Mixed drinks with juice: Any diff in using Top shelf liquor vs bottom shelf?

[Canai]

Go for midshelf type stuff, Stoli level. $20-30 for a 1.75l

 

[NetWareHead]

There is always the argument that top shelf liquor wont hurt as badly the next morning as crap liquor... Depends on how much you are drinking too.

You dont have to use top shelf liquor, but at least mid shelf is acceptable for mixed drinks. I'm the kind of guy that cringes when I see top shelf liquor being mixed with anything except maybe an icecube.. I was at a buffet brunch the other day and the bartender was actually making Dom Perignon Mimosas. Such a sin and waste of $$$.

 

[Tiamat]

There is a difference, it depends on what your intentions are. If you going to drink 1 drink, could be worth it. If you are going to drink 5, then no, just stick with 'premium' grade (15-20$ per 750mL). I generally leave ultra-premiums to rocks, neat, up, or cocktail drinks only having a splash/dash or flavor/filler/etc..

 

[zinfamous]

of course there is. but it probably depends more on the amount of items mixed and their ratios. about 4 mixed beverages of bottom shelf quality will likely taste 4x as bad--perhaps exponentially worse than using liquors of higher quality....


rule of thumb: stay away from liquors that come in a plastic bottle.

 

[TallBill]

Use at least medium or call quality, it'll help a shitload with hangovers. Get to know your local bartenders and often you will get a free upgrade from well.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I'd go as far as to say that in the case of juice drinks, the juice used is going to be far more noticeable than any difference in liquor brands. For example, the bar around the corner from me mixes a screwdriver with roughly 3 shots of well vodka (really, really cheap shit) and squeezes a fresh orange over it in a juicer. When I mix a screwdriver with a higher quality vodka and Tropicana, even though I'm drinking higher quality spirits, it feels like I'm drinking a lesser quality drink because the juice isn't as fresh.

So to answer your question, while there is presumably a slight difference in using top shelf vs. bottom shelf, you will notice a much more pronounced difference in quality if you upgrade the quality of the juice you are using.

 

[purbeast0]

I think he is referring to having less of hangover with premium spirits versus rail.

In my (moderate) experience there are many other factors besides the name brand of the spirits in the drink involved in how you feel the next morning. IE: certain types of spirits have higher impurity levels than others, what you eat with it, how much water you drink with the alcohol, weather/environment (dehydration), nutrition/replacing vitamins/electrolytes lost due to the diuretic effects of the ethanol.

Fusel alcohols/congeners are theorized as one of the contributing factors to a hangover and they can vary among types and quality of spirits. (More expensive liquor is not always better, but I don't have my citations handy)

yah i was.

johnofsheffield is not too fucking bright, eh.

 

[Poulsonator]

what the fuck is juice?

I want some apple drink!

 

[BTA]

Depends on the liquer you're talking about.

Vodka...most wont notice a difference.

Tequila however...there's a definite difference between the fake stuff with color and sugar added (most Jose Cuervo, Sauza, etc offerings) and something that is 100% de agave. There's plenty of options that are 100% agave that aren't expensive...so I see no reason to use the cheap garbage even in mixed drinks. You don't have to go top shelf, and probably shouldn't for a mixed drink. Stick to Blanco for most mixed drinks.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

sometimes yes sometimes no. You are going to taste an nice anejo tequila more than you would a mckormicks tequila.

You will def notice the difference with your hangover in the morning.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

definitely a difference, but you can get away with lower quality. personally i would not go to the bottom shelf.

 

[K1052]

I stick around mid-shelf for mixing booze. Top shelf gets only gets drunk straight.

I've had more than enough handles of Aristocrat in my time...ugh

 

[Nitemare]

use in between shelf liquors, bottom shelf is just plain nasty and top shelf tastes too good to mix.

 

[Whisper]

Go for midshelf type stuff, Stoli level. $20-30 for a 1.75l

This. In my experience, Stoli and Smirnoff are the two best "bang for the buck" liquors available. They're clean enough to not hurt too badly the next day, and if they're chilled, they're almost as smooth as the stuff that costs 2-3x as much.

Edit: Forgot to mention, with respect to hangovers, the juice/mixer is going to screw you up at least as badly as the liquor. This is why you should always opt for low-sugar options if possible. And NEVER spend an entire night imbibing any ____-sour drinks (e.g., vodka sour, amaretto sour, etc.).

 

[spidey07]

It's very noticable taste difference/improvement. Then again I want to TASTE the alcohol in my mixed drinks and usually use a 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 ratio of spirit to mixer.

 

[0roo0roo]

The reason why mixed drinks were invented in the 20's was to cover up the taste of the bad liquors. You don't have to use the crappiest stuff but I see no need to use expensive stuff when you're not going to be tasting it anyways.

on a side note..
http://www.slate.com/id/2245188/pagenum/all/
the little known history of how the government poisoned alcohol during prohibition ...which of course led to people dying and sh*t. worst mixed drinks ever!

 

[Merithynos]

Even so-called vodka experts can't tell the difference between topshelf vodka and shit when it's in a mixed drink. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a snob.

You're kidding right? There's a huge difference between good vodka and well vodka, even in a mixed drink. Cheap vodka tastes like rubbing alcohol.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

I think he is referring to having less of hangover with premium spirits versus rail.

In my (moderate) experience there are many other factors besides the name brand of the spirits in the drink involved in how you feel the next morning. IE: certain types of spirits have higher impurity levels than others, what you eat with it, how much water you drink with the alcohol, weather/environment (dehydration), nutrition/replacing vitamins/electrolytes lost due to the diuretic effects of the ethanol.

Fusel alcohols/congeners are theorized as one of the contributing factors to a hangover and they can vary among types and quality of spirits. (More expensive liquor is not always better, but I don't have my citations handy)

About 100% of your hangover is the result of dehydration and byproducts from ethanol metabolism in the liver.

There is no magic to this and since the chemical structure of ethanol is intact regardless of where it comes from it's irrelevant how it was made.

Just drink less of whatever you're having and you won't have a hangover, make sure you eat proper, vitamins are not going to do sheit either way, electrolytes will though so use a good table salt for dinner and drink water before you go to sleep.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

You're kidding right? There's a huge difference between good vodka and well vodka, even in a mixed drink. Cheap vodka tastes like rubbing alcohol.

ALL vodka is distilled until it's 99.99% pure, diluted, perfumed and stored in bottles.

It's ALL just diluted ethanol so that taste of rubbing alcohol is present for a good reason.

If you ever distilled at home then the end product would be vodka, yeah, that is right, it's just moonshine, perfumed moonshine for snobs, regular for those who are not daft.

 

[Cheesetogo]

ALL vodka is distilled until it's 99.99% pure, diluted, perfumed and stored in bottles.

It's ALL just diluted ethanol so that taste of rubbing alcohol is present for a good reason.

If you ever distilled at home then the end product would be vodka, yeah, that is right, it's just moonshine, perfumed moonshine for snobs, regular for those who are not daft.

If you really think that all vodkas taste the same, I don't think you've ever properly compared them.

 

[preslove]

ALL vodka is distilled until it's 99.99% pure, diluted, perfumed and stored in bottles.

It's ALL just diluted ethanol so that taste of rubbing alcohol is present for a good reason.

If you ever distilled at home then the end product would be vodka, yeah, that is right, it's just moonshine, perfumed moonshine for snobs, regular for those who are not daft.

You're full of it.

Mythbusters had a vodka expert on it who could identify something like 25 or 30 different vodkas after they had been put through a Britta filter. There is a definite taste to vodka.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

You're full of it.

Mythbusters had a vodka expert on it who could identify something like 25 or 30 different vodkas after they had been put through a Britta filter. There is a definite taste to vodka.

How in the fuck does that contradict what i said?

It's flavoured ethanol, of fucking course people can taste the difference of different flavours.

Doesn't mean that there actually is any quality difference though, it's all just diluted and flavoured ethanol. Fuck, if it wasn't, it wouldn't be vodka since that is what vodka is, poor russians choice of homebrewed alcohol.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

If you really think that all vodkas taste the same, I don't think you've ever properly compared them.

I can't believe that people cannot read a simple post....

All vodkas are made the same way but the additives are different, hence... retarded people pause here... it tastes different depending on the additives.

The perfect vodka would have a taste of nothing but ethanol.

 

[thegimp03]

If I'm just going to have a couple of drinks to relax at night, yeah, I'll buy an expensive bottle of scotch, gin, or tequila. However, if I'm going to get hammered, it's not worth it buying top shelf liquor for mixed drinks. In college it was bottom of the barrel liquors, as my income has increased so has my pricepoint for liquors.

 

[BTA]

mmmm gin