.)

The diamond filtration process is supposed to lend a spirit with an “unsurpassed clarity and smoothness”. It’s unclear if this refined taste is worth the price, and consumers of luxury goods are most likely willing to pay more for the image. I was certainly willing to pay $20 for my cocktail, just to say that I had once tried the world’s most expensive vodka. My drink was called “The Billionaire” and it consisted of Diaka, Welch’s White Grape Juice, and a splash of champagne. Honestly, it was delicious – possibly the best vodka cocktail I’ve ever had. But I think this had more to do with the fact that it was super-chilled (keep in mind, I was in an Ice Bar) and extremely well mixed.

Will I spend $100 on my own bottle? Probably not anytime soon. But if you ever find yourself with your own Swarovski encrusted bottle, here are a few of my recipes you can use.

Hope
I have a fascination with blue diamonds, so this is the first of two recipes using blue curacao. Unlike its namesake, I promise this cocktail is not cursed.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz blue curacao
Champagne to fill

Chill ingredients beforehand and build in a champagne flute.

Heart of the Ocean
As in that blue diamond from Titanic. The egg white gives this cocktail a nice frothy, almost ocean-like consistency.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz blue curacao
1 ½ oz lemon juice
1 egg white

Shake ingredients well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

A Girl’s Best Friend
Named after the song made famous by Marilyn Monroe, this is an extremely expensive vodka cranberry (which has been every girl’s go-to drink at one time or another) with a hint of pear flavor.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz Poire William (pear brandy)
1 ¾ oz white cranberry juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime or lemon wedge.

Ruby Slippers
Despite the feminine name, this is very much a gentleman’s cocktail. It is an updated version of an old-timey drink called the Princeton, which was made with 1 ½ oz gin, ¾ ruby port, and 1 tsp orange bitters.

1 ½ oz Diaka
2 oz Ruby Port
Dash orange bitters
Orange slice
Splash of ginger ale

Build vodka, port and bitters in a red wine goblet over 2 large ice cubes (perfect cubes work best). Give orange slice a good squeeze and dunk it. Stir drink well, then top with chilled ginger ale.

Emerald City
I really didn’t mean for this entry to take on a Wizard of Oz theme.

1 ½ oz Diaka
1 oz Midori
1 ½ oz passion fruit juice
1 ½ oz mango juice

Build ingredients in a highball glass with ice. Speed shake and garnish with a melon ball size piece of honey dew on a cocktail skewer.