On the contrary, Grey Goose tastes far smoother than well-grade Taaka or Stolichnaya. Try it editors. Sometimes higher price really does mean higher quality.

@bambino: Sure, a blind test taste done in the NY Times had Smirnoff made in the USA come out on top.

P.T. Barnum was not wrong.

I forget which news organisation performed it, but they got about 10-15 people together to sample various brands of vodka. The general consensus was that the cheaper brands "tasted smoother" than the others. Try a blind test on it. Maybe some people can sense the difference, but for my $$, I'll go with the cheaper vodka and put the extra $ towards more booze or savings.

"When Sidney Frank who made that he decided he was going to make a more expensive vodka that people would buy into because of its price and mystique driven backstory. France, oh, they are so refined... "

-- Sounds like someone's been at a Vodka-tasting too long.

One of the commenters pointed out that vodka doesn't have to be aged like most other spirits, which may have a lot to do with it. If you make whiskey, it's going to be years before you can even sell your product, and all the while you are going to have to store it under the proper conditions while the rough edges age out. With vodka, you're good to go as soon as you get it cooled off from the still.

Grey Goose is all hype. That high price you are paying is not for quality, it is purely for the name and so you can look like a worldly big spender in front of your friends.

Those pretty bottles cost a lot of money!

@mconfoy: I think Dateline made a blind vodka test with NY club goers and most of them picked Smirnoff as the best vodka. This is funny, my brother in law fancies himself a vodka connoisseur and he too swore up and down he could tell the difference in vodkas and of course, to him Grey Goose was the best. He talked crap so much that we decided to give him a blind test which he assured us he would tell the difference. Needless to say, we all know what happened. His reaction was funny though because the first vodka we have him was smirnoff and he did all that stuff: sniffing, tasting, swirling in his mouth, he said he would taste the others but he was sure that one would be the best. Then the last vodka, he just smelled it and instantly said "I don't even have to taste this, it's crap!". Lo and behold, that was the Grey Goose. Hilarious.

I try not to be an alcohol snob but, with vodka, I do prefer Effen or Stoli. I always thought Smirnoff tasted like gasoline.

There is something to the neutral flavor of vodka. I imagine a peach-flavored whiskey would be pretty nasty.

However, there are a number of trend gins as well - Tanq 10, Hendricks, Plymouth, Boodles, Tanq Rangpur, etc etc etc.

If you drink vodka straight n' cold, I believe that you could maybe tell the difference between premium and house brands.

However, as soon as you mix it with anything stronger than an ice cube, it truly does not matter anymore, you're paying extra for image at that point.

Ditto for fine single-malt scotches (although why someone would mix anything with a fine scotch is beyond me) and tequilas.

Thank you, to those of you who bought into the hype of Grey Goose. Because of you, Mr. Frank donated a ton of money to my high school. I don't think they started serving vodka in the cafeteria, but maybe they did at the art gallery openings.

Because of that highschool I studied Russian. Because of studying Russian I studied abroad in college and drank lots of vodka. Because I drank lots of vodka, I tend to disagree with this study a bit, but agree that if you mix it with something - who cares what you use!

Stoli Blueberri is pretty good. Aside from that, no flavorings please.

I do find a few vodkas to be a little bit smoother if you're going to be taking straight shots of it. But vodka is generally one of those things mixed into a foofy fruity drink. In that case it really doesn't matter. I won't go as low as a complete off brand, but I will not spend a lot of money on vodka either. As a point of contrast, I am extremely picky about my bourbon (born and raised Kentuckian that I am). I drink bourbon for taste, not just to dump alcohol into my bloodstream. Vodka is a cheap, flexible way to get drunk as fast as possible.

And I bet all the Grey Goose proponents use "Monster Cables" to connect all their audio and video equipment...

I have a freind who works at America's test Kitchen. He claims they were able to take a cheap, crappy-tasting vodka, run it through a Brita water filter about 20-30 times, and it was indistinguishable from the flavorless high-end expensive vodkas.

The Consumerist word-of-the-day is fanfaronade: arrogant or boastful talk.

You've got your head stuck 5 feet deep in your ass if you tell me Takka tastes like Grey Goose. I'm not some blind proponent of GG, but there's a reason some liquors are top shelf while others are wells. No matter what it's mixed with, you can tell the difference. For those that like to be thrifty even when it comes to their cocktails, go ahead & keep drinking that rubbing alcohol. Plebians.

At local bars, their well drink is Absolut. So you can't slip down very far. That said, I usually get a (super) premium for my first drink, when my taste buds and potential mating partners are sharp as a tack. After that, it's well drinks all the way, baybie!

Have a 2l bottle of Skyy in the freezer at home, since it's cocktails all da time.

Have a friend that insists (insists!) that the well drinks are trash and 5 martinis in, he can taste the difference. Of "ghetto" Absolut. Lucky he has so many other positive attributes or I'd drown him in a tub of bathtub gin.

Yup. All of the same people who were ordering Absolut so they could have a name-brand vodka 10 years ago are ordering Grey Goose today. *Most* can't tell the difference, and blind taste tests usually show that.

When I worked as a bartender, I knew other bartenders and managers who would regularly substitute the rail brands for Grey Goose or Ketel One or whatever -- whenever they could get away with it.

They'd do this by either filling the good bottles with the cheap stuff, or simply pouring with the wrong one when the customer wasn't watching (eg for a faraway table at a restaraunt). Management and owners are obsessed with keeping bar & liquor costs down, and usually come down hard on the bartenders about it. So this kind of stuff happens all of the time -- just another way to screw the customers to save a few bucks.

last time i checked, a martini in soho was $10 whether it had grey goose or bankers' club, so what's the big deal?

when i'm at the bar, i prefer grey goose or stoli, when i go to the package store i buy for price. usually the handle of stolichnaya wins, but not always.

now, tequila on the other hand...if i see a post on here about how jose cuervo is just as good as herradora & i'm gonna come down there & smack somebody.

@Shadowman615: They'd do this by either filling the good bottles with the cheap stuff

precisely why it is illegal to "marry" bottles in connecticut. bars can try to get away with it, but i know one bar owner who lost his license when the state audited his books. try explaining out how you sold 6 cases of grey goose when all you were buying was burnett's.

I really don't like Grey Goose at all, but am fairly happy with Ketel One for my "everyday" drinks. When treating myself or splurging I luuuuuurv Chopin. Whether it's a gimmick or not I don't know, but it's made from potatoes instead of wheat(?) like most other vodkas sold in the U.S. are. Tastes very, very smooth (I drink my vodka with club soda).

What about gin?

@choinski: They did that on Mythbusters too. While they were able to taste a difference, it would've just been cheaper to go out and get the Grey Goose in the first place.

One of the links mentioned Tito's as one of the best in America...it's true. I don't even consider any other type of vodka. Priced on par with the Absoluts of the world, it's a steal.

Not true of the mythbusters thing. If they wouldn't have used a new filter everytime, it would have been cheaper to filter it yourself. I doubt the filter is spent after the first pour.

Personally I can't drink Vodka, ok I can and very well but not allowed anymore as I get a bit froggy after several vodka drinks. As I recall it doesn't matter after the first 3 or 4 drinks.

Mmmmm....rasberry Stoli with soda and lime. A refreshing summertime treat :)

Do vodkas do the same thing as whiskeys and tequilas? I know with whiskey and tequila, they're watered down with basic grain alcohol. (That's why Cuervo is appallingly nasty while Tradicional, a higher-priced tequila also made by Jose Cuervo is really good: because the latter is 100% tequila and the former is watered down with basic grain alcohol.

I can't tell the difference between popular brands of similarly priced vodkas (Absolut vs. Grey Goose, for example). But I recall there's this cheapo Russian vodka (can't recall the name) that is pretty gross.

@Troy F.:
However, there are a number of trend gins as well - Tanq 10, Hendricks, Plymouth, Boodles, Tanq Rangpur, etc etc etc.
Boodles (my martini choice) was introduced in 1845! Plymouth is even older.

I keep a nice wide selection of flavored vodkas (Absolut, Stoli, Three Olives, Smirnoff) in the IndyJaws basement bar. I agree that you can't taste the difference when mixed with anything other than tonic, and after a few with tonic, even then most start tasting alike. However, Kamchacka tastes like shit 24/7.

Not all vodka is hype. Ikon True Russian Vodka is excellent at half the price of the pretty bottles with liquid inside. Imperia is also exceptional. The vodka from Texas Tito's is also very good. The marketing of vodka runs in cycles. One day people will tire of shiny bottles and someone will introduce a plain bottle and the consumer will go wild over its minimalism.

I'll second that Grey Goose is hype. I've been an Absolut drinker for forever, with Smirnoff as my second choice. Since I usually drink it on the rocks, the taste does make a difference and I can tell. As soon as you mix it into something, the brand doesn't matter.

@savvy9999: There are lots of differences in single malt Scotch. Drink a Laphroiag and then and a Macallan. If you can't taste a difference, then you have no tastebuds.

@olegna: The brand you're looking for is Popov, but it's not Russian. Despite the name it's distilled in the US. It's a common "well brand" that has a really nasty aftertaste.

if you drink it straight, quality does matter, which translates to a pricier vodka

if you're planning on mixing it anyway, just order well/rail vodka. there's a difference, but not if you're going to water it down with juice anyway

@ancientsociety: I need more Effen vodka! Seriously, I saw, many moons ago in the East Village, Stalingrad Vodka and - this is the kicker - it was bottled in Rahway, NJ. Then there were the days when you could buy Firewater 105...so old...so much vodka...

I have to hand it to our local wineries - we're in a "country" location that attracts a lot of tourists with a desire to "relax among the little people" and money to burn. The wineries have began to cash in yet again with their new premium local vodkas. Tastes the same but people pay big money to say they bought it from "a little country winery".

@HeyHermano: I apologize for all the quotes. Those came off as really obnoxious.

@olegna: "I know with whiskey and vodka, they water it down with grain alcohol"

DING! You win the kewpie doll!

From wikipedia:
Vodka [contains] ethanol purified by distillation from a fermented substance such as grain or molasses, and insignificant amounts of other substances: impurities and possibly flavorings.

I don't know how many of you clicked through to the articles to read the discussion of sources of vodka. Nearly all vodka is essentially heavily filtered everclear that's been watered down. Vodka can be made from about anything, but typically in this country it's just grain alcohol.

That said: Luskowa is a potato vodka, and is relatively cheap. You can't get it in most bars, but it is far and away my favorite vodka. Then again I could be deluding myself like everyone else is about their choice, but I do know I enjoy it far more than Smirnoff or Absolut, each of which cost more.

Of the three taste tests linked from that Freakonomics post:
1. NYT goes into detail regarding the sources of vodka (including outlining the fact that most vodka is distilled by one company and then packaged/produced by another) but judges only 1 potato vodka and gives its highest mark to the "classic vodka flavor" of Smirnoff.
2. ABC news doesn't seem to mention the sources in any great detail
3. Slate gives its highest marks to Chopin, which is potato based.

In the end: smooth x 12$/750ml = me being happy with my brand. Grey Goose and Belvedere elitists can shove off.

I only drink vodka. Generally straight up and very cold.

There is a huge difference in vodkas. They may be mostly without "taste" but they all have a different bite, smoothness, mouth feel, and an aftertaste.

Saying "It'z All tEh hypE!!! is as ridiculous as saying all cuts of beef are the same.

My favorite brand is Ketel One. GG, Chopin, and Pravda are all good as well.

I do think there are a number of vodkas that are more packaging sleight-of-hand than good vodkas. Effen, Skyy, and a few others come to mind.

Vodkas taste stunningly different when neat. We did our own blind taste test - our conclusion was that Svedka was the best taste for the money. Not as cheap as crap like Popov of course, but about half the cost of GG or Skyy and better tasting as well. Of course this is mostly when neat, but it does come through in screwdrivers or vodka martinis as well.

I practicely never drink cola or black tea, as examples. Therefore my impression of those drinks is that there is virtually no flavor difference b/w brands. But others would righfully disagree.

I enjoy an extra dry vodka martini. I can certainly tell when I don't get the vodka I ordered. Popular vodkas in the US are mostly grain based (wheat, rye and/or barley). Potato or sugar vodkas offer a much different taste. But in the grain based vodka family, brands are certainly distictive. (Flavored vodkas are like flavored coffee, I don't get the concept)

I drink vodka straight from freezer. There is a difference between the brands of vodka. Whether one or another is "better" I think is just personal taste. There is a huge difference between the expensive stuff and the ultra cheap stuff, though. But if you are buying a quality vodka (Absolut, Grey, etc) I don't think it matters and I prefer to stay on the low end of the quality brands, such as Absolut and Triple Olive.

I work for one of the largest wine and spirits distributors in the United States. For those of you who can't tell the difference, there definitely is one. We have people that can blindly taste most anything and identify it. It's a pretty impressive skill that I do not possess, sad to say. Technically, though, vodka is supposed to be flavorless and odorless, unless it is specifically labeled "flavored vodka" in the US.

I won't go into the virtues of the different brands, but Grey Goose is a favorite among those in my company and not just because it makes a buttload of money. We have plenty of other (expensive and cheap) vodkas that make us a buttload of money, too, and have pretty bottles. :)

@Shadowman615:
SO true! Having been a bartender myself, the people who say they KNOW their vodka are full of shit. They would get x, y or z vodka poured instead of what they ordered and NEVER know the difference. But then again, most people don't know squat when it comes to anything alcoholic. I've had wine snobs return wine asking for a fresh bottle, because of some non-existant issue. They were poured another glass from the same bottle and lo and behold it "tasted much better!". Please.

There is indeed a difference from one vodka to the next in terms of the distilling and purification methodologies used and the resulting taste they produce. Starting from the choice of fuel to convert into ethanol (IE grain/potato/grape/sugar ect), to the filtration (I personally can taste notes of charcoal in Gray Goose and an almost sweet taste from Ketel One...obviously before I can only taste purple and pass out :P), finally to the bottling. Sometimes salty foods can help to highlight these flavors in contrast, however I just like mine straight up. Preferentially (aka if I have the cash) its Chopin or Armadale...but like its been said over and over again, NONE OF THIS MATTERS IF YOU ARE MIXING! Heck, I still buy bankers club if plenty of people are coming over...However, I preface this with the simple statement that if you cant taste the difference then just buy the cheap stuff! But, there are slight differences in each...just like tap-water (or spring water) isnt simply just two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen, there are minerals and residues that impart subtle flavors that give a characteristic taste!

Have your liquor named in several idiotic rap songs. That's the golden ticket (see: Patron tequila). That's what happened with Grey Goose.