Review: Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka  85.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on June 21, 2017

Prairie Organic Spirits are produced and bottled by Ed Phillips and Sons located in Princeton, Minnesota. According to the company website all of the Prairie Organic Spirits are produced using:

“single-sourced, vintage corn grown on family-owned, organic farms in the Midwest”

Additionally we are informed that each batch of Prairie Organic Spirit is distilled in small batches to a specific taste profile rather than being distilled a certain number of time to meet a specific marketing whim.

Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka is produced by blending garden fresh cucumber flavour with Prairie Organic Vodka and water. It is bottled at 35 % alcohol by volume and sold in the 750 ml bottle shown below.

In the Bottle 4.5/5

Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka arrives in the tall slender bottle shown to the left. The front label is a relatively simple affair. The folks at Ed Phillips and Sons are obviously trying to highlight the terroir of the spirit by featuring the word ‘Prairie’ prominently.

The back label tells us that this cucumber flavoured vodka was bottled in accordance with organic standards. We are even given an ingredient list: water, vodka (Prairie Organic Vodka), sugar, natural flavour and salt.

The bottle is certified organic by Quality Assurance International.

In the Glass 8.5/10

When I poured a small amount of the cucumber flavoured spirit into my glencairn glass, I saw a clear spirit which seemed just lightly thickened even at room temperature. I gave the glass a slow tilt and twirl and saw that the spirit coated the inside of the glencairn and the crest which formed at the top of the coating was stubborn, but finally gave up lightly thickened legs. I know from the ingredients list that sugar has been added to sweeten the spirit which accounts for stubborn crest and lightly thickened legs.

When I bring my nose to the glass, the scent of freshly cut cucumber is obvious. There is also a  light sweetness accompanying the cucumber scent. I find the spirit enticing and my mind is already going over some mixing possibilities.

In the Mouth 51/60

When I give the spirit a taste, I note the cucumber flavour is accented by that light sugary sweetness. I can taste not only the white flesh of the cucumber, I also taste the lightly bitter/lightly grassy green cucumber peel. There is also a light softness which reminds me of softened water. I suspect the light softness is a result of the salt I noted on the ingredients list; but to describe the taste as salty in any way would not be truthful. A light softness is the best descriptor I can provide.

So far I am enjoying the spirit, but it is not really a spirit which I would recommend for sipping on its own. That cucumber flavour wants a partner and I decided to mix a few cocktails. I begin with a thought that has been sitting in the back of my mind since I took the first sniff from the glass, and I mixed a Cucumber-Lime Tonic using both Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka and Prairie Organic Gin as my mixing spirits. I found the cucumber flavour pushed through the cocktail making the indulgence extremely refreshing.

Next I mixed a Collins-style tall drink using both lime and mint as compliments to the cucumber spirit. Again, it was refreshing and delicious. The Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka is going to be a great summer-time spirit for mixing tall cocktails.

In The Throat 13/15

The light sweetness of the spirit allows it to have a much longer finish than we would expect. Cucumber is of course the star with both the lightly bitter peel and the crisp flavour of the white flesh shining brightly. I should note that although I taste a light bitterness of cucumber peel in the exit, the underlying vodka does not seem to carry any undesirable metallic flavours even at room temperature. This speaks to a quality vodka at the heart of the flavoured spirit.

The Afterburn 8.5/10

Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka is very nice flavoured spirit. The obvious cucumber may be slightly more pronounced than I would personally prefer, but that flavour is easily tempered to the desired level when mixed into a tall cocktail.

For backyard barbeques and summertime relaxing, the spirit is a winner!

You may read some of my other Favoured Vodka Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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Suggested Recipe

Cucumber and Lime Tonic

1/2 oz Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka
1 1/2 oz Prairie Organic Gin
1/2 oz fresh squeezed Lime
1/4 oz Sugar Syrup (1:1 ratio)
Ice
Lime Wheel

Add Ice and a Lime wheel to a rocks tumbler
Pour the Prairie Organic Spirits over ice in the tumbler
Add fresh squeezed Lime and Simple Sugar
Stir & Enjoy Responsibly!

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Cucumber Mint Cooler

3/4 oz Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka
1 1/4 oz Prairie Organic Gin
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple sugar (1:1 ratio)
Mint Leaves
Ice
Sparkling Water

Add the Mint and Lime into a Mixing Glass
Add the Prairie Organic Spirit and muddle
Strain into a large glass filled with ice
Complete with Soda

Please enjoy Responsibly

Note: If  you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

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You may (loosely) interpret my score as follows.

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing Vodka.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again for cocktails only.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this Vodka in shots, although cocktails are preferable.
85-89    Excellent!  Shots or cocktails!
90-94    You may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 80    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
81 – 89     Silver Medal (Recommended  for shots and mixing cocktails)
90 – 95     Gold Medal (Highly Recommended for Vodka Shots and Sublime Cocktails)
95.5+       Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)