See-throughs - long question

On 12 Dec 2005 12:11:28 -0800, "rb608"
wrote:

(snipped)

How much would be an adequate taste sample? And what would be a good
"neutralizer" to serve between tastes? Saltines? White bread?

For just tasting, anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon (kitchen
measure, not dining spoons) is enough. You don't really taste it once
it's past your mouth, anyway.
For drinking style tasting, a shot or less, depending on the tolerance
for alcohol of the taster.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

rb608 wrote:
"No fillers" is how I've been enjoying it thus far. I don't know where
the cutoff is proportion-wise; but at some point, the inital flavor of
the vodka (gin, whatever) becomes unimportant and overshadowed by the
mixers. If I'm drinking it straight, I want and am willing to pay for
the good stuff (within reason); otherwise I can just buy a jug o'
Popov, 1.75L for $9.99.

Joe F.

I'd sorta been hoping somebody would mention Everclear. Maybe mixed
half-n-half with distilled water. I mean, that's pretty much what vodka
is, right?

Just kidd'n!

Karl S.

Karl S wrote in
t:

rb608 wrote:
"No fillers" is how I've been enjoying it thus far. I don't know where
the cutoff is proportion-wise; but at some point, the inital flavor of
the vodka (gin, whatever) becomes unimportant and overshadowed by the
mixers. If I'm drinking it straight, I want and am willing to pay for
the good stuff (within reason); otherwise I can just buy a jug o'
Popov, 1.75L for $9.99.

Joe F.

I'd sorta been hoping somebody would mention Everclear. Maybe mixed
half-n-half with distilled water. I mean, that's pretty much what vodka
is, right?

Just kidd'n!

Karl S.


In Baltimore, you used to be able to buy Purple Passion in cans-- 50/50
grain alcohol/grape juice.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

Frankly, if I am going to drink some of that "white stuff", I'd rather it be
gin. I like those juniper berries.

On the whole, I'll stick with my bourbon - a good American drink - with or
without branch water. I prefer the brown stuff.

-John

"rb608" wrote in message
oups.com...
It's going to take a few paragraphs to get to the real question, but
as is my habit, I like to include a few hundred words of context.

Among the many subjects for which I am most thankful to the collective
wisdom and guidance of this group, I must include my introduction,
exploration, and enjoyment of single malt scotch. There are few things
finer than a relaxed afternoon or evening, alone or in the company of
good friends, taking life a bit more slowly while sipping the warmth of
a glass of good scotch.

Because of the rites and rituals I'm come to associate with such
enjoyment however, I cannot lightly or casually enjoy a glass of
Balvenie when the time simply isn't right. I get home from work,
check on the kids' schoolwork, maybe start on dinner preparations,
look through the mail to see which creditors are after me today. For
these more active or hectic times, I've gravitated toward beverages
of the see-through genre. Beverages I can enjoy while walking from
room to room while catching up on daily activities.

For me, that drink of convenience has been the martini. I can mix up a
batch, keep the bottle in the freezer, and pour a good one on a
moment's notice. Yummy, warm, effective. But, variety is nice too.
Enter vodka.

I've never been much of a vodka drinker beyond a fondness for a
perfect bloody mary, but with all of the hubbub and hype these days, I
thought I'd give it a thought. Now, I know at least one participant
here is a virtual expert on see-throughs, but I'd like to toss out
the question to the group with a few nuggets of my own.

One of the engineers in my office is a stereotypical Russian. Nice
guy, with a great "moose and squirrel" accent. I figure he ought
to know vodka, so I ask him what he considers the best vodka available
for sale here in the states. He responds by launching into story after
story about the connected party officials and their lavish lifestyle.
According to his assertions, "Russian vodka is ****." His
assertion is that Polish potato vodka is the best and was the vodka of
choice among the well-to-do in his country. Russian vodka was for the
peasants.

As a result of his recommendation, I bought a bottle of Luksosova. At
half the price of Grey Goose, I thought it was actually pretty good,
but as I say, I'm no expert on this stuff. I'm happy with the
popular Absolut, and I know others here are fond of Stoli, so here
finally is the question.

What should I be looking for in the taste of a "good" vodka? What
type/brand do you like?

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:04:22 -0800, Karl S
wrote:

rb608 wrote:
"No fillers" is how I've been enjoying it thus far. I don't know where
the cutoff is proportion-wise; but at some point, the inital flavor of
the vodka (gin, whatever) becomes unimportant and overshadowed by the
mixers. If I'm drinking it straight, I want and am willing to pay for
the good stuff (within reason); otherwise I can just buy a jug o'
Popov, 1.75L for $9.99.

Joe F.

I'd sorta been hoping somebody would mention Everclear. Maybe mixed
half-n-half with distilled water. I mean, that's pretty much what vodka
is, right?

Just kidd'n!

Karl S.

There's a reason for that. The only thing I've found it good for is
making herbal tinctures. The stuff tastes horrible, even in mixed
drinks. You have to have a serious desire to get drunk to use
Everclear for anything but cleaning of external cuts and scrapes or
tinctures (which have to mellow for a long time).

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

Cyli wrote:
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:04:22 -0800, Karl S
wrote:


rb608 wrote:

"No fillers" is how I've been enjoying it thus far. I don't know where
the cutoff is proportion-wise; but at some point, the inital flavor of
the vodka (gin, whatever) becomes unimportant and overshadowed by the
mixers. If I'm drinking it straight, I want and am willing to pay for
the good stuff (within reason); otherwise I can just buy a jug o'
Popov, 1.75L for $9.99.

Joe F.


I'd sorta been hoping somebody would mention Everclear. Maybe mixed
half-n-half with distilled water. I mean, that's pretty much what vodka
is, right?

Just kidd'n!

Karl S.


There's a reason for that. The only thing I've found it good for is
making herbal tinctures. The stuff tastes horrible, even in mixed
drinks. You have to have a serious desire to get drunk to use
Everclear for anything but cleaning of external cuts and scrapes or
tinctures (which have to mellow for a long time).

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

I've never tasted the stuff myself. I think it's banned in WA. or
something, or I would have tried some out of curiosity. What do you
suppose the difference in flavor might be? I've read that fermentation
can produce more than one alcohol, and that there are actually a family
of different grain alcohols - sort of like the various different sugars.

Here's what I found on the subject in a quick Google search.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusel_oil

Maybe that's the flavor difference in vodkas?

Karl S.

"Karl S" wrote in message
...
Cyli wrote:
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:04:22 -0800, Karl S
wrote:


rb608 wrote:

"No fillers" is how I've been enjoying it thus far. I don't know where
the cutoff is proportion-wise; but at some point, the inital flavor of
the vodka (gin, whatever) becomes unimportant and overshadowed by the
mixers. If I'm drinking it straight, I want and am willing to pay for
the good stuff (within reason); otherwise I can just buy a jug o'
Popov, 1.75L for $9.99.

Joe F.


I'd sorta been hoping somebody would mention Everclear. Maybe mixed
half-n-half with distilled water. I mean, that's pretty much what vodka
is, right?

Just kidd'n!

Karl S.


There's a reason for that. The only thing I've found it good for is
making herbal tinctures. The stuff tastes horrible, even in mixed
drinks. You have to have a serious desire to get drunk to use
Everclear for anything but cleaning of external cuts and scrapes or
tinctures (which have to mellow for a long time). Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

I've never tasted the stuff myself. I think it's banned in WA. or
something, or I would have tried some out of curiosity. What do you
suppose the difference in flavor might be? I've read that fermentation can
produce more than one alcohol, and that there are actually a family of
different grain alcohols - sort of like the various different sugars.

Here's what I found on the subject in a quick Google search.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusel_oil

Maybe that's the flavor difference in vodkas?

Karl S.

Most vodkas are pure grain alcohol cut to the desired proof with water and
then by law, vodka has to be filtered through charcoal. The major
difference is how much charcoal in used.

Bill McKee wrote:

Most vodkas are pure grain alcohol cut to the desired proof with water and
then by law, vodka has to be filtered through charcoal. The major
difference is how much charcoal in used.

ISTR, from many years ago (and I couldn't even guess at the source)
that I was given to understand that there was some federal law that
vodka had to be pure grain alcohol and distilled water.
I interpreted this to mean that there was no difference in
quality/taste in vodkas SOLD IN THE US.
As, at the time, I (to put it mildly) hadn't much of a pallate, it was
all the same to me -- so buy the cheap stuff.
In later years, backpacking through eastern Europe and SSSR/Russia, I
found major differences.

cheers

oz, who uses it now only for disinfectant, having discovered single malt

"MajorOz" wrote in message
oups.com...

Bill McKee wrote:

Most vodkas are pure grain alcohol cut to the desired proof with water
and
then by law, vodka has to be filtered through charcoal. The major
difference is how much charcoal in used.

ISTR, from many years ago (and I couldn't even guess at the source)
that I was given to understand that there was some federal law that
vodka had to be pure grain alcohol and distilled water.
I interpreted this to mean that there was no difference in
quality/taste in vodkas SOLD IN THE US.
As, at the time, I (to put it mildly) hadn't much of a pallate, it was
all the same to me -- so buy the cheap stuff.
In later years, backpacking through eastern Europe and SSSR/Russia, I
found major differences.

cheers

oz, who uses it now only for disinfectant, having discovered single malt


No to just grain alky and water. Russian is potato skins for the starch.
Friend was the plant manager for one of the upper cost US brands. He is the
one who said the rules say charcoal filter. His brand used about 9' / 3m of
charcoal. The real cheap brands used a few inches. He said he could not
taste the difference, but could see the difference with an ohm meter. His
plant used grain alcohol delivered in railroad tank cars.

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:33:17 GMT, "Bill McKee"
wrote:

(snipped)

Most vodkas are pure grain alcohol cut to the desired proof with water and
then by law, vodka has to be filtered through charcoal. The major
difference is how much charcoal in used.

I'm betting EverKlear doesn't use much charcoal. I expected the harsh
heat, but the taste was not good besides. That was when I drank a
mouthful sort of by accident. So the next time I did a Bloody Mary.
It cut right through the SnapeTom and spices and I poured that out, as
I'd spit out as much as I could of the straight stuff.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)