Vodka snobs

[ImpulsE69]

Ketel One.

This. I don't know much about Vodka, but I do like this.

 

[Farang]

Tito's is my go to, I jumped on the bandwagon. Made in the good ol USA and is reasonably priced. Tito + Lefty O'Doul's + Celery is a surefire cure for a hangover

 

[Cobalt]

Ketel One.

Loves me some Ketel One.

 

[Crusty]

To this day I haven't met a single person that didn't agree Tito's was better after a blind test. Tito's is still the only vodka I can shoot w/o chaser and w/o being chilled.

 

[Hugo Drax]

They should market Vodka like Cameras. ie Megapixels.

ie. 10x filtered, 25x filtered etc..

 

[ShawnD1]

vodka snobbery is ridiculous. most vodka is distilled by ADM and conagra. all assholes like puff daddy do is run it through a massive brita filter a couple times. and then sell it for $40.

This. The bottom shelf vodka is absolutely disgusting unless it is passed through the Brita at least once.
Smirnoff is pretty good. It's a tad more expensive, not too expensive. The watermelon vodka is good enough to drink straight from the bottle.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I usually go for absolut. Planning on trying svedka next time I need a bottle (I don't drink a lot). I don't go crazy with top shelf stuff, but I stay away from the bottom shelf plastic bottle stuff too.

Mythbusters had that taster that rated pretty spot on between the good stuff the shit and the shit run through a filter so there is a difference; just your average person can't tell. I personally don't drink the cheap shit because I think it makes for hangovers that I don't normally get though.

 

[Via]

I used to get SKY because it's distilled in my area.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I have to snicker at the idea of vodka snobbery, especially if you're just using it to make screwdrivers. "Nah, man, you can't use the cheap shit, you need Belvedere up in this OJ." That's like somebody being a snob about scotch and then mixing it with orange soda. If you're mixing it, the entire point is to not taste the alcohol, especially with a neutral spirit like vodka. If you were using it to make vodka martinis, sure, there are better options than Monarch. But screwdrivers? Come on man.

 

[Wyndru]

vodka snobbery is ridiculous. most vodka is distilled by ADM and conagra. all assholes like puff daddy do is run it through a massive brita filter a couple times.

It's funny you mentioned that, last weekend I was talking to someone who does that. He just buys the cheapest stuff and runs it through a brita filter.

I can't imagine that's much cheaper than buying higher filtered vodka though, brita filters are pretty expensive.

I usually drink stoli.

 

[BUTCH1]

Mohawk, a real man's vodka..

 

[ShawnD1]

I have to snicker at the idea of vodka snobbery, especially if you're just using it to make screwdrivers. "Nah, man, you can't use the cheap shit, you need Belvedere up in this OJ." That's like somebody being a snob about scotch and then mixing it with orange soda. If you're mixing it, the entire point is to not taste the alcohol, especially with a neutral spirit like vodka. If you were using it to make vodka martinis, sure, there are better options than Monarch. But screwdrivers? Come on man.

The difference is that cheap booze has more of a taste to cover. Example: TNT beer. It's the same alcohol content as the no name brand beer I buy, but TNT is the strongest tasting garbage beer ever. You would need to mix it with a cyanide pill to mask the taste of TNT beer.

Cheap vodka can have a very strong taste. It doesn't matter what you mix it with, you will still taste it. The perfect vodka is one that has no taste. You mix it with OJ and it tastes like OJ with some bite. Mix it with clamato and it tastes like clamato. It shouldn't taste like shit + clamato.

I can't imagine that's much cheaper than buying higher filtered vodka though, brita filters are pretty expensive.

Charcoal filters are reusable. The way molecules "stick" to it is temperature dependent. Running boiling water through the filter will clean it.
Also, that means you should filter COLD vodka.

 

[PsiStar]

Mythbusters, "You're better off buying the top-shelf stuff than wasting a bunch of water filters."

 

[linuxboy]

Running boiling water through the filter will clean it.

Van der walls force principles suggest that it takes significant heat in the range of 150-180C to realize some measure of reactivation. Boiling water does remove salts and other deposits, but I'm not sure how effective it is in opening up enough adsorption sites.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

The only damn difference between the cheap and expensive vodka is how well it goes down. It all tastes like nail polish.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

FWIW there was an expose on TV a few years ago. Blind tests with Vodka showed that people had no idea what they were drinking. The cheap stuff was as good as the expensive and visa-versa.

When dealing with mixed drinks that holds true for all spirits, not just vodka. Once you mix with OJ or Coke anyone that claims to be able to tell the difference is a lying, pretentious asshole.

For that matter, it's probably even worse among wine drinkers. You can give then vinegar mixed with red paint, if the bottle has a snooty label they'll love it.

 

[Fayd]

kirkland signature.

 

[busydude]

I hate vodka.

 

[Nebor]

Only top shelf here. Kettle One is my mainstay, but I have several bottles of all the big brands (Grey Goose, Belvedere, Chopin, Ciroc.) Though it's impossible to beat the huge variety of flavored Smirnoffs.

I never drink it straight, and I'm perfectly willing to admit that it's allure is entirely image based.

 

[blackangst1]

Ketel One is my usual go-to; however, after reading about Kirkland Signature on a few liquor boards, I tried it. To me its indistinguishable from Grey Goose. Rumor has it Grey Goose makes Kirkland.

Ive seen Tito's before and never tried it. I'll have to get a bottle next liquor run. I used to prefer Absolute, but after trying Ketel One, I never looked back.

 

[Joseph F]

Only top shelf here. Kettle One is my mainstay, but I have several bottles of all the big brands (Grey Goose, Belvedere, Chopin, Ciroc.) Though it's impossible to beat the huge variety of flavored Smirnoffs.

I never drink it straight, and I'm perfectly willing to admit that it's allure is entirely image based.

"Only top shelf here"; Spells "Ketel One" wrong. XD

 

[BudAshes]

I don't really see a reason to buy anything but stoli. It's on sale most of the time and is as good as any other vodka.

 

[Drako]

I used to get SKY because it's distilled in my area.

I usually get Skyy as well, as it is bottled here in beautiful San Jose

 

[piasabird]

I live in Southern illinois and there were some guys that built a local distillery for Vodka close to where I live. I think they call it mastermind vodka. I dont know if you can buy it nationally yet. I dont drink but they were talking about it on the radio station. I think their location is Pontoon Beach, Illionois.

They have a website:
http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-jo...cle_7040cd21-d00c-5199-8ae6-9adc97db50ea.html

They claim it tastes just like the best russian vodka.

"Why can't there be a vodka of good nature in the United States?" he said. This country produces grain as good as what Russia and Poland produce.

"We just got interested in the whole process and how we could make it from our local product," said Levering's wife, JoAnn Levering, 57. She just retired as an administrator for the Special School District of St. Louis County and has more time to work on the project.

"Our company is really based on mom and pop businesses," JoAnn Levering said.

The company's goal is to deal with small American businesses, she said. Their bottles, for example, come from a company in Park Hills, Mo.

Those bottles and other raw material go to the company's building on Illinois Route 162 in Pontoon Beach.

The place looks like a mix of a moonshine operation and a sterile lab. At the center is a copper still surrounded by bricks at the bottom.

After grain is cooked in a large metal tank, the mixture goes into a plastic tank for fermenting over four to six days.

Then it goes to the still for boiling. Since alcohol boils at 170 degrees, much less than water's boiling point of 212 degrees, the alcohol vapors go up a column, while water is left behind. This concentrates the alcohol level to 191 proof.

Adding water decreases the alcohol level to 80 proof, or 40 percent. Simple devices can ensure the alcohol level isn't lower or higher.

"It's just basic chemistry is all," Carl Levering said.

Then it's placed in clear bottles.

The company's license allows it to crank out 50,000 bottles a year, but as of last week, it had only produced 500 bottles. Carl Levering has bigger plans. The company has obtained a distributor, which is pushing the product throughout Southern Illinois.

"We're hoping eventually to do a thousand bottles a week," he said.


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-jo...00c-5199-8ae6-9adc97db50ea.html#ixzz1zOkEtAbN

 

[borisvodofsky]

Anyone who buys expensive alcohol for reasons other than showing off (to women) is stupid.

They all taste bad. Alcohol could never taste good. You can form a positive association psychologically, but the fact remains, your body hates it.

That said... I buy gallons of traveler's vodka, the stuff that comes in 1.5liter jugs for $8

Made in USA bitchez.