Drinks Cocktails Vodka Cocktails Billy Joel and Wizards Inspired a Legendary Las Vegas Bartender to Make This Cocktail Be the first to rate & review! This potato vodka-based cocktail is a rare treat for vodka aficionados. By Tony Abou-Ganim Published on September 25, 2023 Tested by Food & Wine Test Kitchen Tested by Food & Wine Test Kitchen Recipes published by Food & Wine are rigorously tested by the culinary professionals at the Dotdash Meredith Food Studios in order to empower home cooks to enjoy being in the kitchen and preparing meals they will love. Our expert culinary team tests and retests each recipe using equipment and ingredients found in home kitchens to ensure that every recipe is delicious and works for cooks at home every single time. Meet the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Rate PRINT Share Photo: Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Total Time: 5 mins Yield: 1 drink Tony Abou-Ganim is known for bringing the flare — and often the fire — to professional bartending. Author of Vodka Distilled: The Modern Mixologist on Vodka and Vodka Cocktails, Abou-Ganim is an expert on how to bring personality to the liquor cabinets' most notoriously neutral spirit. The Rocky Mountain Wizard pairs potato vodka with slightly sweet Italian white vermouth and herbal Yellow Chartreuse. The result is a balanced cocktail with light herbaceous notes and enough sweetness to discreetly disguise just how boozy it is. “I was inspired by Billy Joel’s quote about musicians being akin to magicians, alchemists, sorcerers, and wizards,” says Abou-Ganim of the cocktail’s unique name. “I think distillers also do quite a bit of magic, and this cocktail salutes their ability to take ordinary things like potatoes and transform them into something entirely different and wonderful, in this case, vodka.” The Rocky Mountain Wizard does in fact perform a bit of magic — it combines seemingly simple spirits into a complex cocktail that is rich and refreshing. It has a backbone of bitter citrus, which is highlighted by the garnish of a thick orange peel, and an herbal sweetness from the combination of Yellow Chartreuse and white vermouth. Yellow Chartreuse is the lower-ABV, sweeter sibling of Green Chartreuse. While both are herbal liqueurs with proprietary recipes that have been produced by French monks from the Carthusian Order for hundreds of years, Yellow Chartreuse lends itself to cocktails due to its more gentle and subtle flavors. It has a citrusy taste with herbaceous saffron-like aromas. This cocktail is a surprisingly easy sipper given its relatively high ABV, so sip slowly — cheers! Frequently asked questions How is vodka made from potatoes? Only 3% of vodkas worldwide are made from potatoes, due to their finicky fermentation process. As with grain vodkas, potatoes contain a high amount of starch. The starch converts to sugar which ferments into alcohol. What vodkas are made from potatoes? Potato vodkas are rarer to the market than vodkas made with grains, you can still source potato vodkas from liquor stores or online retailers. Brands like Woody Creek Disitllers, Chase, Blue Ice, and Boyd and Blair all specialize in potato vodkas. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Choosing the right white or blanc vermouth is key to the brilliance of this cocktail, but the category of vermouth can be intimidating to navigate. There’s more savory dry vermouth, which is pale or nearly clear in appearance, and sweet vermouth that is often reddish brown. White vermouth, though, is sweet and nearly clear in color — it complicates the basic foundations of vermouth. White vermouth, though, is a spectacular ingredient; try it in a simple highball with some club soda or in something a bit more out-there like a Caprese Martini. Ingredients 1/4 cup (2 ounces) potato vodka (such as Woody Creek) 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Italian white vermouth (such as Cinzano Bianco) 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) yellow Chartreuse 2 dashes orange bitters Orange peel strip, for garnish Directions Combine vodka, vermouth, yellow Chartreuse, and bitters in a mixing glass. Add ice, and stir until well combined, about 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, and garnish with an orange peel strip. Originally appeared in Food & Wine magazine, October 2023 Rate It Print