Within a few days of discovering Anya von Bremzen and John Welchmans’s Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook, I found myself in the Russian Tea Room, a velvet-lined jewel box of a restaurant, putting some of my new knowledge to use over a flight of three vodkas. I didn’t exactly bandy the Russian phrases about, but that was probably for the best. These things take practice.

So let’s practice. Here is a paraphrased version of Bremzen and Welchman’s guide to drinking a shot of vodka the proper Russian way. Continue reading …