Any Vodka connoisseurs here?
 

I have recently starting drinking vodka straight up (on rocks when I have no access to frozen Vodka) and I was hoping some of you guys could give me some Vodka 'etiquette' tips, and tell me your favorite brands.

I drink Grey Goose, and do not really drink any other vodka straight. I know there are better vodkas out there for a cheaper price, but which ones?

Belvedere is good, I know people who swear by it.

Chopin. Makes GG seem like lighter fluid in comparison.

Tito's.

There are so many vodkas on the market it's insane.

Start with the better known brands and see how you like them.

Keep in mind that vodka is made from different sources, i.e. grains, potatos, grapes, etc., and the flavors are very subtle.

Trying to be a "vodka connoisseur" might be a waste of time as vodka has been traditionally popular as it has little to no taste, making it good for mixing. Even the most popular "straight vodka" drink, a gimlet, is mixed with lime juice.

If you're looking for something to drink straight, try whiskey's, they all have different flavors and are far more popular as straight drinks.

And by the way, you're only 21, stick to beer, you'll get tired of it at some point and switch to booze, but at your age, beer is better. Trust me. :)

I agree with that...I drank a lot of vodka in my 20s, 30s & 40s; easy to do on the road and esp during the halcyon daze in NYC in the early '80s. I had my last Silver Bullet in Feb 1995. I still love wine, an occasional G&T when it's warm, or an occasional single malt scot whisky when it's chilly, and about a dozen beers a year.

Vodka is wonderful and I know there are some great vodkas made these days, but it can become the slip slide into drinking too much, only in my experience. Lecture over. ;) Make mine 4 fingers on the rocks; naw, I'll take a pass. :yikes:
GL, mD

Support your local distillery and try Pearl. I prefer to stay away from the flavored vodkas in general. Also, if you are mixing with a bunch of flavours it's a waste of money buying premium.

Well, I still drink beer when I know flip cup, and beer pong games are imminent... which is almost every time I go out.

And I do agree it is easy to over do it with vodka, because its so easy to drink, especially the good stuff.

None the less, on those nights I am strapped for time for pre -bar drinking, I would want to drink vodka, which I actually enjoy drinking, unlike most beer.

Binge drinking is bad! But I only have 1 more year of Uni left.


Has anyone tried Costco's Kirkland Premium Vodka? I have been reading great things.

Virginia charges way too much for the high-end brands of vodka and alcohol in general; stuff like Grey Goose cost too much. (State price list)

I had some nicely mixed Finlandia while in Finland (of all places, heh) and have stuck with it. Decent price, decent booze, works for me.

:iagree: What he said

ha! You should see what we pay here. The prices on that list are our best prices.

My Uni is really close to the border, so every now and then, some students take a drive over to Montana and stock up on drinks and tobacco. I have yet to do this.

I imagine Finlandia is similar to Absolute and Smirnoff brands. I guess I will have to try it.

"vodka connoisseur" new to me, I'm listening.

I can not decide on a decent beer! I flip flop from Heineken, to Canadian, to Bud Light, to the crappiest of beers (ie. Lucky, Brewhouse.) But again I do drink beer mostly, due to the settings in which I drink. Oh yea, your Keystone beer is all the rage here right now.

Perhaps I will try getting a taste for whiskey instead.

Sure, Vodka maybe "flavorless" but there are different characteristics...

Perhaps I am trying to be more of a vodka "enthusiast" rather than a vodka connoisseur.

Russian Standard Platinum or Grey Goose

Being Russian, I never spoil vodka by mixing it with any other drinks. I do not "chase" it with other drinks either. Sour or half-sour pickles do well as a chase, cold meat cuts do too. And I always pace myself. I will never understand those who drink vodka immediately after it is poured into their shot glass. Most Americans are prone to do that.

I have 19 years of experience at doing this.

Thanks for the tips,

I have been very good with not spoiling vodka by mixing or chasing with other drinks. I also only sip. However when I have no access to continually frozen vodka, I tend to use ice. Warm vodka has to be a Russian sin?

The pickles and cold cuts sound delicious, I also read about pickled herring being a great complement as well.

Even though I've sworn off AgBullets, I always have a 1.75 of Grey Goose or Finlandia or, sumpin' in both houses for my vodka fans.
I still have 2 "fifths" of "Made in the USSR" Stoly in my wine cellar.
GL,mD

If you want to save money I have heard sobieski (poland) is a pretty good bottle for the dollar. I always keep a bottle of grey goose for friends who drink vodka, mostly women in my group. I am more of a j walker kind of guy. But BEER is king for me right now. I am 22 and am still on my beer honeymoon. I like to try new small craft brews whenever possible, mostly ipa's but I will try anything. For my usual drinks I stick to light beers in the interest of keepin the cals and carbs in check. My favs are michelob light, mich ultra, blue light! haha I hear Canadians aren't as fond as us buffalo boys! Also Amstel light over Heineken, this is a recent revelation I have had. Last but not least, try Sierra Nevada pale ale. My personal fav craft beer. All natural ingredients and just delicious:beerchug:

That is very cool. I just read that the distribution and marketing of Stoli Vodka in the united states was granted in exchange for the sale and soviet marketing of pepsi-cola in the USSR, which made Pepsi the first foreign product sanctioned for sale in the USSR.

Ahhh! That is the second time someone has commented on the feminine nature of drinking vodka! I suppose your girlfriends are mixing it up though.

At least I am not drinking Bud Light Lime...

Perhaps I should divert to whiskey,

I was drinking a lot of vodka when I was 21/22 too, grey goose with a splash of cranberry and a squirt of lime on the rocks goes down smoother than water. But I grew fond of the taste of whiskeys. Now when out at bars I love my crown royal and other smooth blended whiskeys, crown and coke/crown and seven are automatically poured for me as I walk up to the bar in most of my usual bars. But at home I sip lots of different single malt whiskeys and special blends on the rocks to experience the flavors. I can honestly say so far my favorite taste whiskey is crown royal cask 16... finished in white oak cognac barrels with hints of vanilla flavor etc. awesome. And for a taste of blasphemy I mix at least on whiskey and cola mixer with each whiskey I try, and the cask 16 was by far the smoothest and best tasting mixed, even better than XR.

Try Ciroc.

I like Van Gogh, especially when its 2 for 1 at the ABC. I like Firefly too, its sweet tea flavored and kind of the SC state liquor besides 'shine, but I can't sip to save my life. Firefly, water and a lemon and you have a good summer cocktail.

My german friend is trying to explain the idea of mixing coke and beer. Sounds disgusting, but apparently its the big thing over there. :dunno:

I love this stuff: SVEDKA

I think it is one of the best.

Ketel One and Smirnoff are probably the 2 "cleanest" vodkas on the market. And by "clean" I mean free of impurities. Ketel One is the cleanest on the market.

Grey Goose is one of the dirtiest vodkas, full of impurities.

And why should you care about impurities, because they cause hangovers.

Didn't know that... but Ketel One is a very good and smooth vodka.

Many of the Vodka's we perceive to be of higher quality is due to clever marketing and not necessarily a better product.

ie. Grey Goose and Crystal Head vodka.

Grey Goose was started by an American who decided to make the product in France. This allowed him to charge a nice price, because Americans perceive products from France to be premium.

It is possible Grey Goose has more impurities than a cheaper brand like Smirnoff.

Having said that I think Smirnoff is horrible tasting compared to Grey.

You would be amazed at how different peoples opinions on so called premium and non premium vodkas would be if they were all served blind.

They don't sell GG in France either, and Smirnoff, which is disgusting, goes at a premium.

So then what is your opinion on Burnetts?

i seem to think that grey goose is overrated. yes it is definitely better than smirnoff..

I know it's not vodka, but im going thru a little phase of Johnnie Walker Black and Macallans Whiskey.. give em a try!

I'm a big fan of vodka, and I never mix it with anything and like it as cold as possible. I typically buy Chopin or Ketel One, however, I've discovered a fantastic alternative recently. It's called Maxim's and it's French, made from wheat, distilled four times, has a nice cork top, and it's incredibly smooth and easy to drink. Here's the best part...our Total Wine store here in Vegas sells it for $12.99!! Granted our prices at TW are incredible - GG sells for $21, Chopin and Ciroc are $23, etc. I'm also not sure where else you can buy Maxim's, but if you can source it I highly recommend it (even if it were much more expensive). BTW I did find a link for it:

Maxim's Gourmet Official Website

Off the topic of vodka, I am also a huge fan of scotch and love doing tastings. I've tried dozens and I always come back to the Glenlivet. It is my favorite and for the price cannot be beat IMO.

I always say try a bunch of different types of whatever variety you like, don't pay attention the brand, label, marketing schemes, etc. and just pick what tastes best to you. Go to tastings at local wine/spirit stores when they're offered so you can try a bunch without buying the whole bottle.

One thing I find hilarious is that I serve Maxim's vodka at my house to guests quite a bit. I say it's French, distilled four times, water from the Alps, blah blah blah and inevitably everyone is impressed and say it's the best they've tasted. Then I tell them I paid $12 for it and people are like oh it's alright for a cheap vodka I guess :) Goes to show how powerful the marketing mechanisms are for sure!!

Affirmative, warm vodka is a blasphemy.

On the subject of herring, the pickled herring you can by domestically is not the same as we make in Russia. Domestic pickled herring is marinated in vinegar and the taste of vinegar overpowers everything. Russian herring is more of a fermented salted fish. Don't quote me on the recipe but it tastes dramatically different. It goes especially well if you add chopped onion and some vegetable oil to it.

My favorite chase is beef tongue. It is very easy to cook, it tastes delicious, and it goes very well with vodka.

kettle one
belvedere
and i did recently try chopin at a wedding and it was fantastic.

all over ice, no fruit, and a splash of soda water if you want.


goose is crap. (sorry to anyone who swears by it.)

This past weekend I tried Crop. Crop is an organic vodka and I have to admit it was awesome. I had the cucumber distiled and it smells like cucumbers but doesn't taste like it at all. Put it this way, you will be making your mother happy by having your serving of vegetable and drinking "organically healthy".

Check it out: http://www.cropvodka.com/about.php

Ketel One or Stoli's.

x2!!! 5 times distilled - made in Texas.

I was a beer-only man until being introduced to Tito's.

Its testing time!

Our Fidays start on Thursday around here, so I will be taking a very good look at the liq store in a couple of hours for all of these suggestions.

We will see what Vodka's they have around here and how much they cost.

Oh I forgot about Tito's as well--made down in New Braunfels :thumbup:.

I was able to find Kettle One at the store today.

I was not impressed! I did a side by side tasting with Grey and Kettle before going out, and at the time I thought they tasted exactly the same. But later on I was struggling and not enjoying drinking Kettle.

Belvedere was available but was way too much (50+) as apposed to the $40 Kettle One/Grey
And unfortunately they didnt have any other of the brands mentioned. I will look around at different stores tonight.

Actually, I did see Van Gogh and Finladia. But I guess I am way too much of a marketing sucker and I assume Finaldia is the same as Absolut and Van Gogh is a wanna be Grey. I will make an effort to try them later though.

I would like to try Chopin, or Pearl, but I do not think they will be around.

Ouch! Those are insane prices! At the local Total Wine I can pick up a 750ml of Grey Goose or Belvedere for $21.99 and Ciroc and Chopin are $22.99. Ketel and Titos are around $15... I suppose it equals out when you consider a premium cocktail at a club here runs ~$20! :cool:

+1 on Tito's, I am by no mean's an expert but I gave it to a 73 year old Grey Goose lover at a party and he had the whole damn bottle by himself.

I always figured we had limited selections here, so I went and checked which of these listed above are available.

We usually buy Absolut ($24) or Grey Goose ($50).

We can get:

Belvedere ($50)
Chopin ($55)
Effen ($51)
Finlandia ($24)
Ketel One ($43)
Sobieski ($25)
Stolichnaya ($25)
Svedka ($25)

and a whole bunch of factory vodkas, ie without the marketing campaigns, for $24.

Based on the recommendations above, it looks like I need to try Belvedere, Chopin, and Ketel One. Of course, a 750 ml bottle of vodka tends to last us 6 months or more. Maybe I should work on finishing the Glenlivet I opened last Christmas.

Easy answer ...Chase or Chopin. Try 'em and you will immediately tell a difference.