Thanks for doing this Anders. Vodka is Not My Favorite either. But I do try to keep one for guests. I will see how my friend deal with Ketel One Please publish the out take where you take a shot of all the vodkas mixed together. For science!
Give Froggy B vodka a try. French option that is smooth, clean to sip neat or chilled, no ethanol after taste. And as a Texas-based bartender, Tito’s is overrated.
I'm Polish and BIG fan of your channel! :) A good way to compare vodkas is to add 30-50% of neutral (spring) water. It is easier to detect differences in taste and aroma. Vodkas really differ from each other depending on the raw material used (potato - sweetness and creaminess + intensity, long-lasting smooth finish / rye - spiciness and pepperiness / wheat - mildness). The differences can be significant, but they will not be as obvious as in the case of whiskey or rums. In addition to the raw material used, the method of distillation and rectification is important. With maximum purification, any vodka can become bland. If you want to see the difference in a cocktail between a tasteless vodka (ethanol only) and one with character, make two cocktails each - Bloody Mary and Moscow Mule. Use Skyy Vodka and Chopin Black. Even here you will see clear difference. You will feel even more in Vodka&Soda and Martini Cocktail :) Pure vodka should be accompanied by Polish appetizers - tartare, herring, pâté or pickled vegetables and mushrooms. I love your channel and naturalness in front of the camera. If you are in Poland, come to the PanoramaSkyBar in the Warsaw Marriott hotel for a vodka tasting! my Instagram is sztuka_mieszania Cheers
Bro this comment gave me a whole different understanding of vodka. I’ve always been a whiskey drinker who thought every vodka tastes like rubbing alcohol, and I think I might have to pick up some vodkas try some tastings.
Your comment is a great example of why it's worth participating in the discussion. I've already subscribed to your IG channel. I completely agree with you regarding the composition of vodka for flavor experiences, and temperature plays a significant role in the sensory perception, especially in the case of vodka. It's great to see Chopin holding a high place on podium. Greetings also from Poland!
i know theres already a more extensive rum video, but I WANT MORE RUM VIDEOS. taste testing all the different styles/brands? tiki basics (tools and ingredients)? idk just more rum
Would be great to see your reaction to El Dorado reformulating their lineup by removing all added sugar. Also, a real Corn n’Oil (without the idiotic blackstrap floater).
Agreed. I'm a big rum guy, but in my area rum is a tough sell. Everyone wants Bourbon. And I have at least 3 craft rum distilleries within 30 miles of me.
I think making cocktails with vodka involves a very different philosophy behind cocktail making. Generally I make a cocktail to showcase/accent/modify the distinct flavor of the base spirit. I think you would use a vodka cocktail to showcase all the other components while the vodka fades into the background. Thoughts?
@@AndersErickson or even the espresso martini, if you just llike the taste of coffee and want a coffee tasting drink without the big flavours other coffee based cocktails use, it makes sense to use vodka really.
Finlandia is my standard for mixing cocktails because it disappears. There are sipping vodkas I enjoy because of their flavour and texture, and Blackforest Vodka is one of them. But honestly, I recommend nobody pays more than 30 bucks for vodka because one hits the diminishing returns ceiling hard at that point. Which is good.
Hard disagree. I would say vodka is one of those drinks where, unless you just wanna get fucked and are short on money, its almost always worth it to pay more.
Finlandia was the vodka that introduced me to the Vodka drinking. I didn’t like vodka back then and one time in a Scandinavian restaurant they served Finlandia, neat and chilled, and it was so smoother than any other vodka I have ever tried!! After this, I began exploring a bit, and ended up getting to like it. My favourites are Finlandia and the original Stolichnaya.
Oh Anders, thank you so much for putting yourself through this! I absolutely loved the spiced rum episode you did and was hoping you would do this with vodka,; just never expected it! Thanks to you and this endeavor, I will be purchasing a bottle of Hangar 1. And Finlandia , too!
Not gonna lie...I think this is one of my favorite video formats you do. I definitely enjoy the variety of cocktails you make with a particular spirit....but these are super fun.
I usually go with Luksusowa, which is a potato-based vodka similar to Chopin. Since vodka isn't really meant to have a taste, the smoothness is more important, IMO - and potato-based seems to be the smoothest to me. Never tried Hangar One, so thanks for the new recommendation 👍
Yes, Luk. has been my choice for a sipping wodka since Stoli dropped its chili-infused variety back in the 90s (from the freezer, a song of ice and fire). But as I say elsewhere, there's no need to spend this kind of money for a cocktail vodka.
Cheap Polish Vodka (Luksusowa, Sobieski) is head and shoulders above more expensive US Vodkas (Titos, Ketel). And superiority of Chopin and Belvedere over everything else shouldn't be questioned :)
That's what I thought too, but then did side by side room-temp potato and rye comparison and liked the ryes intensive taste more than vomit inducing potato blandness. To each his own. Really, there is no good or bad answer here, just gotta try yourself.
1. Favorite vodkas: Belvedere, Tito's, and stoli. 2. Now that you have more of an appreciation for vodkas, I would love to see you mixing cheaper or lower tier vodkas such as Kirkland brand, Sam's club brand, Provo, and many of those other slightly cheaper brands and compare and contrast them to more expensive brands.
Fun fact: a number of years ago the New York Times also did a blind taste test of vodka. The winner was Smirnoff vodka. That was interesting, because most people thought of it as a bargain brand, it actually was not, but was heavily promoted in bars as a well vodka, so that the brand could be in as many places as possible. It would have been interesting to throw in a wild card/cheap vodka, like Burnetts into the mix and see how well it fared. I have a feeling that the reason we think one vodka is so much better than another vodka is primarily marketing.
I remember that. Personally - I don't see the point of vodka, though I do keep a bottle of Titos around if someone comes over to our house and wants it in a cocktail or whatever. That being said, I recently had some cheap vodka because we were at my in-laws and she got some to mix with her grapefruit or something, and mother of god it was awful.
Thank you for the background information, I found that interesting. I initially came here to add that @AndersErickson might have wanted to include Smirnoff Red and I see you’ve already beaten me to the punch. I admittedly don’t know as much about vodkas as I do about other spirits but I thought I’d add that in the UK, Smirnoff is ubiquitous and is the go-to vodka in virtually every pub and bar. I always carry a bottle in my own home bar because it’s dependable, reasonably priced and complements every cocktail I make that calls for this type of spirit. I wonder how it would stack up in a blind taste test. Incidentally, I found Anders’ spiced rum blind taste really useful and it confirmed my suspicions that a number of affordable and easily available rums such as those by Kraken and Bacardi were punching above their weight.
@@mikev.2945Keep in mind that premium quality vodka in Russia and Poland costs $4 for a bottle. It is accessible to a point when it can be dangerous in terms of abuse. Higher cost single malt whiskeys make it inaccessible for poor people.
When I lived in the US my go to Vodka (which I didn't use much) was Tito's...partly becuse the price point was great as well. Since moving to the UK, my go to vodka is Black Cow...made from whey (Black Cow makes amazing cheddar cheese as well).....a very rich and heavy mouth feel, smooth going down and doing some good for the world.
Hi, Anders! I’m an American who’s been living in Poland for 10 years. I thought this was a great review of vodkas and showed that they really don’t “all taste the same.” I can’t remember the last time I had vodka in a mixed drink, unless you count plain water, and was happy to see that you picked up on the different characteristics that different bases impart. I have bottom and middle shelf choices: Luksusowa (potato, not the grain version), and Baczewski (a really smooth moderately-priced vodka). I haven’t really had a top shelf pick, but I’m going to try to find Hangar 1 and give it a shot. One last note: I like taking a really cold shot of vodka, then letting it warm so that the flavor you correctly observe is missing when it’s iced wakes up inside the mouth.
Tomas, I have been aiming to track down a few rye-based Polish vodkas in the US: Wodka, Wyborowa, Givori and Potocki. Based on your personal experience or reputation in Poland, are either of these 4 worth the effort? Luksusowa (potato) is easy for me to get, and of course Belvedere (rye) is readily available.
If You liked Chopin, You should definitely try Belvedere vodka. This is another polish vodka. In my opinion even better than Chopin. Cheers from Poland🙂
Polish vodka is definitely my go-to vodka. I usually get źubrówka although my favourite is Ostoya from bieszczady region. Hard to find abroad though... Love your country btw :)
Ostoya - best value for money. For me, it is the default vodka that I buy not only for drinks but also for solo consumption. But the best vodkas are still Polish craft vodkas. For example, the brand Podole Wielkie. Especially their rye vodkas. To be drunk alone at room temperature. Absolute world top.
I've tried something similar to this at my restaurant with Titos, Absolut Ketel, Goose, Stoli, Chopin, and Belvedere and I can honestly say the only 2 that tasted any different to me were the smoothness of Chopin and the subtle sweetness of Titos. Chopin was the only one I actually "liked" because it was so much different in texture to me that it was actually kind of interesting. In cocktails the all taste the absolute same to me. Could not distinguish at all.
when i drink vodka, i typically go with russian standard. i also like gzhelka. monopolowa is also good. sometimes i'll get skyy cherry vodka and mix it with coke for a cherry coke with a kick. if i'm at a club or bar i just do stoli if i want a screwdriver or something. outside of screwdrivers, i don't use vodka in cocktails a lot. i will sometimes use it if i'm making a homemade liqueur though.
I totally agree, it doesn't matter much with vodka. In fact even some of the 'not premium' vodkas can easily be used in a cocktail. I am going to try Hanger 1 as it is local and I agree with supporting local business. Well done, sir. Thanks
Really glad to see this because it verifies the results I've been getting in a long-running taste-test of ten different vodkas against my local distillery's spirit. I've compared them against the local distillery neat side-by-side and I'm working on comparing them the same way in seven different cocktails. What I found first was that the differences found between the spirits gets accentuated when compared in a Vodka Soda. I've also been finding that, in general, the vodkas that are cheaper do taste worst than the ones that are pricier, but the differences are so subtle as to not warrant splurging on premium brands. Stocking a local spirit is definitely the way to go if cocktails are the goal. Just for reference, my local vodka is from Albany Distilling Company and it definitely punches above its weight. Cheers!
I recently attended a Japanese Whisky tasting event, and the presenter described vodka drinkers as very brand loyal and whisky drinkers as promiscuous as they tend to try everything and move from brand to brand. Not sure how true that is, but it's certainly an interesting hypothesis.
12 bottles of vodka on the table - party like a russian, end of discussion😄 My go to vodka is Russian Standard, like it. Onegin is good premium one. And there are Green Stamp and Belenkaya on the market and these are not for drink, you would rather have a gallon of gasoline than take a shot of one of those) Thanks for a video, Anders!
When I'm not making drinks for friends and roommates, they prefer vodka neat and the go-to has been Khor. It's exceptional for the price, but a blind tasting of our comparatively priced local distilleries is a great idea. Cheers, Anders & Az!
This was interesting, thanks Anders! I really like a/b comparing of whiskey, it’s fun to Nerd-out on them. Never thought to do this with a vodka. I keep one bottle in my liquor cabinet for the occasional Bloody. I may have to invest in a couple more…for science! 😁
I made my own Vodka. My Polish neighbors couldnt tell the difference between it and Potaki. Fun fact. The most taste and smell actualy came from the water. My tap water is pretty crap. SO I bought spring water. Big difference. I went a stage further and got a load of activated carbon and ran water through that, as well as the spirit. No smell, not taste. nothing.
Thanks for another fun video! it might be a fun idea to do another spirit comparison video like this but with both you and Oz doing the same taste tests aside by side to show how much individual preference can influence the outcome of a cocktail. Cheers!
What a great episode, thank you!! My go to vodka is another Polish potato vodka, Luksusowa, which translates in English as 'luxury'. I like it straight on ice with lemon, and very affordable! Probably not the best Polish vodka, but I also like it for sentimental reasons. Love your channel, super informative!
Hello from Ukraine. We have 2 types of vodka-like products: gorilka and vodka. Historically Gorilka should be made from 100% wheat and artesian water, vodka from any grain and distilled(filtered) water. Khor(named after Khortytsia island - capital of the cossaks) is common middleprice brand, you can find one in any grocery shop. I prefer (only for cocktails) Finlandia or local fancier brands.
I bought Reyka Vodka out of Iceland because I like the way the bottle looked. That seemed to be the best reason to get picky about vodka. I actually really enjoyed it when I got it home! I get the vanilla tasting notes from Tito’s straight.
ANDERS!!! This was awesome!!! Being a former Vodka guy, I DO know that snacking on dill pickles while sopping Vodka makes a huge difference!!! I really brings out the different nuances in those bottles!! Great video!!!
My friends and I did a blind vodka taste test awhile back. We did the same as you: straight (though not any of us drink it that way) and in a cosmopolitan. I preferred Absolut straight. Smooth. But with a cosmo, the winner by a long shot was Grey Goose L’Orange…which, not surprisingly, is how I normally order it. (Side note: I also prefer basic Triple Sec-as opposed to Cointreau-in my cosmo because it’s sweeter. Again, just my own preference.) I did not like L’Orange straight; pretty harsh as I recall. So, it seems that one can absolutely enjoy a particular vodka on its own, while preferring a competitor in a cocktail. Love your vids! Always on the lookout for new recipes…especially vodka ones 😁
I remember there being a vodka fad in the 90s and a paper did a lifestyle piece which recommended drinking shots with the bottle straight from the freezer. It's a good test for being 40% as below that it forms crystals. We used to drink a bottle of black label Stoli down on a school night and wake up for work no hangover. Grey Goose used to be my favourite but as Anders says the marginal difference doesn't warrant the £££. Now I get the luxury bottle from a discount supermarket and £15 from Lidl gets you a Grey Goose-a-like; the same stores cheap bottle is undrinkable lighter fluid that somehow is below 40% because it won't freeze properly!.
Great video. I do think you find a difference with cheap vodka. My daughter brought home a cheap one from college. The smell was terrible (strong ethanol) and the taste was so bad we dumped it out. Thanks for this video!
Anders, thanks for taking 12 for the team! I make, and drink, virtually no cocktails with vodka as the base. One bottle lasts a really long time! I agree wholeheartedly that we should choose to support our local, small distillery by purchasing theirs. Luckily for us in the SF Bay Area, There are a few excellent options, including Hangar 1 and St George. Skol!
Sounds like I should try Hangar 1... I have not cared for Stoli, tend to prefer Kettle One, but find it very hard to beat Cosco's Kirkland vodka for taste and value.
Excellent video. I think another element that sometimes gets overlooked is the texture of a drink. Ketel One for example is really creamy and less viscous. So i find it adds a certain dimension to a cocktail that other vodkas dont have
As a seller in a local spirits retailer I can admit that at least from my experience, consumers are almost non concerned at all about the flavour profiles of different vodkas. The thing that is of real importance to the most of our clients is a "spirit quality" of vodka, which is measured by the severity of the hangover the other day. That's primarily the reason some people prefer premium vodka over some "regular".
you mean purity. any of the crap that isn't ethanol or water. I think the so called premium advertise how many time it's distilled to show that. But I think the industrial distiller can produce something that is just as good.
Ridiculous. You're putting a toxin in large quantities in your body, flushing out the nutrients and dehydrating yourself. It goes with the process. This hangover nitpickery is a complete waste of time. If you don't enjoy the taste as much as possible of what you are drinking, you're doing it wrong. That's all that matters and whatever happens when you get up the next day is to be dealt with when the time comes.
It would have been nice to see the final comparison with a dry martini. It would expose the nature of the vodka more. My wife can tell between Tito’s and Grey Goose when blind tested… I definitely can’t. 😂 Love your videos, thanks!!!
Finlandia is my favorite for mixing. It's super smooth, it doesn't give you so much of that burn. They also have really nice flavored vodkas like nordic berries. But I just like it a lot. Much more than Absolut which has that burn in the end, which isn't bad. I just like the smoothness of Finlandia.
I've been using vodka to make other liqueurs. It's neutral and let's the other parts of the liqueur shine through. I really don't use it for anything else. However, lately I've been using shochu for making liqueurs (since I live in Japan). I've been amazed at the improvement in my liqueurs. Even though I'm using 25% alcohol shochu (because it's cheaper than higher alcohol ones which tend to be koshu) I find that with a 3-4 week maceration I get plenty of flavor. It's really changed my thoughts. Sweet potato, sesame seed, chestnut, rice, barley shochus all have such different character and they all complement different fruits and spices. Sooo.. I'm still not on the vodka bandwagon and have been wandering away from what little I used previously. I'd love to see you do something similar with shochu given how interesting it can be, but I imagine that might break the bank :-) The markup on shochu in the US is really shocking...
I am not much of a drinker but I tried Koyomi Shochu with 7up and it was really good. Like, I was amazed how good it was. It was like it brought out the flavours of the Shochu so well, without over powering it. And it had to specifically be 7up, because I tried another lemon drink and it didn't work.
Russians(who are known to be a big time vodka drinkers) have a saying that there’s only good and very good vodka for a reason - and you just explored this reason in your video!
Kettle One is my preferred, I got that recommendation from a Ukrainian friend of mine. Interestingly, I ran out once and tried Titos. Made my wife's favorite and said it tasted horrible. She must have super tastebuds. LOL! Great video as always! Cheers!
I think that Andres should do a second run of this episode a while from now... same 12 vodkas, randomize the letters and see if the results are the same! Would be an cool experiment!
I'm also not a vodka fan, but I feel like its place in a cocktail is that it IS neutral. It provides an opportunity to showcase the other ingredients while providing the alcohol content that the drinker may want. Still not for me, but that has always been how I've viewed its purpose. I'd be interested in a video where vodka cocktails are compared against similar cocktails made with another spirit to see if any of the vodka cocktails prevail. I suspect gins would come out favorably in that video.
I first started getting into cocktails because of Tito's since it's so smooth. I could add it to almost any drink to make it alcoholic like all the fruity lemonades I make in summer. Then I got into tiki drinks and now I'm deep into rum and love all the different styles and flavors. I recently tried Tito's against Costco's Kirkland American vodka. While I do like Tito's a little more, they are too close to justify spending double on Tito's. Now I mainly use vodka for homemade liqueurs.
Also coming from a Russian. We never drink vodka without Russian bites, zacuski. After a thanks/welcoming/commemoration/anecdote/long tail/how I met your mother speech, you drink the shot and immediately chase with something pickled, cured, fermented, smoked, or neutral like bread. They either completely kill the flavor of the vodka or enhance it. Hence why we could polish off bottles during the holidays because all we do is literally drink and eat. Hope this helps.
I think I read Ketel One is the most environmentally friendly spirit in the world. Pretty sure it's distilled in an active windmill or something... kinda cool I guess
A little surprised you didn’t try Zubrowka, the Polish Bison grass vodka. That IS a vodka with a flavor profile and a vodka that is sweet and tasty to drink neat. My “go to” vodka is Ukrainian Heritage A) because my dad’s Ukrainian B) because it’s a rye vodka C) because I can’t easily access Khor or other Ukraine made vodkas, but I still might prefer UH vodka. I find it does have enough flavors I like it neat and like you, don’t do vodka cocktails.😉
I remember watching the Mythbusters episode on vodka, and how Jamie could instantly tell the difference between cheap and expensive vodka. That day I went out and bought a bottle of Grey Goose and some cheap vodka to see if I could tell the difference, and I could. It wasn't a matter of taste, just of burn. So yeah, there's a difference... but only straight up. In a cocktail, just choose the cheapest vodka you can find.
This was great. We lean into local craft vodkas rather than the European or Russian brands, and I think you explained why. Breckenridge Vodka is a consistent one on our shelves along with Tito's.
I enjoy your videos. My girlfriend and I have never been drinkers, but we are starting to try different drinks. Your videos are inspiring and instrumental in our discovery of spirits. Currently we are stocking out bar with tools and spirits we like. Keep up the good work.
Only thing I would add - vodka companies LOVE to tout how many times they run their vodka through their distillation stack “12 times distilled!”… but that’s honestly not the optimal way to judge them… in fact it tells you just how neutral they are. The taller the distillation column they’re working with, the more precisely they’ll be able to separate the heads and tails from the heart of the run. As a result, very tall columns require fewer cycles to produce clean vodka (or any spirit for that matter), and the fewer cycles they have, typically the more flavor you’ll be left with from whatever product they distilled. It’s actually wild how much of a difference it makes!
Anders, you and AZ are awesome! I drank a lot of vodka (I'm from Russia) And I agree with your final conclusions-if the vodka is of high quality, it does not matter which one Armie Hammer told stories about how we drink vodka-the freezer makes everything soft) P.S. Blind testing is the best way to find out what you really like.
I use Tito’s Vodka 95% of the time in a mixed drink which is on sale at my local store most of the time. My cocktail nowadays is the bloody caesar cocktail (I really like it as a change) or the ubiquitous vodka martini although I prefer a gin martini with a GOOD cigar.
My go-to vodkas are Ketel One and Stoli. I was surprised that you rated Ketel One the worst but I absolutely agreed at the end, I like it because it is less neutral in a cocktail without being detrimental. I would add that another criteria I have for vodkas is purity. Some vodkas (like Titos) taste great but they give me the worst hangover. So distillation techniques and filtering are a factor in my choices.
As a vodka drinker, I can definitely tell the difference in brands. And there are some cheap ones that taste like rubbing alcohol. 😝 I do like other types of alcohol and love the variety of cocktails on your channel. Great video as usual.
I don't think the knock against vodka is that they all taste the same. Of course there are some shitty ones. My knock against vodka is that its intended to be very light in flavor. So that it's really just there to add alcohol to a drink. I'll also add that there are plenty of cheap but very well made vodkas. So the premium paid for some vodka's is silly in my opinion.
I'm not much of a vodka drinker either, but I do like Kastra Elion. It's distilled from a mix of wheat and olives, and has a very velvety texture. If you can find it, it's definitely worth a try. Bonus, it comes in a gorgeous stone bottle, so even if you don't like the juice it's still a great display piece.
In Sweden (Home of Absolut) it used to be a difference between neutral spirit from wheat (vodka) and neutral spirit from potato (brännvin). The name Absolut is actually taken from another spirit brand that used to be called ”Absolut Rent Brännvin” (Absolute Pure Brännvin) and was a potato based spirit. It is still produced today, but is called “Renat Brännvin” (purified brännvin), but both “Renat” and “Absolut” is wheat-based nowadays. Renat also have product nr 1 in the Swedish Liqour monopoly catalogue. :)
@theolderbrother I'm sorry, but do you have any sources for your claims? As far as I can tell, the commonly accepted historical description is that "brännvin" in Sweden was originally made from distilled wine (part of gun powder production process), but then made from grain after Swedish soldiers learned this in Russia during the 1400-1500s. Distilling potatoes was a much later development (some 300 years later during 1800s). I can find no specific potato/grain connection either to "Brännvin" nor to "Vodka". Brännvin was however traditionally a cheaper and less pure liquid where herbs and flavours were added to mask the poor quality, Vodka was more distilled and thus higher quality drink with less impurities. Finally, I can not find any source backing your claim that "Absolut Rent Brännvin" used to be potato-based, but rather the opposite; at least Pernod Ricard, current owners of Absolut, claim it was wheat based originally.
@@idomaghic from wikipedia: Renat Brännvin redigera År 2023 finns Renat Brännvin (tidigare Absolut Rent Brännvin) fortfarande på Systembolaget, katalogiserad som nr 1. Den är numera gjord på säd, medan den tidigare gjordes på potatis.[11] sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brännvin
@theolderbrother Not sure why my response isn't getting posted, so here I go again: the source at Wikipedia doesn't support the claim of Absolut Renat being potato-based at any point; while the source page at Systembolaget has been (re)moved, using the Internet Archive, one can quickly conclude that Systembolaget has never made a claim that Absolut Renat Brännvin was ever potato based. With other words, the claim on Wikipedia lacks a source, and Wikipedia itself is absolutely not a credible source in itself. And additionally, *even if* Absolut Renat Brännvin was at some point potato-based, it in itself does not back your claims that "Brännvin" and "Vodka" was ever distinguished by potatoes and wheat/grain. As mentioned, the distinguishing factor is rather that Vodka is distilled further and thus of higher quality and more pure, no matter the base ingredient.
@@idomaghic the source is the swedish alcohol monopoly Systembolaget, and Vin & Sprit AB - the swedish gouvernmental alcohol importer and producer, which was the original producer of Renat (originally named Reinersholme). I Don’t think they Don’t know their stuff.
Chopin is my personal go-to. It feels more viscous in a way that I enjoy, plus as you said it's soft, sweet, and somewhat creamy. It doesn't make a ton of sense to spring for it if you're only making cocktails with it, but at the same time I (like you) don't tend to use it that often, so if I'm only going to have one bottle of vodka, I like it to be a slightly better one on the off chance that somebody wants to do shots or sip it neat.
Glad you made this. I'm a very amature guy when it comes to cocktails, but I have found a vodka that I very much enjoy and one that I very much don't care for. I love Titos. My favorite thing to make at home is a Moscow Mule. And Titos is smooth and I feel enhances the other flavors. I used to use Svedka, and that was... distracting. It was quite harsh, and just not very good. Noticed a very big difference between the two vodkas.
Excellent content as always. This was very informative. Anytime I ordered a vodka cocktail I always ordered Ketel One. Not for the taste but because in my experience I usually wouldn’t get (as bad) a hangover the next day. I figured top shelf = better experience.
Sobieski, for mixed drinks, because is cheap and neutral. Belvedere Unfiltered for sipping, likely best Polish, which by extension makes it world class, highest quality vodka there is. Cheers from NC 🍸
Aspiring vodka dork here. I recommend you try a couple side by side both chilled and at room temperature. There are nuanced flavors to vodka that get masked by the spice of the alcohol when warmer. Somewhat contrary to other spirits, the interesting flavors are highlighted at colder temps with vodka 🤓
Well, someone had to do this one! Glad it was you, after all. Not because this comparison would be useful but because it's really out of this world. :))).
Now seriously, I made some comparisons between the various vodkas I've tried (I'm not a fan, I intermitently keep a bottle in the bar, maybe for the likes of Cosmo or Monza). Best vodkas, that have some nice after taste, are Norvegia (made out of potatoes) and Absolut Voices Ltd Edition (a dark blue bottle with tridimensional ripples model), made out of wheat. Polish or Latvian rye vodkas are allright too. The drinks made out of grapes are really not vodka, if I may say so.
Two videos I would like to see: one about vermouths and vermouth-adjacent (cocchi, lillet, even sherry) bottles. One about bitters beyond Angostura, orange and Peychaurd;s,
As a bourbon fan, I sometimes will get Buffalo Trace Distillery's Wheatley vodka. It's nice and generally very reasonably priced. Also, definitely agree with supporting local vodka makers!
I'd say that if you are making a vodka martini (tbh not something I usually do) then having those higher end vodkas helps. Personally I use the vodka of a local distillery called Old World Spirits. Their basic St. Blaise vodka is actually quite good. They also have a version where they distilled the vodka from peach juice and it adds this wonderful hint of peach flavor without becoming a peach infused vodka. I'll also note that the distillery makes a great aged gin called Rusty Blade that I would highly recommend. On the other hand my mother who drinks a lot of vodka based drinks did a blind tasting similar to this to determine which vodka she preferred and both her and my father actually picked the Kirkland brand vodka (their US made product, not the French made one).
Bought a bottle of Hanger1 a few years back because they’re a hometown biz, found myself really enjoying that bottle - it brought vodka back into my repertoire. This was an awesome comparison, as was your spiced rum comparison. Nice to see that the super expensive bottles go toe to toe w/lesser-known brands. Vodka is def a toughie to compare, for all the reasons you elaborated in this vid. You’ve got a lot of years of experience with a lot of different spirits & cocktails to make it very interesting. Pssst: Your ‘Indian Paintbrush’ cocktail was a FANTASTIC win at a cocktail nite a while back… I made a tried & true Paloma pretty giddy after many years writing-off vodka. Cheers, Anders!🐻🍸🏅
One of your best videos. Vodka is vodka in my opinion. We used to drink a lot of flavored vodka when I lived in Italy. Kegklivich is the brand (I think). Can’t find it in the States. We’d keep it in the freezer and drink it neat. Meloni (cantaloupe) flavor was our favorite. Drank many bottles. I recall it was about $6 US in the Navy liquor store on Naples Italy.
My go-to vodka has been Monopolowa out of Austria, because it’s a great bang-for-buck in dirty martinis and moscow mules. I am not too picky about vodkas in cocktails as long as they don’t have a strong burn after sipping. I will say though, recently I tried the Wheatley vodka from Buffalo Trace distillery and it has lovely strong vanilla notes that go great with root beer!
Have you ever tried Luksusowa Polish Vodka ? Curious to see where it would rank. Like you I agree in most cases Vodka is Vodka. I have had Grey Goose La Melon, not bad. There is also one from Idaho called Fire and Ice (I hope I got that right) that was fairly smooth. For some reason I gravitate toward potato Vodkas. Not sure why. Anyway I look forward to seeing these videos. I sometimes try the ones you don't like just for the hell of it. I find that my palate is not so discerning and most times I come away with a "it is what it is" opinion. Thank You and good day.
As a vodka seller and enthusiast - You have vodkas like Sobieski , but don't have Belvedere? Test is INCOMPLETE and need to repeat. However - interesting film. Cheers form Poland!
My current top pick is Belvedere vodka out of Poland. Smooth, neat flavour that just disappears in a drink (which I know is not what you're looking for). Having said that, they also make a single estate rye called Smogóry Forest that is really good. The bottle describes it as "Rich and savory with notes of salted caramel, baked bread, and white pepper."
Love the “support local” for vodka. I buy St. Pete Vodka here in Florida. I am not a vodka drinker, but it mixes well. That being said, we also keep a bottle of Goose in the freezer for a friend because that is all he drinks.
Tito’s was my vodka of choice due to it taking over the bars in San Francisco in the 20-teens. But I’m happy to hear Hangar One made it to the top. Fun fact: At the Hangar One distillery tour, I learned they add a pear flavor just to differentiate it from other vodkas.
I love these bracket episodes. I use Tito's, but I haven't shopped around all that much. I wonder if the small differences in vodka might matter more in a cocktail where it's not competing with powerful sweet and sour flavors. For instance, I do really enjoy it in an ice-cold vodka martini. If you've ever seen I Heart Huckabees, where they punch themselves in the face with a rubber ball to achieve a deeper more satisfying sense of nothingness-a good vodka martini is kinda like that.
Anders, I always love your videos, and you do a great job communicating useful information (even if the subject is boring vodka) in a fun and interesting way, but watching this video, I started realizing that the real star of this channel is Oz. She does such a fantastic job producing and editing the videos in a way that makes me want to come back to watch, every time. You two make a great team!
Love seeing Polish vodka represented... got familiar with it when I was stationed there. For me, potato or rye is the way to go. Potato is smooth, but like rye whiskey, rye vodka has a much spicier taste than wheat or barley, which I quite like
Thanks for doing the leg work Anders, I’ve always wondered if there was a huge difference - for me it boiled down to avoiding harshness/burn so I go grape vodka but then again there’s rarely call for it in the drinks I mix so guests end up drinking it
Stolichnaya has been my favorite since I went to Russia for 2 months (December 85/January 86) Every meal had Stoli's, Pepsi(no Coke at that time), and a lemon drink on the table. Interestingly, all was served at room temperature, no ice. To chill things, I hung them outside my hotel window. I prefer Stoli ice cold, neat. Occasionally followed by a lemon wedge dipped in sugar
I remember seeing a blind taste test on a television show years ago where most of the people participating said Grey Goose was their favorite. Then they did the test. Winner? Smirnoff.
I don’t choose to drink vodka either, but as a retired cocktail consultant to the 5Star hotel industry i always used Wybrowa in the well. Its flavour and texture as well as good bite in cocktails is perfect and it’s extremely well priced, often the cheapest of the historic brands.
Reyka is my personal favorite vodka and I was kind of surprised it wasn't in the video. I just find it so smooth and with a nice minerality. A great video even with a minor omission and no list would really be exhaustive enough. You showed a good varied list of vodkas that would be behind a bar in most cities. I do love your end comparison of both the best and worst just to prove in the end it really comes down to whether you want to know you're drinking something boozy or not. I'm personally more of a gin, whiskey and wine guy so I also feel lost ordering something with vodka. The only time I feel something calls for vodka is a club night where I'll order a blueberry red bull with vodka and it tends to be with Absolut for being the cheapest.
this was a great video!! when i first started bartending and getting into craft cocktails, my go to was ketel one as well! and similar to you, i pretty much no longer drink vodka. funny how some of us have similar palettes and experiences
