Regular readers will now that I am slightly obsessed with alcopops and hime brew/firewater. Well it would appear that in Fox flavored vodka I may well have discovered the perfect fusion if the two.
And to be the perfect Street Food Guy consummate professional I have decided to write this article, grammar mistakes and all after trailing said drink.
Table of Contents
Alcopop vs Firewater
I wont go too crazy on this one, but an alcopop is for all intents alcoholic sweet sodas/soft-drinks. Key examples of this would include Bacardi Breezer, Smirnoff Ice and WKD. Now while said drinks are now commonplace, they are in drinks terms though pretty young, having been “invented” in the mid 1990’s.
They have though evolved very much over this time, both in terns of flavors and indeed nowadays how strong they are. Usually 3-5% was the norm, well that seems to have been reached and very much breached somewhat!
And ascu or firewater? Well this is pretty much the opposite of what an alcopop is. Firewater, or paiawara as they call it in Papua New Guinea is home brew “hooch” made from rotting fruit, or pretty much anything that ferments.
Fire water is working class cheap booze that packs a hell of a punch, usually ranging n the 35-50% payload range, although it can and indeed does come even higher, particularly in PNG.
What the Fox favored vodka?
Well it is a range of non-carbonated alcopops, or flavored vodkas that are made by Haddad Distilleries. Said company were formed in 1990 by Mr. Yousef Haddad seemingly a former bootlegger that went legit.
Apparently they now have 9 segments of Alcoholic Beverages plus Liqueur. This consists of Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, Arak, Rum, Cognac, Brandy, and Tequila, plus Liqueurs as Absinthe, Sambuka, and Grappa.
It was though in 2012 where they start to become relevant with regards to this story. This is when they entered the alcopop arena with Fox Flavored Vodka.
It did though not start as strong as it is now, with the current range being a fucking huge 30%! Yeah we will get to that part later….
The Super strength alcopop scene in the Middle-East
Generally speaking there is not all that much of a drinking scene let alone an alcopop scene in the Middle-East, what with the whole Muslim thing. There are though a few outliers where there are Christian communities, such as Syria, Lebanon, Iran and of course Jordan.
Four years ago this led me to fall in love with the Buzz brand (in the party town that is Beirut ). Here I tried their tasty 10% Smirnoff Ice clone. Overall decent and at 10% more than manageable.
Then just a few months ago I was introduced to ID Double Edge. I think I had three on this night, one of which was downed. Yet while this was great at getting you drunk you could quite literally taste the strength making it not the most practical in a bar like setting.
I was though very impressed that that they had “went there” with it and should I again take the train in Egypt it will be part of my packed lunch. The drink did though make me think that 20% was indeed the highest you could, or should go with an alcopop.
Well it turns out I was way way of the mark…..
Fox Flavored Vodka variants and pricing
Seeing as this is an article that us about Fix Flavored Vodka actually tastes like right and
Well I can confirm that it has a few different variants;
GOLDEN APPLE –MOJITO – CHERRY VANILLA – ROOT BEER – MANDARIN – LEMON LIME – BLUE – GRENADINE – ICE – ESPRESSO – GUAVA & LEMON
They come in the aforementioned 30% alcohol content and for about $4 gets you a 275 ml bottle – let that sink in. I was myself to try Blue on day 1 and the brand new Root Beer on day 2. Quite what day day 3 will bring no one quite yet knows.
How does Fox taste already?
When I drank the 20% bad boy in Egypt I had necked it in one go with creative ease, but this also meant a huge rush of alcohol hitting me very quickly.
I had planned to do this with my “blue” variant , but only managed to get 1/3 through before getting a moment of clarity that stopped me. This was largely driven by the fact that it was so strong.
And indeed that is how I can describe the taste of Fox flavored vodka, it tastes almost overproof. This has meant that on both nights I have either mixed it, or chased it down with a Vimto.
This though is not necessarily a bad thing though with the Root Beer being particularly good. This does though mean it really does not fit into the alcopop genre. You really would not drink this, or even see it in a bar and honestly even for people like me, it is also not something you would even bring to the beach.
So, who is actually drinking it then? There are many different names for who might drink this with the politest way to describe them being hobo’s or wino’s. Oh and of course me when I am in town……
Overall I would therefore describe said drink as great success and well with a try when you come to Jordan a feat made even easier if you want to travel with me and my agency Young Pioneer Tours during our SOFEX Tour.