Vodka - what's the point?

[Copycat]

I've never been a fan of Vodka straight, jsut tastes like pee, BUT i'm not one to buy it, the only time I do buy it is when I make Skittle Vodka, or a Flavored Vodka, I've gotten into it recently making my flavorued stuff, it's not a bad thing to do...ok only the Red and Orange Skittles t aste pretty decnt, but i've done Wearthers Original and Sour Apple Flavours, They were both pretty damn good as well.

Vodka does have a use after all =p

 

[Cuttingboard]

I love vodka and I can definately tell the difference between different brands of vodka in a dry martini, not so much in a vodka/tonic or vodka/soda. What you look for in a vodka is smoothness. Vodka/tonics and Bombay Saphire/tonic is what I drink during the spring/summer and bourbon during the fall/winter. The only time I prefer one vodka over another (unless its Skol) is in a dry martini and I prefer Chopin vodka.

 

[Brodirt]

I can't add much to the above, but, I like vodka. It will never be a first choice for any drink though. For example, if I want a clear, sweet, refreshing drink I would choose a gin and tonic over any vodka drink.

That said, I find a discernible difference between mid-level premium brand vodkas and a huge difference between them and their lower shelf comrades. You can taste a cheap vodka straight or in a drink and you will feel the negative effects of a cheap vodka after more than a quality vodka.

I would not drop the coin asked for the ultra-premiums though. I have had Grey Goose and find it to be the dull and boring spirit defined above. I stock either Tito's or Smirnoff in my bar and find that people I serve a vodka drink to that has been made with Tito's always garners a positive remark. I know it's not only my mixology skills which are passable at best, so I hand it up to the distiller.

 

[jazzman]

This is one of those subjects requiring deep historical knowledge and appreciation. Before Smirnoff, almost all vodkas were guaranteed to make you sick. Smirnoff good! After Smirnoff, a few may be a little smoother, many have nicer bottles, but Smirnoff still good! Smirnoff introduced us to the idea that there may be differences between vodkas. Marketers then took it to the next level--$65 per bottle.

 

[FrankPoole]

This is one of those subjects requiring deep historical knowledge and appreciation. Before Smirnoff, almost all vodkas were guaranteed to make you sick. Smirnoff good! After Smirnoff, a few may be a little smoother, many have nicer bottles, but Smirnoff still good! Smirnoff introduced us to the idea that there may be differences between vodkas. Marketers then took it to the next level--$65 per bottle.

If you want a flavored drink I suggest you put lemon rind, bison grass, or cherries without the pits into a bottle of vodka and let it sit a month.
Then just chill the bottle in the freezer and enjoy.
Zubrowka is a famous Polish vodka which was considered the "nectar of the gods" in the early 20th Century in Europe. Its notoriety increased in this country after it appeared in Somerset Maugham's book "The Razor's Edge".

As anything else in life, it is an adult taste to be acquired to be appreciated.

 

[christopherh]

If you're mixing vodka with juices, mixes, etc... then you probably aren't going to taste any difference at all.

If you're drinking a dry martini with some olives, then some of the higher end vodkas give you a smoother taste - except for Kettle One - there is a distinct bite with that one.

 

[tsmba]

I always wondered how the notion started that vodka was tasteless and odorless?

 

[kzoo1]

I happen to enjoy vodka quite a bit. I find it's a nice light and refreshing afternoon cocktail, I enjoy it with a twist of lemon, or a few olives, poured over ice. It's not pretentious, or pretending to be something it's not. Just a simple, easy to enjoy, highly customizable liquor.

I remember when we could get Peppered Stoli back in the early 90's. Probably my first introduction to "high-end" vodka. It was served chilled in a shot glass with a hunk of kosher dill. Swig the vodka, eat the pickle, good stuff!

Each liquor has it's place, vodka is one that doesn't impart it's flavors into whatever is mixed with it. Other liquors do.

One of our favorite ways to enjoy vodka, is serving it well chilled- up or on the rocks, with a variety of pickled foods. Things like pickled green beans, asparagus, okra, stuffed olives, etc. Another favorite, is to fill a shaker with ice and add some fresh ground black pepper, shake well, strain, and garnish with a quality kosher dill.

Vodka definitely has a place in the liquor cabinet in our house!

 

[Samouraï]

...in a dry martinia and I prefer Chopin vodka.

+1 for Chopin vodka

 

[FrankPoole]

I always wondered how the notion started that vodka was tasteless and odorless?

The perfect Vodka would be something like Syncohol as described in a Star Trek episode.
I smooth beverage odorless, tasteless, that as you drink it leaves a warm sensation in your mouth and sense of well being.

 

[ari95]

What is the point of vodka? To get drunk and fall down.

 

[letterk]

Since I drink for the taste and not the affect, vodka is pointless to me.

 

[FrankPoole]

One place Vodka does not belong is in the Bloody Mary!

Substitute Tequila for the Vodka and whola a Bloody Maria!
once you experience one you will never go back.

 

[clubman]

Vodka, like all spirits, definitely has its place. I'm a little unclear why it's been generally deemed to be unfit for consumption by the booze authorities on here (horrors!) - I seem to remember Bond downing chilled Russian stuff in one of the Fleming novels, surely that's enough to establish its gentlemanly bona findes? Chacun à son goût and all that?

In any case, I personally drink all kinds of things and every once in a while vodka passes my lips. My favorite would have to be Tito's from good old Texas, which comes in at a VERY nice price point and is great stuff to boot.

NOTE: what makes a vodka "great" is quite different than, say, the Springbank 15 I had the other night (which was a "great" dram in its own right). For me, good vodka has a very soft sort of mouthfeel, with a tiny bit of sweetness, and a nice warm (not medicinal) finish. Most of the ultra premuim brands (the distillate for which is all produced by the same 4 industrial suppliers, I am sure) are all a bit "meh" to me, but as examples of the marketer's art must afforded some respect! Tito's (and a few others, Yuri Dolgoruki in particular) has the profile that I like, for the princely sum of $15.

 

[ada8356]

The wife and I go through more vodka than anything else when we are drinking.

We exclusively drink Absolut Ruby Red (grapefruit) with diet tonic. It is an excellent drink.

 

[danek]

My disdain for vodka does not stem so much from the spirit itself, but from all the b.s. and hyped-up falsities that surround it.

It starts with some advertising gimmick of inventing the idea of "ultra-premium" (a couple of years ago, "premium" was the highest level), which is just a decent liquor in a really fancy bottle. It moves on to the "flavored-vodkas" which is just a tasteless liquor with a hint of flavor added so that it now tastes like something. The "martini craze", which is just vodka and a different super-sweet candy liqeuer, served in a cocktail glass. And ends with a jackass that reeks of Axe body spray, wears his baseball cap half-cocked on his head, and orders a Grey Goose and Red Bull; and thinks he's sophisticated because it's Grey Goose.

It's all so much B.S. that it's just pathetic.

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Cheap vodka is like dressed up meths... totally lethal and better at cleaning/degreasing car parts than drinking ;-) But it having no flavour etc. is a bit of a misnoma, True Russian Vodka is very distinctive, and incredibly strong.... Smirnoff, is crap, tbh, it's made from chemically cleaned water, and thats why you get an aftertaste often with it. I prefer Greygoose (not to be poncy, but because of the flavour, I drink it neat, no red bull and generally not often, with maybe one at the beginning of the evening (then it's on to the Guinness and Rum DC's ;-) )), which IIRC has a buttery flavour to it, subtle, but the their, and the other is Bison (?) Vodka, which has a fresh clean taste with little aftertaste. But TBh, if your mixing it, you rarely notice.........

Heck what would I know, I prefer neat black naval rum or port...

Tom

 

[arcman]

I always wondered how the notion started that vodka was tasteless and odorless?

It's basically a matter of purity.
As previously mentioned, vodka is just ethanol (drinking alcohol) and water. Every alcoholic drink has ethanol, what differentiates whisky from rum are the ingredients and the methods used to ferment them. When these go through the fermentation process, traces of the ingredients remain to give the drink its distinctive flavor. If you continue to distill these beverages you will eventually end up with vodka (water, and pure alcohol). In fact, if you run cheap vodka through a Brita filter you will end up with something that tastes like a more pure higher-end vodka, because you've basically filtered out the cheap vodka's impurities. (You will of course destroy your filter in the process since it was not meant for this. )

 

[ada8356]

And ends with jackass that reeks of Axe body spray, wears his baseball cap half-cocked on his head, and orders a Grey Goose and Red Bull; and thinks he's sophisticated because it's Grey Goose.

It's all so much B.S. that it's just pathetic.

 

[kzoo1]

My disdain for vodka does not stem so much from the spirit itself, but from all the b.s. and hyped-up falsities that surround it.

It starts with some advertising gimmick of inventing the idea of "ultra-premium" (a couple of years ago, "premium" was the highest level), which is just a decent liquor in a really fancy bottle. It moves on to the "flavored-vodkas" which is just a tasteless liquor with a hint of flavor added so that it now tastes like something. The "martini craze", which is just vodka and a different super-sweet candy liqeuer, served in a cocktail glass. And ends with a jackass that reeks of Axe body spray, wears his baseball cap half-cocked on his head, and orders a Grey Goose and Red Bull; and thinks he's sophisticated because it's Grey Goose.

It's all so much B.S. that it's just pathetic.

Well said!