Żubrówka - The Taste of Poland

This bottle comes straight from Poland. I set it up in my back yard for a quick photo shoot before I cracked open the bottle.

Żubrówka is a dry, herb flavored vodka. The vodka is infused with a special grass that grows in the Białowieża forest in Poland to give it it's characteristic taste and yellowish color. The bottle also contains a blade of the grass that a bison may or may not have peed on. That doesn't bother me, it's pretty delicious.

Żubrówka has been made since the 16th century. While a form of Żubrówka can be found at select liquor stores in the US, it is not the same as the Polish version. Importing it was banned in 1978 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms because the grass contains a toxic compound.

Żubrówka is traditionally served chilled and mixed with apple juice, a drink known in Poland as tatanka or szarlotka. Add lime and mint for a Polish mojito.

Flash, Flowers, and Alcohol

I just got my new wireless flash triggers the other day and finally had a chance to play around with them. A lot of people hate the look of "flash" photography, and prefer natural light. This is probably because the built-in flash we have in our cameras shoots out a torpedo of harsh light directly at our subject. While this will do in a pinch, it usually looks terrible. On the other hand, when a flash is used off the camera and shot through a soft box, white umbrella, or other kind of diffuser, the result is a nice soft, natural looking light. Wireless flash triggers, which consist of a transmitter on the camera and a receiver on the flash, allow creative ways of doing this. I'm by no means an expert at this, but I'm having a great time learning!