Good Vodka?

[0roo0roo]

..

 

[KB]

I never could tell the difference either.... except in the wallet.

 

[nakedfrog]

More or less, yeah. I've been on the anti-expensive vodka bandwagon for quite some time now.
There is a slight difference between $12 and $60 vodka.
There is a huge difference between $12 and $60 scotch.

 

[K1052]

I can't discern much difference between the mid and high end stuff but I can definitely tell if I've been handed some dirt cheap well brand (assuming I'm not already drunk).

 

[TallBill]

I mix with juice/soda/anything and barely taste it.

 

[JohnCU]

the vodka is a lie?

 

[CorCentral]

Did anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they did the Vodka tasting? They had a professional there and he got every single one right........ All in order from the Worst to the Best.

I forget how many samples there were but there were quite a few.

 

[vi edit]

With a mixer it's pointless to get anything more than the $7 a handle stuff.

But if you are drinking it clean that $7 stuff tastes like paint thinner while some of the higher end stuff is much more smooth.

 

[imported_Devine]

mmm screwdrivers, so simple yet so good.

 

[SlowSpyder]

$7.99 Gordons is what I drank when I had vodka on the mind, though I do like Ketel One.

Didn't Myth Busters test this, and the tester could tell the better vodka from the cheap and cheap + water filter stuff each time correctly?

 

[scott916]

I can easily taste a definite difference between Popov, Smirnoff, and Goose.

 

[sjwaste]

The only real difference is between the $10 handle of Aristocrat and the brands that come in glass bottles. Basically, there's less filtration that goes on with the plastic jugs, so you end up with more cogeners. Might increase your odds of a hangover when drank in quantity. But if you're having a few drinks and mixing it, the cheap stuff is the way to go. In fact, don't be surprised if your "Goose and Cranberry/Tonic" is made with rail vodka if you aren't looking. Bars know that people can't tell the difference.

If you don't want to pay extra for the charcoal filtration, you can turn your $10 handle of 'Crat into a $30 handle of Absolut with a couple runs through a brita filter ($5). There isn't much of a taste difference, but the extra filtration does get some of the extra impurities out. Don't think you won't be hung over the next day, though, if you drink a lot.

In short, buy the cheap stuff, it doesn't matter.

 

[slightlyhuman]

whiskey/water/ small bit of sweet and sour>*

 

[akshatp]

Yea right BS... I never get hangovers when I drink Goose or Belvedere, and can barely taste the vodka when mixed with sprite or cranberry.

Plastic bottle stuff, 2 drinks and ill be hungover until the next evening.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Did anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they did the Vodka tasting? They had a professional there and he got every single one right........ All in order from the Worst to the Best.

I forget how many samples there were but there were quite a few.

Yeah, I have that episode on DVD. Jamie did surprisingly well too, apparently.

 

[slayer202]

that article writer's tests were dumb as hell. do a taste test, $10 bottle vs. $30-40 and I am willing to bet most people can easily tell the difference

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I mix with juice/soda/anything and barely taste it.

this.

my favorite being cranberry juice.

 

[speg]

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Did anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they did the Vodka tasting? They had a professional there and he got every single one right........ All in order from the Worst to the Best.

I forget how many samples there were but there were quite a few.

That was amazing. And seems to prove that their is a difference in Vodkas.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Did anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they did the Vodka tasting? They had a professional there and he got every single one right........ All in order from the Worst to the Best.

I forget how many samples there were but there were quite a few.

IIRC, they filtered the cheap stuff 10X using a Brita filter, and he nailed the number of filtrations, and had the one top shelf vodka as #1.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: speg

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Did anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they did the Vodka tasting? They had a professional there and he got every single one right........ All in order from the Worst to the Best.

I forget how many samples there were but there were quite a few.

That was amazing. And seems to prove that their is a difference in Vodkas.

Yep, the conclusion of the testing was that even repeated runs through a Brita filter isn't going to turn the cheap stuff into top-shelf vodka.

Even so, I only use vodka for mixing, so I'm still going with the cheap stuff.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
More or less, yeah. I've been on the anti-expensive vodka bandwagon for quite some time now.
There is a slight difference between $12 and $60 vodka.
There is a huge difference between $12 and $60 scotch.

If you do it right, and have a taste for vodka, a $60 bottle is going to absolutely blow away a $12 bottle if served frozen with nothing in the glass. That is the ideal serving method, the next ideal method being with pure ice, not ice made from the tap. That is why vodka drinks are drank quick, served in a small yet tall glass that can only hold maybe two ounces, and is served frozen.

Telling the differences between a $30 bottle of vodka and a $12 bottle? Much more subtle, so much that in blind testing, it'll be difficult if not impossible unless you know vodka inside and out and aren't just a brand fanboy. Most Greygoose fans fall into this category. So not worth what they charge.
But upwards of $50, differences are there if you care to find them. Actually tasting popov... like trying to find its subtleties, is like torture. I refuse to do it again.
Smirnoff I cannot handle either, tastes like shit imho.

Now for mixing... yeah just go for a cheap vodka, well cheap and smoother. I still won't use Popov, but I like Svedka for mixing, it's pretty close to Absolut but like $10 cheaper the 1L bottle.

But Vodka is something you have to be able to throw many away to really enjoy, because it gets good upwards of $50. I tasted an $80/750ml Vodka that was so different from anything I've ever had, almost would call it vodka. Completely different characteristics.
And most people don't drink vodka straight, so for them I definitely wouldn't say get expensive vodka, you're being a label whore at that point. Nothing about Belvedere makes it better for mixing. You will never know. The other, more flavorful liquors deserve the higher price tags, truth... but it's not a lie that really expensive vodka tastes far different from cheap shit.

 

[CRXican]

Vodka is a joke. Why bother?

 

[Ns1]

having drunk huge sums of popov in my day, there is a HUGE fucking difference between popov -> smirnoff -> goose

 

[CorCentral]

I couldn't find the video, too lazy.....


Top shelf filtration
Myth: You can turn low-end vodka into top-shelf vodka with six filtrations of a domestic charcoal water filter (i.e. Brita filters)

They set up the experiment so that the vodka testers would each get 8 shots of vodka: 6 from the filtration stations (single filtered, twice filtered, etc...), 1 top-shelf vodka, and 1 unfiltered low-end shot. The tasters were asked to rank the shots.

The tasters were:

Anthony Dias Blue, vodka expert, executive director San Francisco World Spirits Competion
Jamie, degree in Russian literature
Kari, former undercover martini tester
Kari: "I'm wondering if you might have contaminated your experiment by mixing on the mustache"
Jamie: "either that or they're actually very sensitive and able to pick up on subtle variations in the chemistry in the vodka"

Kari was a terrible judge, giving a much higher score to the unfiltered cheap vodka than the top-shelf vodka:

Kari's worst: 3rd filtration
Kari's second worst: top shelf
Kari's third best: the cheap, unfiltered vodka
Jamie was a better judge:

Jamie's second worst: the cheap, unfiltered vodka
Jamie's second best: fifth filtration
Jamie's best: top shelf
Anthony showed off his tasting skills: his ranking corresponded exactly to the number of filtrations, with the top-shelf vodka picked as the best.

Anthony: "Passing a low-end vodka through a filter will make it better, but it won't make it a top shelf vodka"

They analyzed the vodka samples and found that there was no difference in chemical composition between the filtered vodka and the unfiltered vodka. You're better off buying the top-shelf stuff than wasting a bunch of water filters.

 

[LikeLinus]

"A friend of mine, Charles, says he knows his vodka."

Wow, what a professional. Some asshat friend who says "oh i know my vodka", DOES NOT make him a good test subject.

Not to mention they're not telling the mixture ratio of the mixed drinks. It would be much harder to tell the vodka if there's a majority of cranberry juice in the cocktail.

Stupid test all around.