# Best or Favourite Vodka



## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

Grey Goose, Old Belvedere, Smirnoff Black, an obscure Russian brand? Any preferences out there?


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## Roy_Amsterdam (Sep 14, 2007)

I like Russian Standard.


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## sia (Apr 27, 2007)

Rossini said:


> Grey Goose, Old Belvedere, Smirnoff Black, an obscure Russian brand? Any preferences out there?


Anything almost frozen...chill it enough and it all tastes the same...actually it pretty much all tastes the same even before you chill it... :icon_smile_big:


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## red96 (Jun 26, 2007)

sia said:


> chill it enough and it all tastes the same...actually it pretty much all tastes the same even before you chill it... :icon_smile_big:


I have to agree with this. With just about any other liquor, I can tell the different between cheap stuff and the top shelf brands. Particularly with whiskies and bourbons, I can generally detect general differences in quality as well as the nature of the flavor. But I'm completely lost with vodka..it all seems the same to me.

Having said that, I would generally pick up a bottle of Stoli or Grey Goose (for image purposes, mostly!)


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## Joe W (Aug 23, 2007)

*Smirnoff beat them all in NY Times taste test*

*https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/dining/26wine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin*


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## Joe W (Aug 23, 2007)

Not sure why font is so big above...sorry


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Roy_Amsterdam said:


> I like Russian Standard.


Yes, but I prefer Standard Platinum. Also, Starka, old style Russian vodka with brandy and an infusion of tea made from either lemon or apple leaves.


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

red96 said:


> I have to agree with this. With just about any other liquor, I can tell the different between cheap stuff and the top shelf brands. Particularly with whiskies and bourbons, I can generally detect general differences in quality as well as the nature of the flavor. But I'm completely lost with vodka..it all seems the same to me.
> 
> Having said that, I would generally pick up a bottle of Stoli or Grey Goose (for image purposes, mostly!)


Au contraire! or, more properly, Nyet, nyet! You must never have drunk any really cheap vodka; it's brutally bad stuff! Of course, if you chill it enough, it loses whatever taste differences might have existed, but I think that's true with almost any liquor. One of the reasons one properly stirs rather than shakes a proper martini is so as not to make the gin too cold because it does lose its flavor. I gather that James Bond always had his vodka martinis shaken, not stirred, is because he really didn't like the taste of the vodka.


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## Mark from Plano (Jan 29, 2007)

I believe that the legal definition of vodka is that it is an odorless and tasteless spirit so the best one would be the one with the least taste, right?

I fought the marketing machine for quite a while, surmising that paying a premium for something I couldn't taste was no more intelligent that pretending to appreciate the emperor's new duds. But over time I've succombed to the marketing brainwash, buying Ketel and Grey Goose and Belvedere.

I'm a weak, weak man and I'm very ashamed of myself.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

First, a big FYI: Costco is selling Grey Goose branded as Kirkland. 

What I am drinking lately is flavoured vodka though, Grey Goose Pear. Three parts of that, 1 part simply syrup, shake and pour, garnish with a nice sliver of your favorite type of pear. Yum.


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Wayfarer said:


> First, a big FYI: Costco is selling Grey Goose branded as Kirkland.
> 
> What I am drinking lately is flavoured vodka though, Grey Goose Pear. Three parts of that, 1 part simply syrup, shake and pour, garnish with a nice sliver of your favorite type of pear. Yum.


That sounds delicious! I had a drink once, made with Poire William poured over a peeled pear, for which this might make an interesting substitute.


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Mark from Plano said:


> I believe that the legal definition of vodka is that it is an odorless and tasteless spirit so the best one would be the one with the least taste, right?
> 
> I fought the marketing machine for quite a while, surmising that paying a premium for something I couldn't taste was no more intelligent that pretending to appreciate the emperor's new duds. But over time I've succombed to the marketing brainwash, buying Ketel and Grey Goose and Belvedere.
> 
> I'm a weak, weak man and I'm very ashamed of myself.


As well you should be! And just what color and cut were the Emperor's clothes? Bespoke, I hope.


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Among high-end vodkas, there definitely are taste differences between grain, potato and grape vodkas. Grain is the most common, and used in most of the vodkas made today. Stoli, Smirnoff, Standard are all grain based, whereas Chopin from Poland is made from potatoes and Cirac from France is made from grapes.


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## red96 (Jun 26, 2007)

rip said:


> Au contraire! or, more properly, Nyet, nyet! You must never have drunk any really cheap vodka; it's brutally bad stuff! Of course, if you chill it enough, it loses whatever taste differences might have existed, but I think that's true with almost any liquor. One of the reasons one properly stirs rather than shakes a proper martini is so as not to make the gin too cold because it does lose its flavor. I gather that James Bond always had his vodka martinis shaken, not stirred, is because he really didn't like the taste of the vodka.


Yes, my rule in life (at least, since after my college days! :teacha: ) has been to draw the line at alcohol that comes in plastic bottles.

Thanks for the Costco tip...I'm going to go out and buy some of that Kirkland stuff and pour it into my practically empty Grey Goose bottle!!


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

rip said:


> That sounds delicious! I had a drink once, made with Poire William poured over a peeled pear, for which this might make an interesting substitute.


It is. Enjoy it in good health but beware they go down rather quickly and smoothly.


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

Goose or Elit...if neither of those are available, then Level will do...

A funny story about flavored Vodkas...I was over at this girl I used to like's house once, and she only had vodka or ta-kill-ya, so I told her to just make me whatever with vodka...well...she had been bragging about her bloody marys for a while (I don't really care for bloody marys anyway...but I thought I might humor the young lass)...so anyway...she brings me this concoction...I take one sip and know somehting isnt right...I try to play it offjust wating for her to go to the kitchen so I can dump this awful thing somewhere in the back yard...finally I got the bright idea to go to the kitchen myself, so I excused myself to go get some leftovers...I look in the pantry (that's where she kept her alco) and found the source of the problem...there was only one bottle of vodka in there...and it was orange flavored...I proceded to dump the majority of the drink down the drain leaving just enough to finish it in front of her...I tell you fellas...if you've never had an orange bloody mary...do yourself a favor...and dont...


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## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

siwucha, from poland.


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

rip said:


> Among high-end vodkas, there definitely are taste differences between grain, potato and grape vodkas. Grain is the most common, and used in most of the vodkas made today. Stoli, Smirnoff, Standard are all grain based, whereas Chopin from Poland is made from potatoes and Cirac from France is made from grapes.


Yes, this is important I feel but not well explained in the market at large. I wonder each type better suited to different styles of drinks, e.g. grain for neat, grape-based for martinis.... my suspicion is that would be too easy!


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Wayfarer said:


> It is. Enjoy it in good health but beware they go down rather quickly and smoothly.


Rather like Starka (see previous post, this thread). It's the only vodka I've ever seen do in my Russian drinking friend. She can not only drink me under the table, but under the floor in the cellar, and she has half my body mass!


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

rip said:


> Rather like Starka (see previous post, this thread). It's the only vodka I've ever seen do in my Russian drinking friend. She can not only drink me under the table, but under the floor in the cellar, and she has half my body mass!


Marry that woman!


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## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

Rossini said:


> Yes, this is important I feel but not well explained in the market at large. I wonder each type better suited to different styles of drinks, e.g. grain for neat, grape-based for martinis.... my suspicion is that would be too easy!


I don't know, but it's certainly worth extensive experimentation.


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## cgc (Jan 27, 2007)

There is a 'Polish' potato vodka now made in Vienna called Monopolowa that I recall being quite good and also cheap.


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## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

Monopolowa or Luksusowa are my normal "house" vodkas I keep around for whatever. I still have three bottles of "Kurland" I brought back from Latvia. Now THAT is good stuff. Under $10 a bottle, and better than Grey Goose, Chopin, or any other "luxury" vodka I have ever tasted.


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## Omega (Jul 10, 2005)

LOVE THIS TOPIC!!! I love to talk about vodka, about its history etc. Perhaps that’s why I am really fussy about vodka – if you poison yourself, then poison yourself with a good stuff!
I drink vodka only neat and I prefer it cold though it is not always possible. I eat some food before/during drinking. The glasses should be small, the best expression of the knowledge of vodka drinking would be, perhaps, using glasses from Bohemian crystals (and perhaps use dinning set “Madonna” made in Eastern Germany, not currently made in Czech Republic).
My favourite brand is Moskovskaya (the official history of the factory states that the recipe was created by Mendeleev, author of Chemical Periodic Table), it is pure, it does not have any side tastes at all and I can usually find it in almost any airport. Solichnaya is a bit sweet for my taste though I buy it if I don’t find Moskovskaya. “Zolotoe Kol’co” (Golden Ring) has beautiful soft taste, but difficult to find abroad.
Traditional Soviet brands are “Russkaya” and “Pshenichnaya” along with already mentioned brands. I don’t like them because the quality is not particularly high though if I have a choice between these vodkas or Western, I would go for Russian.
Smirnoff, Absolut and other non-USSR vodkas are too sweet for my taste. I avoid them especially because I consider them overpriced. However, one good non-Russian vodka I drank was Israeli “Lemon Keglevich”.
Kalinka, Gorbachev, El’cin and other “trendy” named vodkas usually taste terrible and they are often from Germany. Price is too high in my opinion.
Vodkas like Flagman or Zver’ are “cooperative” ones, i.e. made by private manufacturers in Russia. I don’t mind drinking them as long as the price is acceptable (less than $14 for a bottle in Russia or Central Asia). The only vodka that I recently bought in Tunisia for higher price than this was Russian Imperia, but I bought it because I read review about this vodka as being “best vodka in production”.
A few traditional things you do when you drink vodka:
Food – the most classic snack is pickle, but I prefer drinking water from the pickle. It looks weird, but it works best for me and I can drink a lot after it;
Toasting – usually you always dedicate each shot for something. The first drink is usually for women (though in the West it may sound sexist), the second for parents and the third for the people who are not with us. Georgians are famous for their interesting and entertaining toasts.
Quantity – classic drinking is 750ml bottle on 3 people, i.e. “na troih”. You get slightly drunk from this quantity.
If you drink with Muslims, some religious Muslims may ask you to switch off the light when they drink “that God could not see them drinking”. It is, of course, looks strange, but it is also tradition.
“Na zdorov’e” (yesterday, my friend came from Uzbekistan, I have 5 bottles of strong alcohol and he brought something interesting from Uzbekistan and Latvia so I guess we have sufficient “fuel” for a party)


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

I'm a whiskey drinker myself (Johnnie Walker Black), but Mrs. TMMKC says Svedka makes for a decent martini. The price is right...around $14.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

I prefer gin (even in Bloody Mary's) - Gin in the summer, Scotch in the winter.

But my wife drinks vodka martini's and likes either Belvedere or Popov or Gordons!!!


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Andy said:


> I prefer gin (even in Bloody Mary's) - Gin in the summer, Scotch in the winter.
> 
> But my wife drinks vodka martini's and likes either Belvedere or Popov or Gordons!!!


Ah, a "seasonal" drinker just like me. I knew there was something I liked about you, Andy. I throw in Pimm's during the summer just to keep things interesting. My wife's all-time favorite vodka is Belvedere as well.


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## pwalsh33 (Oct 29, 2007)

If you drink it straight, price/taste says Ketel One is your guy. If you mix, smirnoff (red bottle) for 14 bucks. If you can tell the difference you are a better man than I.


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