Vodka – whats the difference?

Here’s an easy one for you….
I know nothing about Vodka and need to get some for Bloody Marys over Xmas – what do I need to buy?

Smirnoff red used to be the default choice. But probably whatever Aldi or Lidl own brand suits.

Ha, was going to say anything except the cheap supermarket-own-brands will be fine. Agree Smirnoff is the default choice! Stoli if you want to show off slightly 😀

Smirnoff blue tastes cleaner/nicer than red.
I find red a bit nasty personally.

The standard Absolut isn’t bad either.
Same as other spirits… Don’t get anything too fancy if you’re gonna mix it.

Once you’ve put tomato juice, lemon, Worcester sauce, tabasco and s&p in it it’ll make f all difference. Just buy the cheapest :-)

No idea what it’s like but we bought some JJ Whitley vodka from Morrisons the other day. I just didn’t want to buy russian stuff personally.

What they said, although you can make “vodka” from pretty much anything (rice, barley, corn/maize, potatoes, rye) and they do taste different. So if you do fancy something a bit different it’s worth seeing if there’s any local smaller distilleries making something more interesting.

Also supports a local business rather than Diagio/ABinbev/A.N.Other Hedgefund.

This in particular is very drinkable,

I have a good Muscovite friend who always says never spend good money on Vodka. I think that definitely rings true if you are mixing it.

Hangovers, Smirnoff red and other cheap Vodkas give me terribles ones, could just be that I drink less of expensive vodkas?

I just didn’t want to buy russian stuff personally.

I just had a pang of moral panic so I looked it up,

Smirnoff is owned by drinks giant Diageo – https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/smirnoff-vodka-sale-supermarkets-russian-23476145

Absolut (allegedly Sweedish) is owned by drinks giant Pernod-Ricard – https://www.pernod-ricard.com/en

So, no, not russian at all. But yes, owned by giant multinationals.

I happily drink Stolichnaya neat (I know, what a hero). Pretty much anything else I’ve tried needs a mixer.

Ukrainian friend plys us with his national rocket fuel. Recommend it for crazy drunken nights.

JJ Whitley is decent and was produced in Russia up until March this year I think.
They’ve moved all production to UK after the russian sanctions.

JJ Whitley is decent and was produced in Russia up until March this year I think.
They’ve moved all production to UK after the russian sanctions.

So more russian than Smirnoff then, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smirnoff :D

+1 on JJ Whitley – used to drink Green Mark and Russian Standard before the Ukraine grief. Glen’s is reasonable too – steer well clear of the real budget Tesco one though, totally vile headache material.

Local distillery does a vodka (puffing billy) but also if you want to go a bit overkill, they sell “new make” spirit too

https://www.thebordersdistillery.com/shop/

Not a fan of russian vodka, much prefer polish rye based ones, nobody seems to mention what it’s distilled from. it makes a big difference to flavour.

Once you’ve put tomato juice, lemon, Worcester sauce, tabasco and s&p in it it’ll make f all difference. Just buy the cheapest 🙂

Dont you then cheapen everything ? :)  isnt it nice to have a bit of quality in life.

I don’t find that vodka tastes of very much so as above if you are using it for mixing into other drinks then I doubt you would be able to tell the difference between using nice stuff v cheap stuff.

If we drink vodka in our house then typically we drink it straight, for that we usually have a big bottle of Zubrowka Biala in the freezer which is nice and smooth, for special occasions I sometimes treat my self to some Ostoya

Ogilvy vodka would be our local indy just to get it out here.

Not a massive vodka fan but the best I’ve had was Balkan brand…. We were paying 4 dollars a bottle in a bar in balkanabat came from the freezer to us in an ice bucket. Well chilled

I looked it up when I got home and decided I wouldn’t be buying any of that. – but it was so smooth almost whisky like. Far cry from russian bear we had on the wall in the union bar.

For cocktails I just use absolute. Once mixed you can barely tell it’s a vodka based drink.

I have Reyka Icelandic vodka which taste like vodka. LOL! I don’t know what is good or bad because that’s the first bottle of vodka I bought in my life. But I have a proper Ukrainian vodka too given to me by a friend but I keep it as souvenir rather than to drink it.

Danska is good if you’re passing through duty free anywhere but the UK it seems. Comes in an aluminium can and does well in the freezer.

Boru is Irish, very nice.

Anything Polish is probably going to be good as well.

Lidl own brand was decent enough for mixing many moons ago.

Like a lot of things, better quality in = better quality out….
That being said, in a Bloody Mary, the vodka is such a low volume component part, its diminishing returns…

I would probably default to Stoli for that… £16 on amazon….about the same as Smirnoff that artisan snob that I am would never buy, just because….

My favourite has been mentioned above, Reyka about £20, that being said, its just some limited trial and error in cocktail making, not a refined sipping expert….

Expect Lidl did a rapid rebrand on this

My favourite has been mentioned above, Reyka about £20, that being said, its just some limited trial and error in cocktail making, not a refined sipping expert….

I just drink it neat (most of my alcohol I drink that way). Not sure if that is the correct way of drinking vodka (because I saw the Russian drink it that way) but it is alright. I did make some bloody Mary but cheaper vodka will do too.

Zubrowka Bison Grass for no hangover.

Store it in the freezer.

I like Finlandia Vodka for mixing, Zubrowka Bison Grass if drinking it neat. Always from the freezer.

Contrary to a lot of the posts so far… premium vodka is meant to be best for mixing as the whole point in vodka is that it is suppose to be tasteless. Premium vodka is filtered multiple time in special filters (carbon, etc) to make it as pure and tasteless as possible – vodka is quite simply ethanol and water! If using cheap vodka it may not be as pure and also the water mixed in with it to dilute it down to ~40% abv tends to contains a fair amount of sugar / sweetners etc to counter the ethanoly taste… For better cocktails, use the premium vodka.

What about some of this.

Blacklion Vodka

Contrary to a lot of the posts so far… premium vodka is meant to be best for mixing as the whole point in vodka is that it is suppose to be tasteless.

The filtering removes fusels, which are what makes it taste ‘boozy’ and burns your mouth. Which is why cheap vodka hurts and expensive stuff is smooth. There’s still a large variation in taste depending on what the original fermentable sugars were.

If you want a tasty drink, then you need tasty ingredients. Black Cow is a great, and the Bison Grass stuff is also excellent but it is flavoured

Never been much of a vodka fan, but I didn’t mind Russian Standard compared to the other big name ones.

Problematic now though, I suppose.

Contrary to a lot of the posts so far… premium vodka is meant to be best for mixing as the whole point in vodka is that it is suppose to be tasteless. Premium vodka is filtered multiple time in special filters (carbon, etc) to make it as pure and tasteless as possible

I’d agree with this, I’m no Vodka connaisseur, but I just won’t drink Smirnoff red, it tastes funny, even in coke.
Smirnoff Blue or Absolut are only a couple of quid more a bottle than red and I’ll happily drink them with mixers.
No idea about supermarket own brands, I guess they vary from bad to rather good, depending.

Equally with a bloody Mary its probably less important, with tomato, tabasco etc, you’re not really gonna taste the vodka unless you’re making strong ones.

For a proper bloody Mary, aren’t you sposed to use very dry tio pepe sherry as well? That taste is definitely noticeable, even if brand of voddie less important.

When I drank black cow is nice
Bison grass platinum from France is amazing in the freezer
*Edit
it’s not from France buts it’s only place I’ve seen it

Stoli is from Latvia, so all good.

Russian Standard is actually Russian, but I suspect it’s either Sanctioned or retailers have voluntarily withdrawn it from sale. I’ve not seen it for ages.

Tesco value vodka mixed with warm Tesco value orange juice. Early 2000’s student house party drink of choice. I can still taste the acid reflux

Chase Vodka, made in Herefordshire, really amazing and made from potatoes grown on their farm. Also the Chase Gin is fantastic and has won lots of awards (currently £20 in Sainsburys).

Russian Standard is actually Russian, but I suspect it’s either Sanctioned or retailers have voluntarily withdrawn it from sale. I’ve not seen it for ages.

Yup, it’s banned in the the uk/EU –

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/smirnoff-vodka-sale-supermarkets-russian-23476145

Stoli Blue is the best vodka for cocktails but sadly it’s no longer at all easy to find.