Cocktails tend and are recommended to be consumed chilled, as they are most often shaken or stirred with ice, or the ingredients were refrigerated before use.
But spirits are most often drunk at or near room temperature, neat or on the rocks, and the spirit is cooled a bit by the dilution of the ice.
Most of these factors have to do with the type of aromatic compounds the spirit has.
Aged and darker spirits will have more congeners (i.e. impurities and flavoring compounds were used to profile the flavor of the beverage).
Aged spirits get even more flavor from the containers in which they have aged.
It is not true that clear spirits such as Vodka lack flavor.
While column distillation tends to produce clear spirits with fewer congeners and higher alcohol content, these spirits can be infused with botanicals or aged briefly in wooden barrels (such as white rums) and then filtered to clarify while maintaining their natural aromatic body.
The texture or mouthfeel also changes with temperature.
Vodka is usually traditionally consumed chilled, and gin or vodka, when kept in the freezer, becomes a bit viscous “a much richer, more intense sort of mouthfeel” that can help mask some of the alcoholic harshness associated with neutral vodkas, for example.
Room temperature.
If you’re in a warm room, your room-temperature spirit is likely to taste a little different, because the ideal room temperature for spirits is something along the lines of 20-25 degrees Celsius
Of course, tasting at room temperature doesn’t mean you can’t add an ice cube.
Regardless of where you store your vodka, be sure to keep the bottle upright so it doesn’t spill.
Maintain a constant temperature and avoid exposure to high temperatures.
When vodka heats up, it releases more volatiles and the smell of pure alcohol can be overpowering.
Although vodka tends to have milder flavor profiles compared to other spirits, it is not tasteless.
When vodka is stored in the freezer, it is more difficult to detect specific aromas and flavors. The complexity and flavor of the spirit begins to disappear.
This can be ideal for hiding the “fiery” qualities of low-quality vodka.
Due to its ethanol content, vodka does not actually freeze until it reaches a temperature of -8 degrees Celsius.
Standard freezers are at -17 °C , which is too cold for premium vodka.
The optimum drinking temperature for vodka is between 0 + 4 °C.
And this should be achieved in one of the following three ways
Storing in the refrigerator
Pouring directly over ice
Mixing it in a shaker with ice and other cold liquids.
As the temperature of the vodka drops, the viscosity of the liquid increases and the differences in texture become more apparent.
It becomes thicker, creating a smoother, richer mouthfeel.
Drinking vodka should be enjoyable, so chilling it, not freezing it creates the best drinking experience to the palate.
