I’m trying to remember the story of these little glasses. They came from the apartment of my friend’s mother. It was a pre-war co-op on Central Park West, always decorated in the earthtones she loved, mid-century modern with a 1960s artistic overlay. When the décor was new, I picture these glasses stowed in the freezer with the vodka, to be brought out when the opera singers and artists gathered there late at night, after a performance. They’d toss down shots of a clear, authentic Russian liquor, its harshness only tamed by over-chilling.
Now we have vodkas so distilled and/or flavored we mix them like chemists into dozen-ingredient cocktails. Tonight, for some reason, I brought out this glass for Absolut Wild Tea. It seemed like a sipping type of vodka, moderately flavored with oolong tea and elderflower. It has some sweetness but allegedly no sugar.
Now, if I could only figure out how to get a tiny ice cube into this glass…
