rant: fine dining

[Michael]

]

So your saying there is no difference between top shelf vodka and well vodka?

If you're interested listen to this.

As 33 mentioned, the process to create vodka is supposed to remove taste differences.

[stlouie_lipp]

Drink some Grey Goose and then some Bentley's and tell me there is no difference. I know in theory there isn't supposed to be a difference, but there most certainly is.

[G. Keenan]

So you guys are saying that if you put a top shelf vodka and the cheapest rot gut stuff they sell in a plastic bottle on the bottom shelf of the liquor store side by side, I couldn't taste the difference?

[Michael]

Drink some Grey Goose and then some Bentley's and tell me there is no difference. I know in theory there isn't supposed to be a difference, but there most certainly is.

There might be very subtle differences, but I bet if you did a double blind taste test between expensive vs cheap vodkas the experience and results would shock you. By law the vodka process is basically supposed to make it taste the same.

So you guys are saying that if you put a top shelf vodka and the cheapest rot gut stuff they sell in a plastic bottle on the bottom shelf of the liquor store side by side, I couldn't taste the difference?

I'd bet good money if I poured that cheap vodka in to a Grey Goose bottle and you drank it neat you'd have no idea. It gets particularly absurd if you add a mixer. Vodka is basically all marketing and a good case study how marketing colors our perceptions.

[33anda3rd]

Give a listen to the podcast Michael posted, they do an experiment in this and show how there's no difference.

If we took three people:
A. Grey Goose drinker
B. Ketel One drinker
C. Titos drinker
D. Random person

And put four glasses in front of each of them, one with each of the three above plus that vodka in a plastic bottle, and told them to identify which is which, or to identify their brand, on the first go one or two or maybe all of them might get it right because of random variance. If we ran that test 100X we should expect each person with their own brand to identify their brand correctly +/- 25X because they all taste the same and the responses should randomly come out to 1/4 of each. By definition vodka is flavorless. People don't have good enough palates to tell them apart.

[cardsfantx]

makes sense...particularly if you're using a mixer. vodka takes the flavor of whatever you mix it with.

similar to a domestic light beer. craft beer/micro brew/whatever...BIG difference. Your domestic light beers? I MAAAAAAY be able to tell on the first beer. but after 2 or 4? nope...

it's why i always buy a few cases of busch light/store them in the garage fridge. craft/micros are great. always keep some on hand. but living in texas with a pool in the summer? you're going to want a light beer to quench your thirst when it's a hundred degrees outside, and i can't tell a damn bit a difference between crappy coors light, miller light, bud light, busch light, etc.

so why would i pay more than $19 for a 30 pack of busch light?

wait, is this the fine dining thread?

[Radbird]

so why would i pay more than $19 for a 30 pack of busch light?

wait, is this the fine dining thread?

It was.....

[cardsfantx]

so why would i pay more than $19 for a 30 pack of busch light?

wait, is this the fine dining thread?

It was.....

sorry...i'll try to class the joint up

[Arthur Dent]

makes sense...particularly if you're using a mixer. vodka takes the flavor of whatever you mix it with.

similar to a domestic light beer. craft beer/micro brew/whatever...BIG difference. Your domestic light beers? I MAAAAAAY be able to tell on the first beer. but after 2 or 4? nope...

it's why i always buy a few cases of busch light/store them in the garage fridge. craft/micros are great. always keep some on hand. but living in texas with a pool in the summer? you're going to want a light beer to quench your thirst when it's a hundred degrees outside, and i can't tell a damn bit a difference between crappy coors light, miller light, bud light, busch light, etc.

so why would i pay more than $19 for a 30 pack of busch light?

wait, is this the fine dining thread?

Drink Lone Star! It's the National Beer of Texas! And also cheap and good, imo.

[Diddy]

I’m not a vodka drinker. Love a good Bloody Mary. Like a White Russian on occasion, and will have a screwdriver with brunch. In college if I was drinking it I’d drink Aristocrat now days I’m probably buying Smirnoff if I’m buying vodka. I mostly consider it in the same way I consider Boone’s farm wine: an underage girls drink.

How do the same vodkas win tasting competitions year after year if there are no differences? I assume those are blind taste tests?