E-Mail This Article to a Friend Sweet sensation America finds itself in thrall to flavor-infused liquor BY CHRIS WRIGHT

It’s odd to think of Stolichnaya Vodka, a staple for millions of red-nosed Russians, as on the vanguard of the move toward hoity-toity, fruit-flavored liquors. And yet, according to Brandy Toth of the wine-and-spirits behemoth Allied Domecq, Stoli’s ongoing surge in the US drink market has been driven in large part by its decision, back in the mid 1980s, to start infusing its vodka with fruit. Today, Stoli Razberi, Stoli Ohranj, and Stoli Vanil are just a few of the products that make the company a favorite brand among drinkers in the 21-to-29-year-old age bracket — whom Toth calls "the trend-setting consumer."

To some degree, the ongoing popularity of flavor-infused liquors brings to mind that old Mary Poppins line: "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." It’s a way for people to drink without really knowing they’re doing it. And yet there are those among us who don’t necessarily want a spoonful of sugar with their medicine, who would actually like to taste the booze they’re drinking, thank you very much. All the same, flavored liquors — be they melon-y, lemony, peachy, or creamy — continue to proliferate at a rapid rate.

America’s seemingly endless appetite for these drinks has, it appears, led to something of a flavor war among liquor companies. Beefeater, for instance, recently came out with a brand of gin named Wet that’s infused, it is said, with the essence of 17 different types of pear. Wet, says Toth, marks an attempt to turn vodka drinkers into gin drinkers. "A lot of people drink this and don’t even know it’s gin," Toth continues. "It’s phenomenal."

Here in Boston, at least, there seem to be plenty of customers to go around. At Bomboa, says bartender Michael Ahearn, he can barely keep up with the demand for flavored spirits. The bar has 40 different drinks employing every possible permutation of strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, orange, peach, lime, melon, and vanilla. Though Ahearn won’t reveal exactly what goes into the Phat Cosmo, Bomboa’s most popular infused drink — "Five flavored vodkas," he says, a little sternly — he will divulge that the cocktail is his own personal favorite. "It’s good for someone who wants flavors but still wants to taste the vodka," Ahearn says. "There’s a lot going on."

As to why flavored drinks are such a hit at his bar and elsewhere, Ahearn has this to say: "You can drink more of them, that’s for sure. They go down quicker."

There are some, however, who shy away from these colorful concoctions: "Straight guys who are afraid of drinking a pink drink." Not to worry. Thanks to the diligence of local bartenders, even the most image-conscious macho man can enjoy a little fruitiness every now and then. Vox Populi, for example, serves a drink called the Crantini, which contains Finlandia cranberry vodka, lime, triple sec, and white cranberry juice. "It has the flavor profile of a cosmo," says mixologist Jefferson Ryder, "but it’s clear, in case there are guys who don’t want to be seen with a pink drink."

There are, though, a few fruity drinks with a decidedly manly edge. At Boston Billiard Club, says bartender Hillary Jennings, Stoli Ohranj with Red Bull is very popular among both sexes. Another unisex standard at Boston Billiard is the apple martini, made with Van Gogh Wild Appel vodka and a splash of Apple Pucker. And, Jennings adds, though decidedly pinkish in color, the bar’s sour-patch martini — Stoli Razberi, Stoli Ohranj, Stoli Strasberi, orange juice, pineapple juice, sour mix, and a splash of grenadine — has fans on both sides of the gender gap. Then there’s the old-time standard, relatively speaking: Stoli Raz and soda water. "It’s what everyone drinks," says Jennings. "Forever."

Of course, flavored spirits predate even Stoli’s early forays into the fruit market. Bailey’s, amaretto, and Kahlúa — a huge seller in Massachusetts — have been on the market for decades. And then there’s coconut-flavored Malibu rum. Today, even the rum market has been bitten by the multiple-flavor bug. "I have a drink called the Guatemalan Kiss," says Vox Populi’s Ryder. "I use a rum from Guatemala called Ron Zacapa Centenario." While not, strictly speaking, an infused liquor, the Centenario, as Ryder points out, "is barrel-aged for almost 23 years, so it has a mysterious oak-y flavor." Slightly less subtle is the new Kuya fusion rum, a spicy, vanilla-y, citrus-y dark rum from the makers of Kahlúa. In May, Malibu will launch its new pineapple- and mango-infused rums.

This news will be well-received by staffers at the Tiki Room, which specializes in flavored rums. "Because of our theme," says general manager Darren Smith, "the pineapple and mango rums go over really well." Needless to say, the theme to which he refers involves visions of palm trees and sea breezes. "The tropical drinks add to the ambiance," Smith says, "to the feeling of ‘Hey, remember that time we were in Jamaica?’ " One of the more popular of the Tiki Room’s Proustian cocktails is its Silver Surfer, which uses a blend of coconut rum, peach schnapps, vanilla vodka, and pineapple juice to whisk you away to vacations past. Even more popular is the Tiki Bowl, an enormous serving of banana rum, pineapple rum, mango purée, OJ, pineapple juice, and a float of dark rum. Be warned: this one may make you remember trips you’ve never actually taken.

While it may be perfectly easy to understand why locals might want to immerse themselves in tropical flavors on a frigid Boston spring evening, this doesn’t explain why these infused liquors are making such a splash all over the country, and why they should be doing so at this particular time. "It’s a way for people to try something different, something unusual," says Ryder. "We’re pretty much known as a martini bar, and martinis have made a huge comeback. Everyone likes the look and feel of a martini glass in their hand. [Infused liquors] are a chance to get the effect of the alcohol without the taste."

So that’s it after all. We are turning into a nation of Mary Poppins drinkers. Not so, says Allied Domecq’s Toth. "With Stoli, you still get the taste of the vodka, but with an infusion of flavors to appeal to different palates." Toth is inclined to point toward shifting demographics as much as shifting dispositions. "You have this huge growth in the Latino and African-American communities," she says. "You have these huge different cultures coming in that like different flavor profiles. Look at the martinis that have lychee nuts and ginger and mango and pomegranates — these cultural influences that have made their way into cocktails. Look at the mojito! People want to try the next hot thing."

But there’s always the possibility that liquor companies’ rush to concoct the next hot thing may lead them to some rather unfortunate decisions. Some local bars, for instance, have recently started selling a new brand of vodka called Shakers Rose, infused with the essence of rose, which has not been an unmitigated success. "Tastes like shampoo!" says one woman. Then there’s the enterprising bartender in New York who responded to the smoking ban in that city by devising what he called a Nicotini, which contains Stoli Vanil, Kahlúa, a dash of Tabasco, and tea brewed from tobacco. It remains to be seen whether this particular innovation will catch on. As Jefferson Ryder puts it, "You have to know what will work and what won’t."

Ryder believes that the next generation of flavor-infused spirits will have parallels to the micro-brewing movement. "It was melon back in the ’80s, and raspberry at the tail end of the ’90s," he says. "Now we’re in a new millennium, and there has yet to be a flavor that has been fingered as the Next Big Thing. My prediction is that in-house-infused liquors will be the next wave. We’ll take fresh fruits and put it all in a decanter and age it for a certain period." So what would Ryder’s first homemade infusion be? "I’d create one with tequila and interesting fruits, something people would gravitate toward instead of margaritas." Sweet.

Chris Wright can be reached at cwright[a]phx.com