User:DominiqueJuarez/sandbox

About The Red Square Bar is a bar located in Helotes, TX, just outside Loop 1604 West in San Antonio. The bar began operation in August of 2011, intending to bring an upscale bar with a little bit of Russian flavor into the northwest side of San Antonio. Pictures of Moscow hang on the red walls, and the bar features vodka—more than 50 different kinds. While most of the action takes place indoors Red Square Bar also offers outdoor seating complete with large screen TV sets to view big NFL and NBA games. While the owner and the staff are not Russian, the bar is known for its variety of vodka. There are vodkas distilled from charcoal, from diamonds, from lava rocks, from grains and from potatoes. Imported vodkas are from the homes of Russia, France, Iceland and Texas. Their specialty cocktail menu includes the Siberian Kiss, the Stalin, and the Chernobyl. The bar features six TV sets, and a bar-top video game. Red Square also carries the NFL ticket, and opens early Sunday mornings for public game viewings.

Vodka List/ Specialty Cocktails Behind the bar, Red Square presents a prestigious display of their prized vodka collection. The top 7 by uniqueness and popularity include 1) Reyka Vodka, a vodka whose origins are from Iceland. Reyka is produced with glacial water that scientist believe to be completely free of impurities. 2) Jean-Marc XO, French vodka made of up four types of French wheat. 3) Chopin Vodka, a Polish vodka named after classical composer Frederic Chopin himself. 4) 42 Below Vodka came to Red Square all the way from New Zealand or “down under. “42 Below” describes not only its original degree coordinates below the equator, but also the percentage of alcohol in each bottle. 5) Grey Goose, upscale vodka from the French, whom claim this bottle to be the “best tasting,” as it is their best-selling bottle. 6) Crystal Head, Canadian vodka with a mysterious archaeological history, and diamond filtration, all in a skull-shaped bottle. 7) Elit by Stolichnaya, a Russian vodka not be confused with its older brother, Stoli.

Red Square’s specialty cocktails include the following: Siberian Kiss- Enchanted Rock Vodka, Godiva White, Grenadine Stalin- Stoli Vodka, Sugar Water, Sprite, Orange Juice Chernobyl- Stoli Vodka, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Cranberry Juice Blow Me- 42 Below Vodka, Blue Curacao, Sweet & Sour, Sprite, Red Rump- Rumple Mintz, Grenadine, Cranberry Juice, Sprite Arctic Breeze- Skyy Vodka, Blue Curacao, Pineapple Juice, Cream

Location Helotes, TX

Vodka and Russia The distilled liquor to be later named the Russian word vodka, came to Russia in the 14th century. As legend has it, a monk by the name of Isiodre from Moscow Kremlin had special knowledge of distillation devices and created the recipe for the first Russian vodka. This new, higher quality “bread wine,” as it was called at first, became the exclusive drink for the Grand Duchy of Moscow. For a long time the drink was produced solely for him, and as a result, vodka is closely associated with Moscow. Vodka was referred to as “burning wine” and made to contain no more than 40 percent alcohol content. Owners of bars and taverns at the time found they must dilute the drink with water before it could be comfortably consumed. Burning wine was sold at an expensive rate and the taxes on the drink became a key element for the Tsarist Russian economy, sometimes proving up to 40 percent of state revenue. By the 1860s, vodka became the drink of choice for many Russians and by the early 1900s, vodka vouched for 89 percent of all alcohol consumption. Today, popular Russian vodkas include (but are not limited to) Stoli, Stolichnaya and Russian Standard.