Comment · Fri, October 15, 2021 · ND Owner
Why is EVERY lions mane brand Chinese
What they were answering
jackrabbit1994 · 1 points
Haha, I remember back then I was ripping on my broke alcoholic buddy who insisted on buying Tito's and then he fed me what I thought was BS, basically a simpler version of what you just told me. I found a vodka expert online and he confirmed that my buddy was right. I moved up to Smirnoff and Tito's that day. Here I was thinking I was the smart guy not getting roped in by marketing, drinking like a half-handle of vodka with a bunch of gross shit in it to save a couple bucks.
Do you have a vodka brand that you think highly of? I'm partial to Smirnoff myself but that's just based on it winning blind taste tests in the NYT, not familiar with any of the distilling processes.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
There is a diminishing return on quality. However, the difference between bottom shelf and mid is massive compared to mid/top. I think that is what most people conflate. Shitty spirits are almost universally worse for you. However, super expensive ones are not always better. Paying $150/bottle doesn't mean you are getting 3X better than a $50/bottle.
Smirnoff and Titos are probably fine as far as congeners. They are just watered down bulk Grain Neutral Spirits bought from the commodities market and then mixed with water at the factories. They make people think they are using special distillation processes, but they are just getting GNS on the commodities market and mixing it. Tito's seems to just take the GNS and put them through copper stills for shit's a giggles.
http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-truth-about-titos-and-all-vodka.html
https://www.eater.com/2019/10/16/20893218/titos-handmade-vodka-craft-spirit
So most places are just buying bulk grain neutral spirits that are made from tons of corn in the midwest, then either just diluting it or doing superfluous processes to it to make it seem unique. Smirnoff is just diluted GNS from bulk corn. I am not a vodka drinker. I prefer scotch. This is why I like more flavor, so I would stay away from any corn-based GNS vodka. That pretty much eliminates all large US vodka. I would go with a rye based vodka like they do in Europe. This would be Belvedere, Sobieski, or Zouk. Those are all 100% rye mash, which will give you some spicy notes of cinnamon, clove, black pepper, and nutmeg. If you like the smoother sweetness of corn based vodkas, Rain vodka uses all white corn in smaller batches. It's made by the Buffalo Trace distillery. Chopin makes a potato mash vodka, if you want the more traditional oily/creamy taste.