Vodka has become the dominant white spirit in the United States, helped along by its versatility as a mixer. This has helped Vodka become dubbed "America's most popular spirit." Vodka is the behemoth of distilled spirits, accounting for almost 850 million dollars in volume, or roughly a third of all domestic spirits sales, according to Ganim 2011. Vodka sales in the U.S. over the past 12 months showed solid growth at roughly 5.5%. Vodka's versatility allows it to be a great mixer, or refreshment served on the rocks. The first popular vodka based cocktail in the U.S. was called the "Moscow Mule" and was a combination of vodka and ginger ale. Jerald O'Kennard Director at The Beverage Testing Institute said, "Vodka has gone mainstream and therein lies its challenge: to be relevant, to be interesting." This is a lane that Status Vodka frequents. Status Vodka is one of the only Vodka's in the world with ginseng in it. The ginseng helps attribute to the velvet smooth taste. Vodka is supposed to be a colorless, tasteless, neutral spirit, which is not exactly a passion inspiring definition or identity. The notable trends in the vodka world are localism, globalism, exoticim, and value. Localism is part of a craft distilling revolution going on in the U.S. with small distilleries popping up in every state. The local craft distillers tend to sell predominantly in their local markets and vodka, being an unaged quick-to-market product, is an important part of their business plan and cash flow. Globalism has helped the success of vodka in America and has inspired vodka producers from around the world to try to break into the huge U.S. market. Exoticism has taken vodka in a different direction adding a bevy of flavors no matter how odd like bacon flavored vodka. I think I'd stick with a berry or citrus flavored vodka before I would try bacon flavored or any meat tasting vodka. Vodka has been a favorite of sippers around the globe for centuries, whether straight up or mixed into a classic cocktail like a Moscow Mule or some other concoction someone has thought up. Vodka quickly rose to prominence as the most widely sold spirit in the U.S. and that trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
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