Comments on: Okay, let’s hash this out: vodka https://scofflawsden.com/blog/2008/05/23/okay-lets-hash-this-out-vodka/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:09:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: tmfiii https://scofflawsden.com/blog/2008/05/23/okay-lets-hash-this-out-vodka/#comment-146 tmfiii Wed, 28 May 2008 20:03:12 +0000 http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2008/05/23/okay-lets-hash-this-out-vodka/#comment-146 One thing I would like to add that never seems to get addressed when talking about taste tests between vodkas. It is never taken into account what the person ate last, when they ate last, whether they chewed gum, whether they had other drinks prior to drinking vodka, whether they drank water between sips, do they smoke, etc. I would argue that any of these variables could be attributed to the "subtleties" one believes he or she tastes in vodkas. Regarding my own personal stance re: vodka. Sean is right, I keep a bottle of high-test vodka for preserving stuff and I have a half empty bottle of Grey Goose (from before I was shown the light of great cocktails) and a bottle of vanilla vodka from the same time frame. Personally, I would prefer *not* to have a vodka cocktail. I want to know that what I am drinking contains spirits and I like the way the flavors of those spirits intertwine with the flavors of the other flavors in the glass. Vodka only brings inebriating qualities to the table. By definition, it doesn't add flavor or aroma. It doesn't even heighten the flavor of any other ingredient. If someone is only looking to get f'ed up, then vodka is fine. Me, I want to enjoy my cocktail on more than that singular level. I believe that Vodka, over any other spirit, is a moster of marketing. The PR guys want to sell people on exclusivity and status. They tout the number of times it has been distilled, where the water came from and what the base of the spirit was as being indicative of how great Vodka A is over all the rest. Yet what does it matter where the water came from and what the distillate base is when every last drop of flavor and character has been leeched out of it by distilling it 17 times? AND they want you to pay $50 per bottle for the "privilege" of drinking their pure ethynol . . . Anyway . . .where's my gin . . . grrrrr . . . One thing I would like to add that never seems to get addressed when talking about taste tests between vodkas. It is never taken into account what the person ate last, when they ate last, whether they chewed gum, whether they had other drinks prior to drinking vodka, whether they drank water between sips, do they smoke, etc. I would argue that any of these variables could be attributed to the “subtleties” one believes he or she tastes in vodkas.

Regarding my own personal stance re: vodka. Sean is right, I keep a bottle of high-test vodka for preserving stuff and I have a half empty bottle of Grey Goose (from before I was shown the light of great cocktails) and a bottle of vanilla vodka from the same time frame. Personally, I would prefer *not* to have a vodka cocktail. I want to know that what I am drinking contains spirits and I like the way the flavors of those spirits intertwine with the flavors of the other flavors in the glass.

Vodka only brings inebriating qualities to the table. By definition, it doesn’t add flavor or aroma. It doesn’t even heighten the flavor of any other ingredient. If someone is only looking to get f’ed up, then vodka is fine. Me, I want to enjoy my cocktail on more than that singular level.

I believe that Vodka, over any other spirit, is a moster of marketing. The PR guys want to sell people on exclusivity and status. They tout the number of times it has been distilled, where the water came from and what the base of the spirit was as being indicative of how great Vodka A is over all the rest. Yet what does it matter where the water came from and what the distillate base is when every last drop of flavor and character has been leeched out of it by distilling it 17 times? AND they want you to pay $50 per bottle for the “privilege” of drinking their pure ethynol . . .

Anyway . . .where’s my gin . . . grrrrr . . .

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