good tasting vodka

vodka martini is great. more subtle than gin martini. try with caper berries instead of olives, makes all the difference. i like mine very very very dirty.

The whole point of vodka is tastelessness (unless you're talking about the flavored kind, lemon or whatever). One of the "features" of vodka is that it's not supposed to have any taste.

I suppose that the top-shelf vodkas like Grey Goose might be smoother (I'm a gin person myself), so in a dry martini it might make a difference. But if you're making mixed drinks, any reasonably-priced vodka should do... I wouldn't go for the cheapest, just on general principles.

Vodka with Ribena tastes surprisingly good (an odd discovery of my younger days!!)

And.... oh hell what's the black vodka (i actually mean it's black in colour not as in Smirnoff Black) that comes in thermal covers??

I personally avoided it because hey it's BLACK!! But i'm assured it tastes much better than regular vodka

I agree with Wy, the whole point of vodka is that it tastes of nothing really so you can make it taste of anything you like with whatever mixer you add to it.

Fresh orange works for me, half pint glass, 50mg vodka, three ice cubes fill to the brim with orange. scrum diddley umptious.

If given the choice, I have three vodka's that I prefer to all others. They are Grey Goose from France, Kettle One from The Netherlands and Boru from Ireland.

Heh.....I just realized I don't have a Russian vodka in there at all. Grey Goose apparently was rated number one recently by some wine and spirits organization, rating it 96 out of 100 points.

My suggestion to you might be to acquire several bottles of different varieties and have a vodka tasting to see what you prefer. Make it a stay at home party though so no one has to drive after!


*edit for double post*

Lady J, why do you prefer those? Do you drink them mixed or in dry martinis (or some other drink that is mostly vodka)? What are those vodkas distilled from (provly grain)?

Is it smoothness or flavor? Or both?

(Like I said, I'm a gin person -- give me Boodles any day... Bombay Sapphire is OK too!)

I remember liking gin... was in the early seventies, not that gin is dated, quite the opposite, but that is when I liked it. Gin and tonics in San Diego. Trying to remember more gin sins, but can't. And I have never understood vodka.

I guess I like booze of more colors...

Though of course I am in finer tune without the lot.

Which brings up,

chocolate!!!

Not to distract from the topic at hand. But vodka has always left me dry (after heaving out all my body fluids the day after). I much prefer Tequila and bourbon. Any one ever try George Dickel Tennessee Sour Mash? It is to die (or to kill) for. I'd love to hear some testimonials to that particular brand of sauce.

BB

If it's not going to be gin then the odds are I will not be drinking it. I am past 50, have never had vodka and see no reason to sample it now considering how good gin has been to me.

There are a number of sites such as this one, which claim that filtering cheap vodka through the Brita water system will render the product as good as top shelf, such as Grey Goose. Most sites I've seen are from college students and where the fun begins and objective comparison ends is a little hard to tell. However, I believe they're onto something and it's worth the effort to try.

I don't drink all that much vodka but I'm still considering trying it. One thing never mentioned is preparing the filter. It requires flushing with clean water when starting its work cycle, thus the water-logged filter would need to be displaced with vodka before capturing any filtered product.

I would imagine the filter could be stored in the freezer between usage.

If I try it I'll post the results.

If you flush the filter with water when you want to filter water, wouldn't you flush with vodka when you want to filter vodka? Maybe flush with Grey Goose...

Holy gimlets Batman!

The purpose for flushing it with water is to remove the manufacturing residues and preservative. I place mine in a 16 oz glass of tap water for 5-10 minutes and then flush with cold, running water. All that water is undrinkable. Doing that with vodka, especially Grey Goose, would be expensive and wasteful.

That's why I suggested simply displacing the water with vodka. Say a new filter weighs 2 oz empty, and 6 oz sated. I would pour 4 oz of vodka into the pitcher, allow it to filter through and discard. The filter should contain only vodka at this point.

Brita systems are good for eliminating smells, which could really help some lower grade vodkas, IMO.