Premium vodka is such a waste of money.

[Bur]

My brother-in-law recently bought a 200 euro bottle of champagne. Do you really think it's 20 times better than my bottles of clairette de die. As Boozy pointed out, prize is no guarantee for quality, you have to include the snob factor.

Tooo the point I go, one I forgot earlier. The so called "premium" vodka shit has the thing on it's side. At least in here that it's not even comparable in price to say good single malt etc.

[Resident Asshole]

I suppose it all depends on how much money you have and how much you like to drink.

I drink vodka-cran all the time and I can tell the difference between well vodka and good stuff. That doesn't mean that I buy the good stuff, but if money was unlimited I would. I know a millionaire who drinks Grey Goose and tonic. I don't blame him for spending the extra money, he wants taste, not just booze.

[Chimneyfish]

I just can't get into it. I understand that aficionados appreciate the taste differences between vodkas, but I'm convinced that the quality of a vodka comes down to how close it gets to tasting like nothing. Any other "aromas" to appreciate seem to just be secondary consequences of trying to make it as smooth as possible. Not my thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some snobby asshole who pretends to only drink for the taste. I drink to get drunk. The same way I eat to alleviate hunger, but if I'm going to eat something then I would rather it be a ribeye than a rice cake. That's why I drink bourbon instead of vodka.

But I happen to know that Skyy 90 is the single highest quality vodka you can buy, and it's only a couple bucks more than the midpoint brands like Grey Goose and Belvedere.

[Gin McGuinness]

I've drank tip top vodka but only after loads of drinking and I couldn't tell the difference. I've had caviar that costs $50 a bite but didn't notice because even a cheeseburger would suffice. It's all about the when you have the good stuff.

[John Barleycorn]

FUCK patron.

patron is overrated, and expensive as hell. Many many many more brands that are better and cheaper.

Could you offer some suggestions? I don't know shit about tequila. What's good?

[Aloysius_of_Tahiti]

Designer vodka is like those bottles of designer water. A good chunk of your dough is going towards the bottle and label design.
Give me some good ol' Soviet-era surplus vodka, a bag of fresh oranges, and some ice, and I'll be one happy comrade. When it comes to mixed voddy drinks, you'd do best to spend your money on topnotch mixers like fresh OJ or lemonade or club soda with real lime.

[JimLahey]

Designer vodka is like those bottles of designer water. A good chunk of your dough is going towards the bottle and label design.
Give me some good ol' Soviet-era surplus vodka, a bag of fresh oranges, and some ice, and I'll be one happy comrade. When it comes to mixed voddy drinks, you'd do best to spend your money on topnotch mixers like fresh OJ or lemonade or club soda with real lime.

Truth!!

[Resident Asshole]

Designer vodka is like those bottles of designer water. A good chunk of your dough is going towards the bottle and label design.
Give me some good ol' Soviet-era surplus vodka, a bag of fresh oranges, and some ice, and I'll be one happy comrade. When it comes to mixed voddy drinks, you'd do best to spend your money on topnotch mixers like fresh OJ or lemonade or club soda with real lime.

Truth!!

I half agree, but on the other hand if you buy rotgut vodka, then expect to feel like crap if you drink a lot of it. To each their own, but I find I can drink Stoli all night with no repurcussions. Not the same case with arrow/five o' clock/mohawk. We used a charcoal filter on shitty vodka and found that it did indeed take out impurities. We did a double-blind taste test against Grey Goose to insure objectivity.

[Miklo]

FUCK patron.

patron is overrated, and expensive as hell. Many many many more brands that are better and cheaper.

Could you offer some suggestions? I don't know shit about tequila. What's good?

When I can afford it I will get an anejo, anejo is aged and in that way is similer to whiskey and is perfect for drinking neat. Reposado also very good, can be drank neat or taken as shots. I will rarely buy blanco, but if I did it would only be for shots. Do not buy anything that is not 100% agave, unless your mixing margaritas for a shitload of people.That being said, a few of my favorite tequilas are as follows:

1. Corralejo
2. Milagro
3. Herradura
4. Cazadores
5. El Jimador- this one is the best bang for your buck as it is the cheapest 100% agave.

[Jiggers McCoy]

RA, I don't think anyone is saying that rotgut is as good as top shelf when it comes to vodka, it's just that when you start comparing mid-shelf to top-shelf or other so-called "Super-Premium" brands, there begins to be some diminishing returns on your hooch investment.

Your example, Stoli, is a solid mid-shelf offering, and my personal go-to if I'm ordering a vodka drink in a bar. Obviously it's markedly better than Popov, but is it markedly worse than Grey Goose? My answer is no, though you may feel differently, which is cool.

To put it another way: When it comes to vodka, I do believe the $20 bottle is twice as good as the $10 bottle, but I DON'T think the $40 bottle is twice as good as the $20 bottle.

[Resident Asshole]

To put it another way: When it comes to vodka, I do believe the $20 bottle is twice as good as the $10 bottle, but I DON'T think the $40 bottle is twice as good as the $20 bottle.

Agreed!

[Resident Asshole]

When I can afford it I will get an anejo, anejo is aged and in that way is similer to whiskey and is perfect for drinking neat. Reposado also very good, can be drank neat or taken as shots. I will rarely buy blanco, but if I did it would only be for shots. Do not buy anything that is not 100% agave, unless your mixing margaritas for a shitload of people.That being said, a few of my favorite tequilas are as follows:

1. Corralejo
2. Milagro
3. Herradura
4. Cazadores
5. El Jimador- this one is the best bang for your buck as it is the cheapest 100% agave.

Very good suggestions here. We have Herradura and El Jimador at my local (thanks in part to my relationship with the manager) and we had MIlagro at my former bar. All are good choices. The other two I have not had. I totally agree with the 100% agave part (speaking of which, has anyone had Temequila yet?), but I partially disagree with anejo vs. blanco.

Yes, they are aged in wood barrels, but Reposado only has to be aged 6 months and in that sense I do not see the point in paying extra for it over blanco. I do not mind blancos at all, but that is just my particular taste.

One question: Why is tequila so fucking expensive? I can buy brandy from France or whiskey from Ireland, quite a bit cheaper than a comparable quality product from Mexico, which is right underneath my country! WTF!!! And everything else in Mexico is cheap (at least the parts where I've been). What's up with that?

[Jiggers McCoy]

Supply and Demand, bro.

Agave is really hard to grow and the sugary goodness inside can only be harvested when the plant is 12 years old. Added to which, a bunch of tequila makers up and burned their agave crops to grow corn instead, back when Bush II and the rest of the country bought into the ethanol fuel pipe dream.

Better start hoarding!

http://www.cracked.com/article_19048_6- ... of_p2.html

[Hardcore Stig]

Important point has been missed here, a lot of people are mentioning taste and that a quality viodka is close to tasteless. This can be true to some extent but it's not the full story. A really good vodka also has a smoothness that cheap vodka doesn;t, you remove the burn and replace it with a comfortable mild drink which means you actually get to taste it.

This can be very important in the likes or a Vodka martini where the vodka proportion is large or when drinking neat.

Taste wise, it helps that it has a mild flavour in lightly mixed drinks too. You want it to add content but not to overpower the drink, anyone who has drank well tequila in a long island ice tea will understand that aspect.

[Zippy]

Make no mistake, Vodka is about one thing and one thing only. It's about getting shitfaced. No use pretending otherwise or getting snobby, hell, it has not taste. It's basically unadorned grain neutral spirits. That said, the best underrated, relatively cheap brand is Luksuksova Polish potato vodka. At least it's clan and it's even better if you soak a few chili peppers in it. Zippy doesn't mind blowing money on really good booze but spending more than $20.00 for a 1.75ltr of Vodka? That's too dumb even for a pinhead like me!