HAN-sel and Gretel

I went out to what I was told was a swanky club called Guy’s (I heard it as guise, so I was surprised when we got there) for a Not for Tourists book launch party.

I had a minor wardrobe crisis, because it was cold, and my going out clothes involve showing too much skin. So I threw on my fancy coat and hoped for the best. We got there early, and there was no line to get in, and the place wasn’t crowded. No one was particularly swanky, and only about half of them seemed cooler than me. We easily had seats. The tables all had alcohol menus on them, it seems that if you’d like to sit at a table when the place is crowded you must purchase a $300 bottle of alcohol (ones in the under $20 price range from the store). We did not do that.

There were free Han Asian Vodka from 9:30-10:30, and we took advantage of it. It’s made with barley and rice, and is very mild. They’re trying to tout it as a premium vodka in line with Grey Goose. It’s not. And it’s not a vodka lovers vodka. The Han company had a list of 3 specialty drinks there were mixing. I was drinking mine with cranberry juice, and it’s hard to mess that up (the suggested it be called the Hidden Dragon). I tried Ryan’s “Han Solo” Martini (neither of us could bring ourselves to actually say it to the bartender, so we ordered a Han Martini) and it had no flavor. Beth, had the Crouching Tiger, which was a Shirley Temple with vodka added and, predictably, tasted like candy. I’m disappointed no one offered me the Genghis Han, which was mentioned here. I don’t know if it was my constitution for the day, or the vodka, but I’ll say it took a while to hit, and when it did, it did.

One thing I’d like to mention is that it’s almost 2006, and the distributor is based in California. Does it really need to be Asian vodka? Can’t they just pick a country? Won’t people understand? Or is it just extra exotic to be nebulous?