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If you had any doubt that Polish people love vodka, consider this: In Warsaw, there are shops dedicated exclusively to vodkas. They come in dozens of flavors ranging from the mundane (lemon, orange, vanilla) to the bizarre (hazelnut, black pepper, tea, horseradish). Now Agata M. Podedworny, whose family has made so-called "Polish moonshine" from, as she says, "anything that grows on a tree," brings her cultural expertise to the market with wild cherry, ginger and chocolate-infused vodkas.
Her goal is to lend authenticity to the vodka-making process. The vodkas are distilled in Poland (the water comes from an environmentally progressive region known as the "green lungs of Poland"). They are infused, rather than flavored, which means that real fruit, ginger and cocoa are added after distillation, and then filtered out. This process requires more time but creates vodka that tastes more natural.
Bottled in striking pyramid-shaped containers, and marked with a giant "A," Alchemy's selection is hard to miss. Smooth, with a standard 40 percent alcohol by volume, all three varieties are quite concentrated in flavor and benefit greatly from the addition of ice, water or other mixers.
The Alchemy wild cherry vodka tastes most natural, but may be an acquired taste for sweets-loving Americans. No cough syrup or Dr. Pepper flavors in here. The reddish brown liquid, almost bloodlike in color, smells of fresh cherries (not Maraschino ones) and is tart on first sip. It opens up on the palate when you add a few splashes of water, making for a mellower drink with hints of pomegranate. The Alchemy ginger, a pale straw yellow color, tastes oddly sweet at first, before the ginger flavor kicks in with a spicy note, like ginger ale without the fizz, and a lingering aftertaste. The Alchemy chocolate, a flavor description that either tantalizes or traumatizes you, is surprisingly light in color (orange-brown) and highly aromatic. It smells like you're sticking your nose into a Nestle Quik jar. Its long-lasting finish ensures that you won't be jonesing for sweets anytime soon.
-- James Oliver Cury
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for the wild cherry 
for the ginger 
for the chocolate