# Titos Vodka is better than your vodka **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [March 17, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884 "2014-03-17T00:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/21 "2014-03-18T10:57:09Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > My flavorless alcohol is better than your flavorless alcohol. > > Really, it’s all about the trace impurities, my trace impurities are better than yours, or there are less of them, or more of them, I forget. Ah. So it’s basically homeopathy. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/22 "2014-03-18T13:21:42Z")
Yeah, being proud of your vodka choice is sad on a lot of levels. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/23 "2014-03-19T20:41:02Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > The best vodka is made by J&L distilling company [http://www.jldistilling.com/](http://www.jldistilling.com/) > > They have a mass spectrometer in their distillery too prove their vodka is nothing but ethanol and water. As part of an MBA project I discovered that a now-defunct “premium” vodka actually did not even have a distillery. They bought the purest grade ethanol from an ethanol plant and watered it down to the appropriate proof. I always wanted to copy that business model but I also enjoy sleeping at night. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/24 "2014-03-19T21:52:55Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There are liquors that show skill, quality and craftsmanship in the pleasure they provide with every sip, and then there are liquors other than bourbon. I knew there was something about you I liked! But I’d throw good single malt Scotch into the mix as well. Tito’s is pretty good, I’ll admit, and reasonably cheap to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/25 "2014-03-19T22:31:19Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > As part of an MBA project I discovered that a now-defunct “premium” vodka actually did not even have a distillery. They bought the purest grade ethanol from an ethanol plant and watered it down to the appropriate proof. > > I always wanted to copy that business model but I also enjoy sleeping at night. It is a brilliant business plan. I always wanted to do it to ever since I worked in research labs and realized that lab grade ETOH and distilled water are both cheap and about as pure as you can get. Both are readily available in large quantities in most biological labs. Mix them together in the right proportions and you have the best vodka available for a total cost of just a couple of dollars per bottle at most. I wouldn’t feel bad about selling selling a premium vodka made from readily available lab ingredients. Anyone that has any sense knows that is all vodka is. Put it in a cool bottle, start the marketing campaign and hire scantily clad women to give out free shots at the poshest clubs and watch the money roll in. That is what the rest of the premium vodka makers do except you can make a lot more if you skip running your own distillery. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/26 "2014-03-19T22:35:28Z")
Conversely, I usually sterilize thermometers by pouring some vodka over them. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/27 "2014-03-19T22:47:52Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It is a brilliant business plan. I always wanted to do it to ever since I worked in research labs and realized that lab grade ETOH and distilled water are both cheap and about as pure as you can get. Both are readily available in large quantities in most biological labs. Mix them together in the right proportions and you have the best vodka available for a total cost of just a couple of dollars per bottle at most. > > I wouldn’t feel bad about selling selling a premium vodka made from readily available lab ingredients. Anyone that has any sense knows that is all vodka is. Put it in a cool bottle, start the marketing campaign and hire scantily clad women to give out free shots at the poshest clubs and watch the money roll in. That is what the rest of the premium vodka makers do except you can make a lot more if you skip running your own distillery. I agree, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. In fact I’d probably buy it if the marketing was “Look, we know what’s in Vodka. We’re using premium lab quality ingredients and delivering a top quality vodka for 1/2 the price.” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/28 "2014-03-19T22:52:03Z")
“Where I come from laddie, that’s soda pop.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/29 "2014-03-19T22:58:51Z")
> [@Shadow\_of\_The\_Moose](#): > > handmade in Austin, TX and filtered many times over, Tito’s is what you should be drinking. Unless you are Muslim, in which case, dont drink it. Nah. Dripping Springs is also hand-made in Austin TX and lacks the Tito’s over-hyped marketing strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/30 "2014-03-20T03:08:01Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > As part of an MBA project I discovered that a now-defunct “premium” vodka actually did not even have a distillery. They bought the purest grade ethanol from an ethanol plant and watered it down to the appropriate proof. > > I always wanted to copy that business model but I also enjoy sleeping at night. This is, in fact, what Tito’s does. Sure, they have a couple of small pot stills that they run some of their already pure industrial ethanol through so that they can legally say that their vodka was pot-distilled in Texas, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884/31 "2014-03-20T03:16:25Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Pretty much. That and you can drink it at room temperature and it still tastes like nothing. Since vodka is required to have less than 4% flavoring components at 100 proof and closer to 3% at normal percentages. If your vodka has flavor you’re doing it wrong. > > The TTB defines vodka as a neutral spirit made from any material, distilled above 95% ABV, then "treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color. Three percent is quite a bit, when you’re talking about flavoring compounds, though IIUC, “unflavored” vodka in the US is limited to citric acid and sugar (including glycerine). Not only that, but the vodka industry has managed to get the allowance for citric acid increased by arguing that it doesn’t produce a “distinctive” flavor. The previous standard (around 1%, I think) was set by testing the level of added acid at which a consumer could distinguish it in a blind test from a pure EtOH–water solution. The current standard is based on the level of added acid at which consumers will answer “yes,” to the question “Does this vodka possess a distinctive character, aroma or taste?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titos-vodka-is-better-than-your-vodka/683884.md?page=1)