"Smirnoff" news and stories

Click on the Bros Icing Bros website and now all you get is a message proclaiming, "We had a good run Bros..." and a link to a poker site. To compete against the all-male Icing game, females had recently been participating in a similar game -- "Hoes Weising Hoes" -- which goes by the same rules as the widespread Icing prank, but subs in bottles of Budweiser for Smirnoff.

Now that the parent company of Smirnoff Ice -- drinks giant Diageo -- stepped in and assisted in the shutting down of the Bros Icing Bros website, an equally ridiculous site has popped up with pretty much the same rules as before, but this time only for women.

Just when you thought drinking couldn't get any more ridiculous than pouring vodka in your eye, a drinking game involving the alcopop Smirnoff Ice comes along, complete with a website called Bros Icing Bros. The website suggests to "buy the most disgusting flavored Ice or a 24-oz Ice. Pineapple, mango, and grape are top of the list for the most gut wrenching, mind numbing, throw-up-in-your-mouth Smirnoff Ice flavors."

Read the rules as posted on the viral website (with grammar errors) after the jump.

As several media sources have noted, there has recently been a surge in vodka sales. While these increases have occurred across the board, there has been a particularly large spike in so-called "value" and "popular" brands, which cost less than $9 per bottle.

In addition to the obvious price benefit, there is also the matter of flavor. As The New York Times noted, the premium vodka fad was largely an artificially created phenomenon, and the cheap stuff often tastes just as good as brands that cost five or six times as much.

Of course, as the comments in last November's Top Shelf Vodka post demonstrate, Slashfood's readers have known this for quite some time.

While you may not want to resort to Popov, as the Times seems to suggest, it's worth noting that Smirnoff, Luksusowa and Svedka are all outstanding, low-priced tipples. And, just in case the Times decides to copy us yet again, remember that you heard it here first!

Over the past few years, as premium vodkas have come into vogue, I've heard more and more about the taste of vodka. Suddenly, reviews have been overflowing with comments like "a nice, caramel finish," "a buttery nose," and "an insouciant grin underlying pearly orange tones." Okay, I made the last one up, but am I the only one who sometimes wonders if professional liquor tasters have been dropping acid?

At any rate, the irony of this is that the ideal vodka shouldn't have any flavor at all. In fact, I'd argue that the ultimate mark of a good vodka is that you can pull it out of the freezer, pour yourself a shot, and taste absolutely nothing except for the quick death of a few thousand brain cells. This, by the way, is why a traditional vodka tasting often has savory items like caviar, blini, fresh dill, and preserved herring. Since it doesn't impart flavor, vodka makes a good, inoffensive base for other flavors.

While most of the top vodkas on the market cost upwards of $30, there are a few classic and lesser-known vodkas that offer premium quality and (lack of) flavor for very reasonable prices. For example, Svedka is a first-rate, mild-flavored vodka from Sweden. Like Absolut, it has an great ad campaign; unlike Absolut, however, it is a very tasty, very reasonably priced vodka.

Smirnoff Ice has, from what I count, nine flavors. Secretly, I've always assumed that they all taste the same: a little sparkly, mildly tart, and way too sweet.

So. Smirnoff Ice: Do they all taste the same?

Personally, I think it would be really funny if after the jump it just said "yes." But it doesn't, so read on as I give four flavors a fighting chance.