Vodka, anyone?

[tim1999]

deleted

[Gekko]

ketel one extra dirty martini. up and icy. blue cheese olives if available.

espresso martinis are pretty good too in moderation.

of course the bartender has to know what he/she is doing.

[sage1166]

Second Ketel One...never had bleu cheese olives, but man that sounds good.

[tomd37]

My wife likes her vodka martini to specific measurements; one and a half ounce of Grey Goose vodka (blue label), just a smidge less than three-quarter ounce of Martini & Rossi extra dry vermouth, three-quarter of a teaspoon of Collins brand dirty martini mix, and two pitted spanish olives. Even to the point that as the martini mix ages I cut back to just under the three-quarter teaspoon of mix.

Coming up on forty-three years of marriage next week, so I must be doing something right .... I stick with my two ounces of Johnnie Walker Black.

[FarmGirl]

Try Kirkland Signature (aka Costco-PriceClub) you will be amazed by the quality and price

Of course, it's not possible to order it when out on the town. I can't buy it in my state, but every trip to California includes a trip to Costco.

[tim1999]

deleted

[Adrian Nenu]

http://www.bartonbrands.com/fleischmannvodka.html

Tasting Notes

When you open a bottle of Fleischmann’s, the predominant notes in the nose are those of rubbing alcohol and gasoline, the scent is both strong and offensive. The viscosity is that of water, and the clarity of the spirit is that of very hard water, there’s a bit of dinginess to it. As for packaging, this is of course no frills, something to hide under the sink or in the back of the pantry,

Distilled from grain, as opposed to potato, the start of the vodka in the mouth can be described as pins and needles, a strong but vague burning in the mouth and on the tongue. There are no real flavor notes, just the burn of the vodka and the inherent taste of pure alcohol, something along the lines of an Everclear. The finish is brutal, tearing open your lungs with the overpowering strength of battery acid, followed by a horrid mineral aftertaste. Just a nightmare really…

Serving Notes: How to Minimize the Nausea

For those foolish enough to buy a bottle of Fleischmann’s, you will soon be looking for nonhazardous ways to use the vodka. The key word here is mask, your goal should be to overpower the poor taste of the product with strong mixers. Here is my best suggestion:

Caconti’s Bloody Madonna
Tomato juice and spice kills the vodka in this recipe.

Ingredients:
6 oz Clamato juice
1 ½ oz Fleischmann’s Royal Vodka
2 dashes Tabasco Sauce
1 drop Worcestershire sauce

To prepare:
Shake all ingredients well and then serve over ice. Garnish with celery for a classic look.

Price & Availability—Information and a digression

As a low cost offering in the vodka category, Fleischmann’s is usually easy to find at any level package store, one the bottom shelf as a general rule. How cheap is it exactly? At around $8 a bottle it’s the cheapest thing you’re going to find besides “generic” vodkas. But, please try to remember that alcohol follows a basic and intuitive rule: You get what you pay for. If you skimp on the bill to save a buck or two, you’ll pay for it while your drinking or the morning after, so be forewarned…

The Final Verdict

Simply put, the bargain basement pricetag does not compensate for the horrific taste and body of this vodka. It’s a bad choice at any price, so just stay away…




*This is not a judgement against bag people. I am sure that the majority of them would know better than to buy Fleischmann’s if their economic conditions improved.




Recommended:
No

http://www99.epinions.com/review/Fleisc ... FDDC-prod1

Adrian
anenu@tampabay.rr.com

[TJAJ9]

I've never had anything better than Grey Goose. That's some good stuff. Absolut is good, also. I've never tried any of the flavored vodkas.

[Sammy_M]

Grey Goose and Kettle One are my favs, but I find Three Olives to be a decent value. I don't care for the flavored stuff.

[gasman]

I've never had anything better than Grey Goose. That's some good stuff. Absolut is good, also. I've never tried any of the flavored vodkas.

try VOX

[zeusrock1]

Tito's! It's made in Austin and it's really good. I also like Kettle One.

Stoli makes good flavored vodkas, but I usually get Smirnoff because they are a lot cheaper. Grey Goose Orange is a great one too.

[Lake Living]

At the high end, I never tasted anything better than Belvedere which is a Polish vodka.

For "guests" I always have some Skyy (US) vodka in the house. Skyy markets some very good flavored vodkas as well.

[Bounca]

Speaking of vodka, I guy I work with just showed me this video. :lol:

http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/forklift ... warehouse/

[danwalk]

In 2005 this fascinating article about a blind tasting of 21 vodkas appeared in the New York Times. Although it was going to just include 20 super premium brands, the tasting coordinator put in a bottle of Smirnoff to see what would happen. It beat out all 20 much more expensive vodkas, causing the critic to conclude, among other things, that:

Shocking? Perhaps. Delving into the world of vodka reveals a spirit unlike almost any other, with standards that make judging it substantially different from evaluating wine, beer, whiskey or even root beer. A malt whiskey should be distinctive, singular. The same goes for a Burgundy or a Belgian ale. But vodka? Vodka is measured by its purity, by an almost Platonic neutrality that makes tasting it more akin to tasting bottled waters, or snowflakes....

That being said, at the end of our tasting it was Smirnoff at the top of our list, ahead of many other names that are no doubt of higher status in stylish bars and lounges. Some of those names did not even make our Top 10. Grey Goose from France, one of the most popular vodkas, was felt to lack balance and seemed to have more than a touch of sweetness. Ketel One from the Netherlands, another top name, was felt to be routine and sharp, although Mr. Klemm did describe it as "a good mixer."...

The prices of these vodkas ranged from a low of $13 for the Smirnoff to a high of $34 for Potocki, a Polish vodka that did not make our cut. The Belvedere also cost $34, but that was for a liter rather than the usual 750 milliliter bottle. Imported vodkas tend to cost more, partly because of taxes levied by various governments, currency exchange rates and, not least, marketing concerns: as has been proved in many industries, wine not least of all, raising the price of a product increases its status among consumers.

So, according to this tasting, at least, if you think you should be impressed by a super premium vodka, you probably will be.

Disclaimer: I am not a vodka drinker--do not shoot the messenger.

Dan

[stockpickerted]

A#1 on the rocks, simply the best at a great price. The best value is the 1.75 liter size, ENJOY!!

[norookie]

[SquawkIdent]

I am far from a liquor expert, but I recently tried Tito's and I agree it's very good.

Tito's! It's made in Austin and it's really good. I also like Kettle One.

Stoli makes good flavored vodkas, but I usually get Smirnoff because they are a lot cheaper. Grey Goose Orange is a great one too.

[Kenkat]

I like Skyy for mixing with tonic and UV Blue for making shots.

[Jake46]

Tito's Handmade Vodka

http://www.titos-vodka.com

[tim1999]

deleted

[polaar]

Absolut makes pepper vodka (does it make you sneeze?)

Absolut Peppar (Swedish spelling?) is for bloodys.

[cinghiale]

Lots of good input here...

But so far, Adrian's post takes the cake.

[citywayne]

I forget when, but they had a vodka taste test and Smirnoffs came out on top. Every since then I started drinking Smirnoffs on the rocks. Love the stuff ... very smooth and fragrant drink.

[Mister Moolah]

Vladimir's is absolute JUNK. They keep it underneath the shelf with all the dirt. This was also my first vodka. And it got me hooked as bad as it was.

Absolut is ok, but I much prefer Skyy. Perfect for mixing, great for shots. Absolut lemon was pretty good though.

I feel grey goose tastes worst than Skyy, and is much more expensive. Belvedeere was ok, but still more expensive than Skyy and just not as good. I need to try some of the flavored vodkas.

I've been a trader to my vodka lately though, I've been making Bacardi Mixers with Bacardi Rum. Strawberry daiquiri is my current favorite. That and long island iced teas.

[Brad H]

Check out STON vodka. It is made in Estonia. The taste is smooth and the bottle is appealing.

[G12]

I like Fris for mixed drinks. If I am going to spend some cash on liquor it will be Quarter Cask Laphroaig scotch.

[HearDoc]

Or you can run Smirnoff Silver through a Brita filter which makes it indistinguishable from the $40/ bottle brands. You can always put it in an empty ( fill in the name here of any $40 brand) bottle to impress your friends and fool yourself... Prosit

[jeh]

I'm personally a fan of the Ketel One. I like a Vodka Martini quite dirty. I do find 3 Olives acceptable but find Grey Goose rupugnant. I guess to each his own. Generally, when it comes to liquor I stick to bourbon but do indulge in a real Martini (Gin) or a Vodkatini on occasion. I would like to try VOX, Cirouc and Level but haven't yet. I'm not in an area where I can count on a lot of specialty brands anymore.

Flavored Vodka's? so far what I've had - yucko - but I'm a purist for the most part.

[Adrian Nenu]

When I worked in the booze business for ABC Liquors back in 1986-1987, Absolut, Stolichnaya and Wyborowa were considered the top quality vodkas. Smirnoff Sliver was a close second place, considered nearly as good. Denaka and Finlandia were supposed to be equal to Smirnoff Silver but more expensive. Our biggest vodka sellers were Fleischman's and our own ABC Liquors Vodka generic brand (especially pints - $2.99 and half pints - $1.99 purchased by street people) followed by Popov (usually the 1.75 liter bottles on sale for $7.99).

Adrian
anenu@tampabay.rr.com

[Eureka]

I find it hard to believe vodkas really vary that much. I suspect a placebo effect.

When it comes to clear liquor, I'm a gin man. Ah, the evocative aroma of juniper berries. I can tell you there definitely is a difference in brands of gin. I enjoy some of the British brands, but good old American Seagram's is an honest gin -- and the basis for the best summer drinks.

Why anyone would drink a vodka martini is beyond me. It's like a hamburger made with cottage cheese instead of ground beef.

[TJAJ9]

I find it hard to believe vodkas really vary that much. I suspect a placebo effect.

When it comes to clear liquor, I'm a gin man. Ah, the evocative aroma of juniper berries. I can tell you there definitely is a difference in brands of gin. I enjoy some of the British brands, but good old American Seagram's is an honest gin -- and the basis for the best summer drinks.

Gin is one of my favorite drinks. I love Tanqueray and tonic with a slice of lime.

[Eureka]

Gin is one of my favorite drinks. I love Tanqueray and tonic with a slice of lime.

Yum.

[Taz]

A little late to the thread, but ...

If you want to do an inexpensive taste test of the non-super premium varieties, buy several of the mini-bottles & have a non-interested party setup a tasting for you. The mini's are not a good value but if you just want a taste. Also, if you tell the store owner what you are doing (& you are a regular customer), you might get a couple gratis.

Na zdorovia!

[bikefish]

Anyone do Vodka infusions? I tried it using instructions I saw on youtube. I sliced up a lemon and put the slices in a 1/3 full bottle of Tito's. Let it sit for 4 days and strained out the lemons. I liked it. One adaptation was adding sliced jalapenos with the lemons for the final 12 hours. I will do that next time. I can't see doing an entire bottle just in case something went wrong with the infusion.

[watchnerd]

Anyone do Vodka infusions? I tried it using instructions I saw on youtube. I sliced up a lemon and put the slices in a 1/3 full bottle of Tito's. Let it sit for 4 days and strained out the lemons. I liked it. One adaptation was adding sliced jalapenos with the lemons for the final 12 hours. I will do that next time. I can't see doing an entire bottle just in case something went wrong with the infusion.

I make limoncello, which is an emulsion.

[watchnerd]

I find it hard to believe vodkas really vary that much. I suspect a placebo effect.

Especially in a cocktail

[alpenglow]

Anyone do Vodka infusions? I tried it using instructions I saw on youtube. I sliced up a lemon and put the slices in a 1/3 full bottle of Tito's. Let it sit for 4 days and strained out the lemons. I liked it. One adaptation was adding sliced jalapenos with the lemons for the final 12 hours. I will do that next time. I can't see doing an entire bottle just in case something went wrong with the infusion.

I make limoncello, which is an emulsion.

Yum! I used to make it too with Everclear and lots of lemon zest. I usually let it sit a month before proofing it down.

[alpenglow]

I find it hard to believe vodkas really vary that much. I suspect a placebo effect.

When it comes to clear liquor, I'm a gin man. Ah, the evocative aroma of juniper berries. I can tell you there definitely is a difference in brands of gin. I enjoy some of the British brands, but good old American Seagram's is an honest gin -- and the basis for the best summer drinks.

Why anyone would drink a vodka martini is beyond me. It's like a hamburger made with cottage cheese instead of ground beef.

I'm also a gin man, but I recently tried a vodka from Upstate NY distilled from apples. It was distinctive and delicious - probably the first vodka I've purchased since my early 20's. Their gin was great too.

https://www.harvestspirits.com/

[tsohg]

Hilarious how a 16 year old thread gets revived to ask about vodka infusions.

[protagonist]

Some "sobering" thoughts:

You can find multiple reports of blind taste tests online, on TV shows, on Youtube, whatever, where "sophisticated vodka lovers" compare cheap vodka with their favorite premium brand, convinced they could identify their favorite, and the results come out random. We did something like that with a bunch of friends (double blind) comparing Chopin, Grey Goose and $7/bottle Old Mr. Boston, and our results came out the same.

Vodka is just distilled ethanol and water, regardless of whether you get it from potatoes or whatever.

Save your money.

Just a few Google hits out of many:

" it's very difficult to reliably distinguish a premium vodka from a cheaper one solely by taste in a blind taste test; much of the price difference can be attributed to marketing and the perception of quality associated with the brand, rather than a significant taste difference."

-Google AI

" our one lab didn't detect any taste-able differences even with our homemade vodka. And the law seems pretty clear to us. But Grey Goose insists there is a difference.."

- NPR. https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/59002260 ... heap-vodka

""Title 27, Section 5.22 of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm code says that vodka must be distilled and treated until it is 'without distinctive character taste, aroma color,'" Pashman reported. "By law you have to make an industrial grade pure alcohol first, and then all you do is add water and you have vodka."
-Entrepreneur https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a- ... han/337537

[alpenglow]

""Title 27, Section 5.22 of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm code says that vodka must be distilled and treated until it is 'without distinctive character taste, aroma color,'" Pashman reported. "By law you have to make an industrial grade pure alcohol first, and then all you do is add water and you have vodka."
-Entrepreneur https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a- ... han/337537

I thought TTB dropped that language in 2020.

[jabberwockOG]

I have a relative in-law who's been consuming a fifth of Gordons vodka per day for the last 25 years. He really seems to like it a lot.

In the summer we like the occasional gin and tonic. My favorite gin by far is Corsair American Gin - brewed and bottled in Nashville. Hard to find but it is quite good.

[Hot Sauce]

Vodka is poison, so sayeth the surgeon general.

[watchnerd]

Vodka is poison, so sayeth the surgeon general.

This isn't news.

But the dose makes the poison.

[Hot Sauce]

Vodka is poison, so sayeth the surgeon general.

This isn't news.

But the dose makes the poison.

The news is that any dose of alcohol above 0.000 is poison. There is no safe threshold.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/s ... k-b2cdf379

[watchnerd]

This isn't news.

But the dose makes the poison.

The news is that any dose of alcohol above 0.000 is poison. There is no safe threshold.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/s ... k-b2cdf379

Well, again, this isn't news.

Everyone knows alcohol can kill you. Backing up the dose makes the poison:

It can do it fast, in one night via alcohol poisoning.

It can do it intermediate speed via alcoholic liver disease.

Or it can do it slowly and uncertainly, via cancer.

Me, personally, I'm fine with that risk/reward profile.

[Hot Sauce]

The news is that any dose of alcohol above 0.000 is poison. There is no safe threshold.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/s ... k-b2cdf379

Well, again, this isn't news.

Everyone knows alcohol can kill you. Backing up the dose makes the poison:

It can do it fast, in one night via alcohol poisoning.

It can do it intermediate speed via alcoholic liver disease.

Or it can do it slow, via cancer.

Me, personally, I'm fine with that risk/reward profile.

You are mistaken. In this case the dose does not make the poison. As used, that expression refers to reference doses (RfD) for chronic exposure. Your example refers to a range of dose-exposure conditions corresponding to different health effects endpoints. In this case, the news is that the slope factor (SF) specific to the cancer endpoint with chronic consumption begins at 0.000, i.e., there is no NOAEL. Which is why the link I provided is only 4 days old… because that particular revelation is news.

[watchnerd]

Well, again, this isn't news.

Everyone knows alcohol can kill you. Backing up the dose makes the poison:

It can do it fast, in one night via alcohol poisoning.

It can do it intermediate speed via alcoholic liver disease.

Or it can do it slow, via cancer.

Me, personally, I'm fine with that risk/reward profile.

You are mistaken. In this case the dose does not make the poison. As used, that expression refers to reference doses (RfD) for chronic exposure. Your example refers to a range of dose-exposure conditions corresponding to different health effects endpoints. In this case, the news is that the slope factor (SF) specific to the cancer endpoint with chronic consumption begins at 0.000, i.e., there is no NOAEL. Which is why the link I provided is only 4 days old… because that particular revelation is news.

If I can drink enough in one night to kill me in 24 hours, clearly dose does make a difference.

Alcohol is obviously poisonous.

The fact that it has negative long term health consequences should shock nobody.

(and I already read that paper days ago)

[Hot Sauce]

You are mistaken. In this case the dose does not make the poison. As used, that expression refers to reference doses (RfD) for chronic exposure. Your example refers to a range of dose-exposure conditions corresponding to different health effects endpoints. In this case, the news is that the slope factor (SF) specific to the cancer endpoint with chronic consumption begins at 0.000, i.e., there is no NOAEL. Which is why the link I provided is only 4 days old… because that particular revelation is news.

If I can drink enough in one night to kill me in 24 hours, clearly dose does make a difference.

Alcohol is obviously poisonous.

The fact that it has negative long term health consequences should shock nobody.

(and I already read that paper days ago)

I didn’t say the dose doesn’t make a difference. I said the dose does not make the poison. It is poison at > 0. The dose and duration of exposure impact what type of poison it is and the statistical probability of the given endpoint occurring.

And if this is so obvious and common knowledge, why do you have such a difficult time grasping it? And why were there a flurry of peer-refereed piblications just released and publicized on it? Perhaps you should re-read them with more curiosity.

[watchnerd]

If I can drink enough in one night to kill me in 24 hours, clearly dose does make a difference.

Alcohol is obviously poisonous.

The fact that it has negative long term health consequences should shock nobody.

(and I already read that paper days ago)

I didn’t say the dose doesn’t make a difference. I said the dose does not make the poison. It is poison at > 0. The dose and duration of exposure impact what type of poison it is and the statistical probability of the given endpoint occurring.

And if this is so obvious and common knowledge, why do you have such a difficult time grasping it? And why were there a flurry of peer-refereed piblications just released and publicized on it? Perhaps you should re-read them with more curiosity.

The UK gov announced similar findings years ago. They established there was no safe level of alcohol consumption 6 years ago.

Including increased risk of cancer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaaWlSrJsDc

So not news.

And I don't have a hard time grasping it.

Like I said, I'm comfortable with the risk/reward trade off.