# Vodka----Cheap vs Expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [March 23, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424 "2009-03-23T03:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/61 "2013-12-10T15:53:45Z")
This question may be a slight hijack from this thread, but re: lower-end liquor in plastic bottles, what about the plastic itself- does that possibly contribute any toxins/impurities to the liquor? I’d be leery of buying liquor in a plastic bottle not so much because it’s an indicator of low quality, because a solution of 40% ethanol stored in a cheap plastic container seems like a bad idea for human consumption. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/62 "2013-12-10T22:46:40Z")
That does seem like a definite possibility, which is why I was intrigued when I saw that Svedka had a 1.75L bottle, the size I prefer, but in actual glass. Yet it was still a very manageable $17. ---
**Author:** ![Tendrac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@Tendrac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tendrac)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/63 "2015-01-22T03:08:39Z")
I tried using the low cost Rikaloff plastic, 1.75 L. I used a trick from uni chem lab, fractionation column. I watched the temp @ the Liebig connection very closely. The tax was already paid 4 the vodka, so I dumped the residue and made a very fine Martini (FDR style - Wet) & typed this. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/64 "2015-01-22T03:29:47Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Slight hijack if I may. > > You guys ought to live in the Soviet of Washington. State liquor stores. Cheapest vodka is $9.95 for a 750 ml bottle. The good stuff is around $35 to $40 per bottle. > > BTW, I didn’t come up with that “Soviet of Washington” business. That’s what Jim Farley, FDR’s Postmaster general, labeled Washington way back in the 1930’s. Sorry to post six years later, but… If you’re gonna drink vodka in the state of Washington, there’s an [artisanal distilllery on Bainbridge Island](http://www.bainbridgedistillers.com/) that makes some very highly regarded vodka (and whiskey and gin, but I need to stay on topic). It’s in the $33/bottle range. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/65 "2015-01-22T03:54:49Z")
I’m surprised more people aren’t touting the tastiness of Tito’s. It’s really good vodka. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/66 "2015-01-22T04:42:06Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m surprised more people aren’t touting the tastiness of Tito’s. It’s really good vodka. Heh. Tito’s is also being sued for claiming to be handmade when it’s actually industrial ethanol brought in by tanker trucks and then redistilled. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2015, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/67 "2015-01-22T08:22:49Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Heh. Tito’s is also being sued for claiming to be handmade when it’s actually industrial ethanol brought in by tanker trucks and then redistilled. And “redistilled” means they take a tiny fraction of the stuff from the tanker truck and pump it through an old pot still. It has absolutely zero effect on the chemical composition or taste of the finished product. This isn’t news to anyone who’s paid the slightest attention. I’ve posted about it in the past, after someone else here mentioned it and I saw it confirmed elsewhere, probably Chuck Cowdrey’s blog. Since mid-level vodka is all industrial ethanol and water, and that’s produced pretty darn efficiently to a very high standard, I always wondered what could make the “plastic bottle” vodkas taste worse. A couple of things I’ve discovered. First, producers get a slight tax break if they add sugar and/or citric acid to vodka. (At least they did until recently. I think I read the Obama administration was thinking about changing it.) Secondly, some of the cheapest brands like Popov and Kamchatka aren’t even vodkas anymore. They are labeled as “vodka liqueur” or “vodka specialty spirit,” which means not only added sugar, but they are distilled below 180 proof (the magical number that makes any spirit regardless of source into vodka.) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/68 "2015-01-22T08:30:11Z")
So you’re dismissing the idea that the plastic itself could be a problem? ---
**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:** [January 22, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/69 "2015-01-22T08:39:12Z")
Oops! I had to type fast to get in the edit window after I hit submit too early, so I didn’t have time to double check. The magic number is 190 proof (95% EtOH). If you distill below that, it’s whiskey, rum, brandy, etc., depending on the source (and a few other things, like whether it’s touched wood or not). Once you hit 190 proof, it magically becomes neutral spirit or vodka, depending on the marketer’s preference. (Almost all spirits are distilled at a high proof and then diluted at bottling.) ---
**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:** [January 22, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/70 "2015-01-22T08:40:30Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So you’re dismissing the idea that the plastic itself could be a problem? It could be. I think some brands are available in plastic and glass. Maybe a blind taste test is in order. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2015, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/71 "2015-01-22T08:43:34Z")
It occurs to me that a lot of the mid-level brands and even top-tier ones make their airplane minis out of plastic. If that were the problem, you’d expect it to be even worse for those bottles, with greater surface area in contact with the plastic. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/72 "2015-01-22T17:17:42Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m surprised more people aren’t touting the tastiness of Tito’s. It’s really good vodka. Vodka shouldnt be 'Tasty" and in fact once you get out of the “cheap crap” level, blind taste tests show that there is no preference for expensive vodka. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/73 "2015-01-22T17:19:36Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So you’re dismissing the idea that the plastic itself could be a problem? I think that’s a very real possibility. There was a blind taste test between bottled and canned soda, and 60-70% of those who could tel a difference preferred the glass bottled cola. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/74 "2015-01-22T17:20:50Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > It occurs to me that a lot of the mid-level brands and even top-tier ones make their airplane minis out of plastic. If that were the problem, you’d expect it to be even worse for those bottles, with greater surface area in contact with the plastic. Your sense of taste is reduced on a airplane. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/75 "2015-01-22T19:15:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I think that’s a very real possibility. There was a blind taste test between bottled and canned soda, and 60-70% of those who could tel a difference preferred the glass bottled cola. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Your sense of taste is reduced on a airplane. Really? Do you have a cite for both of those? Not that I doubt you. But you do know you can get the airplane minis at the liquor store now, right? So it should be easy to test. ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/76 "2015-01-22T19:19:18Z")
A life-long beer drinker, I recently lost my taste for the stuff and switched to vodka. Vodka does produce some kind of sensation on my tongue akin to taste even if it is not true physiological taste. I would call the “feeling”, or whatever it is, closer to being sweet than anything else, but located on the side and bottom edge of the tongue next to the area where sour taste buds predominate. Anyway, my maiden vodka purchase was Stoly, because I figured if the Russians can get anything right every time then vodka must be it. Then I tried the much cheaper Smirnov, and maybe it was power of suggestion, but I thought although the “taste” was about the same, there was some quality akin to “smoothness” by which Stoly was a clear winner. I was about to go back to Stoly when I read about the NYT blindfold test mentioned upthread where Smirnov beat the pricey brands hands down, and decided to stay with Smirnov after all. What is the deal with plastic bottles supposedly being so awful? I would hope that as of the 21st century present state of affairs our plastic containers do not leach into the product. I have bought 1.75L Smirnov in both glass and plastic and have noticed zero difference. I have decided to stick with the plastic since it won’t break if I drop it, hopefully. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/77 "2015-01-22T19:34:37Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Really? Do you have a cite for both of those? Not that I doubt you. But you do know you can get the airplane minis at the liquor store now, right? So it should be easy to test. [http://thebillfold.com/2013/11/does-mexican-coke-really-taste-different-from-coke-produced-in-the-u-s/](http://thebillfold.com/2013/11/does-mexican-coke-really-taste-different-from-coke-produced-in-the-u-s/) > **[Welcome thefooddocs.com - BlueHost.com](http://www.thefooddocs.com/excuse-me-waiter-but-theres-economics-in-my-soda/)** > > Bluehost - Top rated web hosting provider - Free 1 click installs For blogs, shopping carts, and more. Get a free domain name, real NON-outsourced 24/7 support, and superior speed. web hosting provider php hosting cheap web hosting, Web hosting,... …_found that in a blind taste test people overwhelmingly prefer the taste of American Coke over Mexican Coke, and Coke in glass bottles over Coke in aluminum cans._ > **[Why Does Airline Food Taste So Bad? Turns Out, It’s All Your Fault](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-04-03/why-airline-food-tastes-so-bad)** > > It's a question every traveler has asked themselves at some point: Why does airplane food taste so bad? The answer will surprise you. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/78 "2015-01-22T20:56:24Z")
Another blind taste test which found that most participants couldn’t tell a difference between Coke products in plastic bottles vs. cans. > **[Does Coca-Cola Taste Best From A Can, Bottle Or Fountain?](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coca-cola-taste-test-can-bottle-fountain_n_3142151)** > > Does Coca-Cola Taste Best From A Can, Bottle Or Fountain? [This book review](http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-vodka-by-victorino-matus-1403899543)\* doesn’t do much to support claims of high-end vodka superiority. \*seeing as how the linked URL only goes to a fractional excerpt of the review, here’s an excerpt: "It turns out that Victorino Matus is not your guy if you want to build a case for the subtle variations of vodkas. From the get-go, he pretty much tells us that, inside the bottle, little separates the brands. While vodka’s base ingredient may vary—distillers can use potatoes, beets, grapes, corn or almost anything else fermentable—it’s produced with such clinical efficiency and at such high proof and purity that only small differences remain, no matter how many times the label claims it was distilled. The small differences are due in large part, Mr. Matus suggests, to the trace amounts of additives, like sugar or glycerine, which manufacturers are allowed to add without declaration. In the case of citric acid, manufactures can add up to 1,000 parts per million. “That’s what it comes down to in this multibillion-dollar industry: parts per million,” Mr. Matus writes. “Well, that and marketing.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/79 "2015-01-22T21:02:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another blind taste test which found that most participants couldn’t tell a difference between Coke products in plastic bottles vs. cans. > > [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/coca-cola-taste-test-can-bottle-fountain\_n\_3142151.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/coca-cola-taste-test-can-bottle-fountain_n_3142151.html) Yes- _plastic_ bottles vs. cans. Both should taste about the same since cans are lined with plastic. But mind you- many people couldnt tell any difference at all between glass and cans/plastic. The ones that could preferred glass, however. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2015, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424/80 "2015-01-23T07:53:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > [http://thebillfold.com/2013/11/does-mexican-coke-really-taste-different-from-coke-produced-in-the-u-s/](http://thebillfold.com/2013/11/does-mexican-coke-really-taste-different-from-coke-produced-in-the-u-s/) > [Welcome thefooddocs.com - BlueHost.com](http://www.thefooddocs.com/excuse-me-waiter-but-theres-economics-in-my-soda/) > …_found that in a blind taste test people overwhelmingly prefer the taste of American Coke over Mexican Coke, and Coke in glass bottles over Coke in aluminum cans._ > [Why Does Airline Food Taste So Bad? Turns Out, It’s All Your Fault | Condé Nast Traveler](http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-04-03/why-airline-food-tastes-so-bad) Interesting about effect of cabin pressure on taste. WRT the other two links, neither of them goes to an actual taste test; they each report on what others have reported. Only the second one actually includes a link to the original reporting, and when you follow it [here](http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/the-food-lab-drinks-edition-is-mexican-coke-better-than-regular-coke-coke-taste-test-coke-vs-mexican-coke.html), you find that what they actually discovered is that people prefer Coke _served_ in glass bottles. When they are poured into identical containers, whether cups, cans or glass bottles, the ones who could tell a difference preferred the American Coke, which had been stored in plastic-lined aluminum cans, over the Mexican Coke, which had been stored in glass bottles. No way to tell if that was because of the formulation or the effects of storage, though I admit that it seems unlikely that sitting in a plastic-lined can _improves_ the taste of soda. But it certainly doesn’t seem to hurt it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vodka-cheap-vs-expensive/490424.md?page=5)