Reply With QuoteGrey Goose and Chase are my favorites.
I also find Russian Standard quite palatable and it's cheap enough to have with a mixer.
Hello
Xmas is coming the goose is getting fat and all that.
I'm not a vodka drinker ; I'll knock it back like water if its carelessly placed in front of me but I'm more of a single malt man.
Anyhoo , My mum drinks it (with lemonade) and I usually get in a bottle for her annual xmas visit. I usually grab a bottle of Absolut and keep it in the freezer as I like it when it goes all sub zero and syrupy.
Ciroc , Finlandia , Grey Goose ...I've had them all and to be honest can't reliably tell one from the other.
Recommendations and discussion please from those in the know.
Grey Goose and Chase are my favorites.
I also find Russian Standard quite palatable and it's cheap enough to have with a mixer.
If it will be consumed with a mixer, no need for grey goose etc IMO. I would usually go for Stolichnaya.
If your mixing then I can confirm Russian Standard is pretty good, though I do prefer Absolut.
If you want something different, try Wisniowka by Polmos. It's a Polish cherry vodka, very smooth, very nice. Best drunk as shots rather than a mixer though, unless its 50/50 with Absolut Vanilla.......
Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka for me, please. Might have to have one now you've reminded me... :D
Drank FAR too much of that stuff one night about 10 years ago. Still can't stand the smell without gipping a little bit.Originally Posted by Hammerhead
A firm favourite
Good call. Have 4 one litre bottles set aside right now. Always come back from my visits to Poland with a bottle or two. Three or four visits a year. Also enjoy the flavoured vodkas too.
Chase for me or Crystal Head if you want something different
Chase is heaven!
On offer in Waitrose as well.
Chase Marmalade
Smirnoff Black Label, so smooth.
I like Chase as well. Absolut or Finlandia are nice, quite smooth. Russian Standard is not so smooth but has an appealing sharp bite. My favourite is Smirnoff Black Label, which has a very distinctive taste.
Got to be raspberry Stolichnaya or Belverdere.
Crystal head is nice.. The bottle is really a talking point.
If it's going to be primarily drunk by your mum then the Chase Marmalade is very good (albeit a little sweet for some). They also do a rhubarb one which is very subtle.
Belvedere - James Bond's choice.
Black Cow, made from milk, with a vanilla pod in....... perfect!!!!!
All great suggestions guys.
Crystal head has its attraction but I'm afraid I might be getting in the Russian standard for my mum.
Bison Grass I've had in a cocktail but again I have great difficuty in telling most vodkas from each other ( especially when they are subzero)
This will lead nicely into my next thread...Xmas cocktails for discussion.
russian standard for me and only £15 for 1L at sainsburys at the minute...
We played this game two years ago,
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=vodka
Search function.
Stole is on special offer in Tesco's at the mo.
Its my fav after Zukrowka, but I'm more of a gin girl really
+1 from me on this. A nice sweet taste to it
Only real good Vodka comes from Russia. Get one from there -> more expensive -> better. Unless you can get some local brands not sold globally ;)
-OD
Chase UK vodka.
Not normally one for spirits but the bottle of Zubrowka I received as a birthday gift one year didn't last long.
Hanacka from Czech Republic is bloody fantastic too but never seen it in the UK.
We played this game two years ago,
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=vodka
Search function.
Well thanks for that , but I did actually search before I posted the thread and zip came up.
Anyways it seems popular enough conversationally speaking.
Snow Queen or Belvedere for me
The "best" vodka has no taste, apart from it's pure neutral grain, which is pretty flavourless. It's dead easy to flavour any vodka, just drop the flavouring of choice in and wait a couple of hours.
I came back from a work trip to Poland a few years ago with a handful of bison grass. Worked wonders.
One trick is to put your cheap vodka through a charcoal filter, like a BRITA system. This is all the "high end" manufacturers do anyway and it'll come out as pure as the virgin snow.
Oh no ...I feel an experiment coming on . Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy it filtered already than spend the money on the britas things?
I've always suspected as much ...I don't have a brilliant opinion of vodka beyond a low calorie alcohol delivery system...I'm a single malt man.
Belvedere sells an 'unfiltered' vodka - does this mean it tastes crappier than the usual version?
I already have a water filter so no extra expense, but you can easily make your own filter cheaply. I'm sure a quick youtube search will find out how and active charcoal is really, really cheap.
I prefer malt too, but I also occasionally like to drink a vodka, particularly when I'm with my wife's family in Russia.
I was sceptical until I tried Vestal's vodka. Identical potatoes grown in two different locations in Poland, distilled in the same way. A single distillation, unfiltered. Quite unusual. And pretty good. If terroir works for grapes, why not for everything else?
I have to say, Broussard is right. Potato vodka kick neutral grain into touch.
As its mainly for Martinis fella's I reckon I'll be going the Russian Standard route although I'm seeing Absolut for even cheaper.
I'm pretty sure that a "martini" with vodka in it isn't really a martini at all. But, then, as you're also a Vesper fan, I guess it's a literary thing?
Try drinking a proper martini made with gin and a real vermouth. It's not hard, and it's certainly not shaken. With so many excellent gins around, you'll be a) spoilt for choice and b) able to find your perfect drink.
Probably.
I figure I can do both with what I get . Vespers and traditional gin martini. I was deciding on whether to get noilly prat but plumped for cochi americano as its supposed to be best for the vesper.
I figure the vodka will be a toss up between absolut or russian standard depending on what is cheaper as I don't really drink vodka for its own sake.
Grey Goose after a visit to the freezer is good. Splash of lemon juice is all you need with it.
If it's having lemonade in it, Lidl own brand is more than adequate.....
The main thing is what you do with it; basically you need to keep it in the freezer and drink it ice cold to appreciate the full flavour.
I like Hannacka from Czech Republic or Chase from the UK.
Surely drinking it ice cold removes most of the flavour?
Try drinking your vodkas at room temperature and let me know how it goes...
I know it's bizarre as the cold kills the flavour of most things but it actually brings out the flavour of Vodka, trust me, it's how the Russians drink it.
Honest guvnor!...
http://vodka.russianlife.com/blog/how-to-taste-vodka/
I'm fully aware of that (i.e. how "the Russians" drink it). But the "full flavour" cannot be discerned by freezing. The "intended" flavour (i.e. next to nothing) may well be achieved through freezing your spirit...
I was under the impression that when you get the vodka sub zero it evaporates much more rapidly when it hits your mouth and gives a more pleasurable sensation rather than improved flavour per se.
I certainly enjoy vodka much more when its so cold air moisture will frost on the outside of the bottle.
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