Vodka - what's the point?

[StillShaving]

I am not into mixed drinks and have never tasted vodka straight, but came across a statement in wikipedia

...under U.S. and European law vodka must not have any distinctive aroma, character, colour or flavour."

which made me think what is the appeal...beyond providing a blank slate along with the alcohol? I am not looking to take up Vodka drinking, but it makes one wonder why there are so many different varieties advertised if they basically taste the same?? To be fair, after a quick search found articles like Hit Me With Your Best Shot in Slate magazine which provide a little more distinction. Other than the broad question, is there really that much difference between brands, from the surface it would seem there is a lot more variety in whiskeys from a single place in Scotland or a single county in Kentucky.

And this looks totally useless

 

[Doc4]

If I had ever actally tried vodka, I might be able to answer your question ...

 

[castlecraver]

It's a "neutral" spirit. Certain vodkas have a subtle taste, but in general, it's what you put in a drink if you don't like the taste of the base liquor and want to "play up" the sweet/fruity mixers. There's certainly some variety, but not much compared to other spirits.

 

[nikkuchan]

For me, the difference between different vodkas is how sick it makes me. Cheap vodka tears me up.
However, I don’t drink it much, because to me there’s only one use for vodka: Bloody Mary

 

[Commander Quan]

Here's an interesting article about a blind taste test done on some of the super premium vodkas verses a economy brand.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Consumer/Story?id=3201973&page=1

 

[Phog Allen]

Agreed. Vodka is the most useless spirit in the world. It also shows you just how much I know about it. It is probably the best selling. Go figure. Like another poster said, illness in a bottle. It tastes of rubbing alcohol to me.

Regards, Todd

 

[adonnellyr]

I hate vodka.

(Sorry for the completely uninteresting, unimportant post)

 

[stobes21]

A lot of people drink vodka almost exclusively. It's an easy thing to drink: you taste exactly what you mix with it. Nothing more. So you like coke? Order a vodka and coke. You like sour apple liqueur? Order an "appletini." You like water? Order a dry vodka martini (the really sad thing is that ordering just a "martini" nowadays will get you a drink that includes neither vermouth nor gin, but that is a different discussion entirely).

Think about it this way: how does one learn to appreciate a fine whisk(e)y? By drinking it slowly and contemplatively, savoring the depth of flavors. By trying lots and lots of types to distinguish the different elements and characteristics of each type. By learning about mash bills and aging processes and all sorts of other stuff. How does one learn to appreciate fine vodka? Drink some expensive vodka from a fancy bottle. Ask yourself: is it smooth? Drink another kind. Is it smoother than the first one?

And now I'll get off my high horse. As I see it I'm going to order what I want to drink and let others order what they want. I keep a midshelf bottle of vodka in my cabinet for mixing. Which one depends on price and availability. I won't pay more than about $15 for a fifth or $20 for a liter though. There is too much to learn about other fine spirits to waste my time and money on vodka.

 

[Phog Allen]

I just went and read the article. Yep, pretty much what I expected. I was laughing my arse off about the universal snubbing of Grey Goose. A $13 bottle of Smirnoff bested it. How apropo. Smirnoff is an old standby. The "better" quality vodka all the guys I grew up with reached for rather than Vyaka or McCormick. It really is all drain cleaner. As was mentioned. Odorless, tasteles, colourless. Any questions? This is why it is the base for Cosmos I suppose.

Regards, Todd

 

[Samouraï]

Vodka is the only drink I have ever gotten sick from (a waterbottle-full and a few vodka on the rocks at the end of a night, both back in high school ). It is my least favorite drink. I usually stick to Scotch (and other whiskies, sometimes mixed like a Manhattan), Beer, and Wine.

BUT

When I was in Russia, we had some delicious chilled vodka at a more traditional restaurant, wherein we drank shots between courses (tradition), and had a grand old time. My grandfather is Russian, which probably helps.

OTHERWISE

rubbing alcohol

 

[toucanlamp]

When it comes to the modern invention of "premium vodka" like Grey Goose and such, the point is to seperate people with too much money from their money. I remember reading something about this guy who was the marketing genius behind Grey Goose, and he said the basic idea was - take some vodka, put it in a really fancy looking smoked glass bottle, price it double the average, and people will buy it. Luxury is just a perception. Something can be crap but if rich people like it and pay a lot for it, then what do you call it?

But it's just a neutral spirit which works best as a mixer. I'm absolutely certain that scotch whisky wasn't invented so that upper middle class professionals in the 21st century could spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle.

Think about it, why is it that someone who drinks lots of Smirnoff has a problem and someone who drinks lots of single malt scotch has a hobby?

I enjoy good booze and there is a lot of complexity and variety of flavours out there. But I bet if you really got into it there are a multitude of different flavours and characteristics to the different brands of orange juice on the market. A lot of it I think has to do with elevating the enjoyment we all have of the effects of a few drinks to something sophisticated.

Vodka is just different, by definition in an ideal form it isn't supposed to have any flavour, it's supposed to be ethanol and water.

 

[stobes21]

...I enjoy good booze and there is a lot of complexity and variety of flavours out there. But I bet if you really got into it there are a multitude of different flavours and characteristics to the different brands of orange juice on the market. A lot of it I think has to do with elevating the enjoyment we all have of the effects of a few drinks to something sophisticated...

I'm going to disagree here. There are plenty of people on this very forum who enjoy and consider themselves enthusiasts (if not connoisseurs) of many fine non-alcoholic beverages. The level of obsession with a particular variety of aged teas in our own Cafe is a perfect example. And I know I am not alone in that when I enjoy a fine spirit neat I never have more than one or two servings of it at a time. If I'm going to drink more than that in a night I switch to a simpler mixed drink and stop focusing so much on the drink itself. My enjoyment of fine spirits actually goes down quite a bit as I get into the realm of even mild intoxication. I also don't drink fine spirits much at all in a social context. When I'm hanging out with friends I want to be engaging with them, not with my drink. So I make a nice tasting mixed drink and enjoy myself without worrying about the complexities and subtleties of my beverage.

 

[FrankPoole]

Good Vodka is basically tasteless and odorless.

Stolichnaya in Moscow boasts the condenser tubing at their factory is 1.4 kilometers long yielding an excellent pure product. Their primo product undergoes an even longer array con condenser tubing.

Smirnoff's cheapest vodka is is triple charcoal filtered to removed contaminants.
Its higher grade vodkas undergo an more intensive distillation process like Stoli's.

Cheap vodka like Plillips will give you hang over. It is loaded with aldihydes. traces of formalin and other hydrocarbon contaminants guaranteed to give you a very miserable hangover. Upon opening the bottle you can smell them and the taste is anything but smooth. The plastic bottle doesn't help matters since some of the plastic will leach into the drink sine ethanol is such a good solvent. Use teh cheap stuff only for mixed drinks if you have to use it at all.

Concentrations are 80 proof (40% alcohol) upwards to 180 proof (90% alcohol) which is sold as Everclear in the US.
Why only 90%? Alcohol is hygroscopic so some of the water from distillation
is always carried along.
100% ethanol is very expensive since it must be centrifuged to remove the water and then decanted under strict conditions.

How do you enjoy vodka?
First chill the bottle in teh freezer until a frost immediately forms on the outside of the bottle when you remove it.
Get together with some friends and then throw shots as you enjoy each others company
A good chilled vodka is tasteless, goes down smooth, sneaks up on before you know it, and leaves no hangover.

I love Smirnoff and have never gotten a headache form it.
As far as quality, you can notice adifference between the cheapest Smirnoff and their Platinum variety.
Smirnoff red label is also a great headache free mixer.

When do I buy cheap vodka???
I but cheap 80 proof and use it with some witch hazel to dilute favorite colognes to make a similar aftershave. SO I guess they do have some useful purpose.

The name comes from the Russian word vodka (Boga) which means water. Vodka (Bogka) means little water.
In eastern Europe a high grade vodka is referred to often as aqua vita or the water of life.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I, for one, see absolutely no point.

 

[masonjarjar]

hmm, some of my fondest drinking memories involve shots of vodka.

YMMV I guess..

*shrug*

 

[HankG]

I enjoy vodka. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a connoisseur, especially since I am not willing to spend much money on alcohol regardless of type, however, I have had a decent selection of vodka, and they all definitely had a distinct flavor. Admittedly, most of them required significant dilution to be enjoyable, but the couple I've liked are good even by themselves. I'm not going to try to convince anyone about how good vodka is or that it is more enjoyable than other alcohols, but I will say that if I based my opinion of whiskeys on the first couple I tried I wouldn't have ever bought another bottle.

 

[Fnord5]

I do like Vodka.
Stoli, Russian Standard, and Blavod(a Black vodka) are my 3 favorites.
They are smooth, refreshing, and go great with Caviar.

There is not much else they are good for, other than getting drunk(although the Blavod makes a neat looking Vodka Martini)

Give me a good scotch though, and you can color me happy.

 

[blary54]

I usually stick to bourbon but vodka is pretty good too.

It all depends on what I'm in the mood for. In the summer I will often make vodka lemonades or my new favorite drink, a gimlet. Also enjoy a good bloody Mary from time to time. Vodka is not "the most useless spirit" it does exactly what I want it to do.

 

[Jethro1984]

Frank summed it up pretty well but i'll add my take:

I think part of the point of vodka is to add alcohol to drinks that would otherwise not be mixable with something else. For instance, while Irish Whiskey and Coke might be awesome, adding Whiskey to Orange Juice wouldn't taste so well (although your tastes may differ). I think it just increases the number of mixed drinks that can be made.

As far as types of vodkas, there is a noticeable difference in them. A cheap vodka will burn really badly (when you do a shot) or be more noticeable in the beverage while an expensive Vodka that has been distilled many, many times, will be so smooth it almost taste like water when chilled and tingles the throat going down.

Here is a very good Vodka, very smooth, and i'm sure very expensive. I had the pleasure of tasting a shot and even at room temp (the owner had just gotten it from the UPS driver) it was very smooth and not even noticeable until a few seconds after the shot.

 

[ClubmanRob]

If there is a discernible difference between a 5.00 jug of Aristocrat Vodka and a fifth of Smirnoff or Grey Goose, I haven't picked up on it yet. Vodka is the most useless of all alcohols to me. Its sole purpose I believe is as a mixer, and the only mixed drink I like is Cutty and Coke.

I'm absolutely certain that scotch whisky wasn't invented so that upper middle class professionals in the 21st century could spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle.

This quote gives you my vote for smartest man in the speakeasy.