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Article says cheap vodka is indistinguishable from expensive vodka
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:27 PM Author: Exhilarant national security agency https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590022606/is-there-really-a-difference-between-expensive-vodka-and-cheap-vodka
Is There Really A Difference Between Expensive Vodka And Cheap Vodka? 4:43 Special Series Planet Money Is There Really A Difference Between Expensive Vodka And Cheap Vodka? 4:43
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March 1, 20184:21 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered
Dan Pashman
Walk in to just about any bar in America today and you'll see a row of fancy vodka bottles all lined up. Some people swear by one brand or another, but there is a federal law that requires all vodkas to be pretty much the same, so the Planet Money team decided to test them.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Walk into just about any bar in America today, and you'll see a row of fancy vodka bottles all lined up, shining like beacons. Some people swear by one brand or another, but there is a federal law that requires all vodkas to be pretty much the same. That got our Planet Money team thinking, is this the greatest marketing coups of all time? So they teamed up with Dan Pashman of the food podcast The Sporkful, to put fancy vodka to the test.
DAN PASHMAN, BYLINE: Let's start with Title 27, Section 5.22 of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Code.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAPERS SHUFFLING)
PASHMAN: I got it right here. It says that vodka must be distilled or treated until it is, quote, "without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color." Of course it tastes like vodka, but it wouldn't be vodka if it had distinctive character. Still, a lot of vodka makers insist their flavor's superior. Grey Goose calls itself the world's best-tasting vodka. It's a big claim, which is no surprise if you know anything about the guy who invented it.
MATTHEW LATKIEWICZ: Sidney Frank - he is a classic American businessman and almost a cliche. He came from nothing, poor. He went to Brown. But he only went to Brown for one year because he couldn't afford it.
PASHMAN: This is Matthew Latkiewicz. He's a drinks writer and author of "You Suck At Drinking." He says Sidney Frank was just determined to strike it rich. Frank married into a wealthy family, which got him into the liquor business. Now, back in the early '90s, the fanciest vodka around was Absolut. But by today's standards, it wasn't that expensive. And that's what Sidney Frank focused on - not the taste of Absolut but the price.
LATKIEWICZ: He essentially out of thin air goes, I want to make a vodka. So Absolut's charging 15. I'll charge 30. He didn't even have a product at this point.
PASHMAN: But he already knew he was going to charge double. And to do that, he needed a product that screamed luxury.
LATKIEWICZ: It's got to be the best. Everything that is the best comes from France. So he goes to France, and he looks around for distillers. He says, can you make vodka? He finds somebody that says, yes, of course I can make vodka.
PASHMAN: Frank sent his product to bartenders but not in cardboard boxes like vodka is usually shipped.
LATKIEWICZ: He would give them the bottle in these - a wooden box with straw inside and nicely packaged. It would be this large, clear bottle with the frosted glass that when you put it up on the back bar would catch whatever light was there, and it would kind of glow.
PASHMAN: The whole plan worked. Sidney Frank died a very rich man. He sold Grey Goose to Bacardi less than 10 years after he started it for more than $2 billion. At the Planet Money team, we thought that sounded so easy. Can we make our own premium vodka? We learned that a lot of companies actually buy a vodka concentrate in bulk from a handful of suppliers. Then they just add water. So we've got a hold of a sample, brought it here into the studio...
(SOUNDBITE OF LIQUID POURING)
PASHMAN: ...Added some water...
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLINKING)
PASHMAN: ...And sent it to a lab along with a sample of Grey Goose and a sample of some of the cheapest stuff we could find. A few days later, we got a call from Neva Parker. She's the vice president at White Labs in San Diego. She ran our vodkas through what they call a comprehensive spirits test.
Based on that information, Neva, which of these three vodkas would you suspect should be the cheapest, least-desirable vodka?
NEVA PARKER: If I had to choose based on this analysis alone, I would say number one.
PASHMAN: That was the Grey Goose. And the ultra luxury choice...
PARKER: Number three.
PASHMAN: Number three was the cheap stuff. Now, to be fair, Neva did say the differences in all three samples weren't anything most people were going to taste. She compared the reports.
PARKER: I mean, look at these. They all look very similar as well.
PASHMAN: Very similar - we did talk to Grey Goose. Their global brand ambassador, Joe McCanta, took issue with our test.
JOE MCCANTA: Obviously our product was decanted into another bottle. And when that happens, it kind of compromises, you know, our understanding of any testing that's done on the product afterwards.
PASHMAN: He also argued that the odorless, tasteless law is more about distinguishing true vodka from vodkas that have stuff like fruit and sugar added. Pure vodka is its own category.
MCCANTA: Every vodka within the category will have its own characteristics, which would be largely attributed to the raw materials used to make the spirit or even the process used while distilling the spirit. So yeah, that's definitely our take on it. And that's why - you know, that's why we feel very proud of our process and our ingredients.
PASHMAN: So our one lab didn't detect any taste-able differences even with our homemade vodka. And the law seems pretty clear to us. But Grey Goose insists there is a difference. They also invited us to come have a drink with them. We are willing to continue our research. For NPR News, I'm Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful food podcast.
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:35 PM Author: Nubile haunted graveyard temple Vodka is different from every other spirit in that it's supposed to be tasteless traditionally. The really good vodkas are just a clean and pure taste. Once you get above a plastic bottle, which can impart its own plastic flavor, a cheap vodka is almost imperceptibly different from something $100 more. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123092) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:37 PM Author: flickering tanning salon This is pretty cr. The only question is how cheap. Mediocre vodka is indistinguishable from good vodka but shit vodka is still shit. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123102) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:38 PM Author: appetizing principal's office (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123111) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:38 PM Author: Exhilarant national security agency So, Grey Goose, Absolut, et al are just gc flame, huh?
I saw this article the other day and then bought a $7 fifth of vodka. It was fine |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:47 PM Author: judgmental carmine hissy fit (((Sidney Frank))) - he is a classic American businessman and almost a cliche. He came from nothing, poor. He went to Brown. But he only went to Brown for one year because he couldn't afford it. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123162) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:37 PM Author: crimson exciting stead (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123103) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:40 PM Author: ultramarine motley resort i used to drink a lot of vodka. i've tried a zillion different brands.
some taste like rubbing alcohol & will give you horrible hangovers.
but, if you're mixing it, generally there isn't a ton of difference in taste between most brands.
i always laugh at those who pay extra for a "goose & tonic." |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:52 PM Author: Shivering yarmulke i drink a lot of vodka with soda, no mixers
not sure if i can taste the difference, but i tried to make titos and ketel happen for a while and would just feel nasty during/after. dont really feel that with goose. it def seems cleaner |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 11:34 PM Author: pink corner patrolman Goose & tonic is only a mild waste
There was this one awkward hanger-on in my college group that was fond of Goose & Red Bull |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:46 PM Author: judgmental carmine hissy fit I am shocked, SHOCKED, that a Jew would perpetrate a scam
"Sidney Frank - he is a classic American businessman and almost a cliche. He came from nothing, poor. He went to Brown. But he only went to Brown for one year because he couldn't afford it." |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:55 PM Author: swashbuckling metal reading party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCrKjZrg-eA
You WON'T BELIEVE what #1 is! |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:58 PM Author: curious vermilion theater I dunno Tito's definitely tastes smoother than the bottom shelf stuff (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123235) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 10:59 PM Author: judgmental carmine hissy fit and people swear that brand-name acetaminophen works better than generib acetaminophen (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123242) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 11:08 PM Author: flickering tanning salon Shit wine tastes as good as good wine if your are told it’s expensive. I don’t mean people think it tastes better. It does taste better. They’ve done FMRI studies and people get as much pleasure in their brain from shit wine as good wine as long as they are told it’s good wine. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123296) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 11:36 PM Author: pink corner patrolman Tito's isn't *that* expensive either. I cop handles of it for under $30 (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3985980&forum_id=2#36123461) |
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Date: May 24th, 2018 11:24 PM Author: ultramarine motley resort tito's primary advantage is that women love it.
also, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of higher end vodkas that are smoother and more drinkable than lower-end vodkas, but once you start combining with flavored mixers, the difference isn't worth anywhere near the cost markup at bars. |