Robmo Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 What's your favorite mid-shelf vodka? I know next to nothing about Vodka--Grey Goose and Belvedere are recommended by friends but I was wondering what good stuff can be gotten for a little less dough.Absolut? Skyy? Finlandia? Please recommend something that doesn't taste like nail-polish remover.:grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Wouldn't know what nail polish tastes like but I get the point. Actually, I find little difference between the cheapest vodka (Burnett) and the stuff that costs four times as much. One of the guys in my tasting group asked what I thought about a brand that presents in a tall, attractive container. I replied it was an $8.00 vodka in a $25.00 bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Try Rain vodka. It's the hands down favorite of OscarV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascarl Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Sobieski. But don't tell anyone or they'll raise the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkersback Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Tito's is cheap and good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robmo Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for your suggestions!The Sobielski looks really good. http://younxt.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/joanna-krupa-for-sobieski-vodka-2.jpg Do you have any opinions about whether vodka should be made from potatoes or not? My preconceived notion of vodka is that it should be made from potatoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for your suggestions!The Sobielski looks really good. http://younxt.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/joanna-krupa-for-sobieski-vodka-2.jpg Do you have any opinions about whether vodka should be made from potatoes or not? My preconceived notion of vodka is that it should be made from potatoes.It is distilled at such a high proof that I doubt you or anyone else could tell the base starch source.I want to start a company to make vodka from grass clippings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Rain, that's the name I was trying to recall. A friend gave me a bottle of this once and it had a genuine flavor. Not much, but definitely something other than the watery alcohol taste I have found in vodka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robmo Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Tito's is cheap and good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robmo Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 I want to start a company to make vodka from grass clippings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkersback Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 It is distilled at such a high proof that I doubt you or anyone else could tell the base starch source.I want to start a company to make vodka from grass clippings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Ox, you've been beaten to the punch:http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1009625Lucky for me, that's just a grain vodka with a blade of grass in it.My vodka will be a made with a freshly mown mash of Kentucky blue and California sensimilla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Tito's is cheap and good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Lucky for me, that's just a grain vodka with a blade of grass in it.My vodka will be a made with a freshly mown mash of Kentucky blue and California sensimilla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 The amazing stuff about that is, that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bezeezus-belt that night on it. There. You happy, now? Yes. As you know, I hate to waste good movie references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yes.As you know, I hate to waste good movie references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Reserve Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Try Rain vodka. It's the hands down favorite of OscarV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Does anyone else find it amusing that we try to segregate something which, by law, MUST have NO DISTINCTIVE flavor, color, or aroma into 'bottom-shelf', 'mid-shelf', and 'top-shelf'?The late Sidney Frank had a bottle design, a label, AND an upscale marketing plan BEFORE he contracted with then-idle Cognac vintners to distill Grey Goose vodka for him. They were available, though most of them had never made vodka before. Understandable, then, that they made the best damned vodka ever know to man, huh?!Or, go to the scores of blind tasting results from which such things as Polar Ice and Smirnoff ('bottom' and 'middle', as it were) actually won over such as Grey Goose, Ketel One, et al.Vodka's vodka (yeah, I'm not above pot-stirring:p). If it don't give ya no headache, it's the good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Tim,For once we were being nice. xoxoOx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Rain, that's the name I was trying to recall. A friend gave me a bottle of this once and it had a genuine flavor. Not much, but definitely something other than the watery alcohol taste I have found in vodka.The only explanation that I know of is the one noted in the other thread and here:http://www.examiner.com/drinks-in-national/why-tasteless-vodkas-actually-do-taste-differentWhy tasteless vodkas actually do taste differentJune 10th, 2010 3:44 pm ET"Beverages with low structurability are likely to be perceived as watery, because the fraction of water clusters is higher than in brands with high structurability. Beverages with high structurability, on the other hand, harbor transient cage-like entities where the ethanol molecule is sequestered by surrounding water molecules. At high alcohol content, clusters of alcohol molecules appear. ""These ethanol clusters undoubtedly stimulate the palate differently from either water or the E•5.3H2O cage structure. Even in the absence of 'taste' in the traditional sense, vodka drinkers could express preference for a particular structure."Whether the "hydrate" structures hold up as the key in not yet the consensus so the results may not be robust, but they may end up explaining the different between watery and less watery mouth feel (not so much taste). I only use vodka in a mixed drink but I will say that the Rain did "seem" to have a different flavor profile, but then again it could have been all of that bourbon in the air at BT.http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Consumer/story?id=3201973&page=1Does Premium Vodka's Taste Live Up to Its Price Tag?20/20's Cocktail Taste Test Leads to Some Surprising Results53 comments By ANN VARNEY and BILL RITTERMay 24, 2007Basically, buy the cheapest and work your way up if you don't like it.Grey Goose was the least favored while Hangar One and Belvedere were favored.In mixed drinks, most could not tell the difference.Cheap may mean hangover though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Try Rain vodka. It's the hands down favorite of OscarV.No vodka for me contrary to the above.But I'll try some if you are suppling the below.and California sensimilla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Yeah, what Jono said, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whskylvr Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I am not a vodka drinker at all. But I can say that for me when tasting a vodka there is a notiable difference in viscosity and heat (burn) of different vodkas. My initial tasting responses:Sobieski - Hot, nasty big time burn!Belvedere - Not bad better in mixed in a drink.Grey Goose - Best straight chilled.Pinnacle - cheap, smooth could actually drink it straight no burn what so ever.Some vodka tasted side by side you can taste a difference in what was used to make it - Grain, Potato, Wheat, Rye or Wine Grapes (gives a little citrus base).Just my .02Smirnoff - nice, easy to drink. --- put in Grey Goose bottle and sell for $240.00 to VIP bottle service customers (actually no a bar that does this) haven't got caught yet but I am sure they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robmo Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Just my .02Smirnoff - nice, easy to drink. --- put in Grey Goose bottle and sell for $240.00 to VIP bottle service customers (actually no a bar that does this) haven't got caught yet but I am sure they will.Thanks for the .02 about Smirnoff. I was wondering if someone was going to chime in about that. It's easily obtainable over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 David what about additives? I don't mean flavorings like pepper or buffalo grass, rather sugar or corn syrup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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