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Alex Corvinus

On Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:31:05 -0400, wrote:

>Any vodka drinkers here? Vodka is the only alcohol I've drank all my life. I
>used to drink gin until I suddenly developed an apparent allergy to the berry
>they use to make it. In my younger days, I drank Popov or Majorska because it
>was cheap. Now I buy Schmirnoff (Sp?) My question is this: How much better are
>brands like Absolut or Grey Goose or the many others which cost more? What do I
>gain by spending more on a bottle? I don't drink it neat or in martini's just in
>a few mixed driks. Just curious as to what makes one vodka better than another.
>Thanks.

Um, OK, let's start at the top. Vodka (from wodka, "little water",
Polish), is merely distilled lmash (of something) into a sort of wine
and then distilled.

That said, the better (cleaner) vodkas are made from a variety of
materials and carry certain congeners that remind you of the material
of origin, which might be wheat, rye, potato, or some other. Some,
like the rye-based and potato-based seem to have a sort of
virtual-sweetness, missing from the wheat vodkas. Some, like that
Texas Tito gold-topped stuff, boast that they were 3-, 4- or
128-times distilled. Or charcoal filtered with charcoal from gnus'
horns.

The cheap stuff is just that. Cheap. Essentially, plain alcohol for
blending with something else. Whatever floats your boat. Taaka, Popov,
others. The upper scale stuff tries to sell you on the nuances, and
here I mean Chopin, Grey Goose, Belvedere, among others.

I personally, being a tightfisted old fart, stay with Polish potato
vodkas. Great value. Good for sipping and cheap enough for mixing.
Popular brands include Luksusova and Monopolova (sp?). I do not find
the Russian vodkas to be anything special. If you try Absolut against
Finlandia and other brands from that part of the world, you find them
amazingly similar to each other.

Best kept secret>>>> there is a line of Polish vodkas that are quite
inexpensive, and all part of the same conglomerate. Sorry, no brands,
as I can't buy them here anymore.

Hungarian vodka is not good. Seems to be doctored with sodium bicarb
or something, vaguely sweet and having little to no character.

Bottom line: If it works for you and you're not into sipping frozen
vodka with zakuski, buy it. I would suggest you check out the potato
vodkas, though. Sippable frozen, and stealthy in Bloody Mary's.

HTH. Nazdrovie!

Alex