We live in a world of products and brands. On each and every shelf at each and every store we find countless options all demanding our attention. Some however, know how to seduce us into trying them, but not all of them live up to the expectations.

As a fine spirits enthusiast, I have devoted my time to attending countless tastings and have familiarized myself with both the tangible and intangible elements that constitute a true winner in my book. Though I thoroughly enjoy a glass of malbec or the occasional shot of mezcal, I must admit I´m partial to vodka and have been since my college days…such memories!

In my quest for the perfect vodka I have traveled far and wide. I´ve visited more countries than I´d ever imagined and discovered that not all vodkas are made equal. Some of the best known brands out there are frankly, way below the standards of what a self-proclaimed vodka connoisseur such as myself would ever dream to accept. But some people just don´t know better.

Lately, I´ve focused on researching, taste testing and reviewing some of the challenger brands out there; You know, the ones without tens of millions of marketing dollars…the ones who give the fat cats a run for their money!

Created by Robert Tushinsky, a successful and passionate American entrepreneur, his and hers herbal infused craft vodkas EasyRhino® and PinkKitty® have become the undisputed champions of my most recent taste tests, and while I must say the rich flavors and velvety-smooth consistency of the liqueurs captured my taste buds and my heart, it was in fact their aphrodisiac-like qualities that ended up upgrading my wife´s night and mine in a way that simply cannot be described on this review. You´ll have to take my word for it!

The story of these almost mystical elixirs dates back to the 1950´s when Mr. Tushinsky´s father first created the original recipe for the beverage that would change everything: “I certainly don’t take credit for creating our unique spirits. I give that all to my father Joseph Tushinsky, who introduced Sony to the US in the mid 50’s.

When I was a kid, my dad would make a special drink he called “Fruitka” where he’d add whatever fruit fancied him at the time and what I didn’t catch at the time was that he was also adding certain herbs.

For years I’d watch dad make his fruitka drink and share it with friends and family. What really got me interested in dad’s “magical” drink that my siblings and I weren’t allowed to touch was that every year when the founder of Sony, Akio Morita and his entourage would come to my dad’s home I would witness this formal gift exchange where Mr. Morita would gift dad a beautiful hand painted porcelain decanter figurine of geisha or samurai with his family’s 100 year old sake and dad would gift Morita-san his Fruitka in a beautiful Lalique crystal decanter.

Years later, when I was a young adult and dad had passed, it was revealed to me the secret ingredients in dad’s fruitka. Ever since that day in 1993 I’ve played with my own version trying to recreate his Fruitka to share with my interested group of friends but it wasn’t until 2012 when I began to take the “magic in a bottle” dad created seriously.

I founded 2XL Swagger Brands and the first thing I did was find the best herbalists in the country to help me develop the herbal formulas for my new and improved Fruitka. It wasn’t till I started working with them that is was suggested to me that a better formula would be best suited to split them up in two, one for him and one for her.

Once we had two new spirits I knew we couldn’t call them “Fruitka” anymore; My passion for wildlife and fondness for the rhino and big cats led me and my team to tie in the names PinkKitty and EasyRhino. The rest is history.” -Robert concludes.

The story behind the flavor has always played a big role in the pleasure I get out of my drinking experiences when discovering new spirits, and this case is no exception. As Robert continues to honor his father´s legacy, retailers and distributors across America constantly reach out to him with the hopes of getting their hands on some of his highly sought after products which are currently available at select locations and on their official online store.

While the company has experienced pronounced growth, their philosophy has remained the same and my hope is that it always will because that´s what a truly outstanding drink is made of; Not just ingredients, but ideas and the hard work of everyone that helps bring them to life and to your hands as you stand in front of a shelf reaching out to grab a bottle and try it out.